FanPost

I call for rebellion

Originally posted in DustySays.

Erase yesterday's disappointing loss. Tonight's game, a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals is the most disappointing loss of the season. Why? I'll explain later. But the main fact being a move that the Cardinals made, and the Cubs didn't.

After a decent performance by Chris Carpenter, and the best outing of the season of Carlos Zambrano, who went nine innings on three hits, one earned run (a Rodriguez homerun in the first inning), no walks and twelve, yes, twelve strikeouts, manager Dusty Baker decided to bring in Glendon Rusch. Okay, he did fine. After a leadoff single by Jim Edmonds, Larry Walker hit a wild grounder up the middle that Todd Walker (another Friday culprit -- I'll get to that later) picked up and threw to second to force Edmonds out, and Neifi! threw an off balance ball to Derrek Lee but the second out couldn't be completed, thus leaving Walker on base. After that, Rusch got Grudzielanek and Abraham O. Nunez to end the inning.

In the previous half, the top of the tenth, Jerry Hairston, Jr had hit a triple that had everyone screaming. We all thought the Cubs would drive him in, something in which they handn't been so successful in this game; there was one out (pinch hitter Jody Gerut had struck out -- he was taking Zambrano's space in the lineup, he had been 2-3 with a double and was left stranded on base after Todd Walker grounded into the second of his two double plays) and Todd Walker came to bat. He was responsible for not driving any men to score in the game; though, he grounded out again, and in a way that Jerry couldn't score. Two outs. Derrek Lee up. What do you do? Do you intentionally walk Lee and face the left handed Jeromy Beernitz? This is where the move the Cardinals made took effect; they IBB'd Lee. Beernitz to bat, now. He had a Hell of a turn, and patiently (what? The Cubs do that?) walked. Jason Isringhausen was pitching. Up to bat came, with two outs, Aramis Ramirez. He has been hot as of late, as the last game preview said. But not now; he grounded out weakly to end the inning.

Flashback to the bottom of the eleventh -- Sergio Mitre pitching. Relieving Glendon Rusch, who, as I said, had a messed up but harmless inning. John Mabry, after a couple of sinkers (what else does Mitre throw? Somebody tell me) hit a leadoff triple. He was pinch hitting for Al Reyes. Then came to bat So Taguchi, and he hit a wild grounder right to Neifi!, who held the runner and threw to first to complete the out. After him, David Eckstein, a fit for Tony Larussa, was up to bat. We all thought "squeeze" coming up. Apparently, Dusty didn't.

Be Tony Larussa for a second. What do you do? You have speed on the basepaths. You have the best bunting leadoff hitter in the NL in the batters' box. "Why, squeeze the run home, of course!"; but then, think for a second. The sellout crowd knows you're going to squeeze the run home. Do you go and surprise everybody by calling the sacrifice ball in the air? You know Eckstein is not a power hitter by all means, and that has a rough time hitting balls in the air. No. Back to the squeeze. You call it. We all agree on that, right?

Be Dusty Baker for a second. There is an out. You hate squeezeplays. You despise them, you are an old fashioned manager who loves the old ways to win. But you know your counterpart loves them! The other manager has his best bunting batter in the batters' box; you know he's going to try and drive him home the bunting way. You take a look around. You see the mound, alright? Who's there? Your best gb pitcher. And first base is open, of course. What do you do? "Why, of course, IBB Eckstein and look for the double play, as Rodriguez is coming to bat!; except that Albert Pujols comes to bat after Rodriguez, and if he wasn't to ground into a doubleplay, most definitely no one was. No worries, I could have Redster warm up again and he could face Pujols."

But no. Eckstein didn't walk. He hit a squeezeplay that ended the game. Game over, the Cardinals win 2-1.

That, and that only play, ruined the magistral outing by Zambrano, who seemed to be playing with more emotion than usual. Even after the trainers went to see him after a groundball seemed to hurt him, he was sharp. He struck out twelve batters, tying his career high. He spotted everything. He struck out Pujols twice. He delivered the best game of the year. Carpenter wasn't too bad, either. He gave up a run on a Lee groundball that drove Hairston, Jr in; he walked two and struck out three. All that allowing just eight hits.

The other key circumstance that turned this game around was that the Cubs left fifteen men on base; Todd Walker was the star of that grounding out into a doubleplay twice. A team, especially this one, that doesn't seem to walk a lot and when it finally takes a couple of pitches and walks doesn't score a run, isn't exactly built to make a run at the playoffs. Serious moves need to be made; just take a look at the scoring sheets: one player, Walker, was two shy of leaving on base the total number the Cardinals left.

After all that, still, I keep the hope. I keep the hope of making the playoffs. Please excuse me today, and look for me in the morning. I'll have a shiny new face expression and I'll talk about tomorrow's matchup.

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