Craig Miller and Jon Martin squared off in a pitcher's duel, as each side was only able to muster 8 singles each.
The Yankees got a gift run, in the first, when Paul Post was allowed to remain on first when the base umpire missed an interference call at first, and his home plate compadre backed him up. Paul stole second, and one out later Rick Caruso singled him home.
The game would remain 1-0 Yankees until the top of the 4th, when with 2 outs, the Yankees would rally for 2 more runs. Rick Caruso started the rally with a single and a stolen base. Tim Brown's grounder to third hit the bag and Tim reached safely. John Weber and Steve VanGelder had consecutive RBI singles, and the score was quickly 3-0.
The Cubs pulled even, in the bottom of the 5th. Jim McQuade singled and stole second to lead off the inning. PJ Martone followed with a walk. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and it looked like it could be a big inning. Miller knuckled down and induced two grounders that were not enough to score the runners. Just when it looked like he would pull a Houdini, Mike Girard looped a single to right center, just out of the reach of a hard charging Caruso. Two runs scored, and the Cubs were within one. Girard immediately stole second and was delivered on a RBI single by Ron Lochner, and the game was dead locked at 3.
Jon Martin ran into a little trouble, in the 6th, when Greg Woolston led off with a single. Paul Post hit into a fielder's choice, and stole second. John Corrigan singled Post to third, and advanced to second on a ground out to second, that held Post at third. With runners on second and third and two out, and Tim Brown coming to the plate, the Cubs "brain trust" met on the mound to discuss their strategy. They decided to pitch to Brown, and boy was that a mistake, as he promptly lined a single up the middle to score two. At this point, Mike Girard came on in relief of Martin, and got the last out on a fly to left.
The Cubs still had two innings to get those runs back, but it was not to be, as Miller got the next 6 Cubs in order, to preserve a 5-3 victory.
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 25th of July 2019 09:01:13 AM
