KOD16 – Week 4 – San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs

Game 1

San Francisco 4 – Chicago 10

Juan Marichal vs. Rick Reuschel

The Giants defense failed them in Game 1 of a series that saw both teams enter with 8-3 records. The Cubs scored 10 runs on only 7 hits, though they were aided by 6 Giant walks. Reuschel played Houdini in escaping jam after jam to earn the win. Marichal was the hard luck loser. The Giants rallied in the 8^th scoring 4 runs to close the gap to 6-4. But Al Holland promptly gave all those runs back in the bottom half of the inning allowing the Cubbies to take game 1. Geovany Soto was MVP.

Game 2

San Francisco 8 – Chicago 6

John Montefusco vs. Mark Prior

The Giants scored early, and then watched the Cubs take the lead before scoring 5 runs in the last 3 innings to take game 2 in this wild exciting series. Neither starting pitcher was effective and both were gone by the 5^th inning. With the Cubs holding a 5-3 lead heading to the 7^th, Bill Mueller lead off with a double. Light hitting Terry Whitfield then followed with a 360 foot blast off Fergie Jenkins to tie the game. Then in the 8^th inning Orlando Cepeda launched a massive blast off Chuck McElroy to give the Giants the lead for good. But that didn’t end the excitement. The Cubs scored one run in the bottom half of the 8^th and should have had a second. If you go by what was happening on talk radio in Chicago after the game, Walt Moryn was safe at the plate with what would have been the tying run. But alas, baseball as usual is living in the 19^th century and has not deemed it appropriate to use all the tools at their disposal to make sure the games are called correctly. Wait a minute. What am I doing? Oh, that’s right, game recap. Sorry about the rant. The Giants added an insurance run in the top of the 9^th to take game 2.

Game 3

Chicago 1 – San Francisco 2

Kerry Wood vs. Kelly Downs

For those of you who like old fashioned baseball, well today you were in for a treat. Downs and Wood hooked up in a tremendous pitching duel. Line score for the Cubbies? 1 run on 1 hit. Giants? 2 runs on 6 hits. Downs was spectacular in his 1^st start of the season. Robby Thompson was the hitting star for San Fran with 4 hits and two solo home runs. He hit one in the 1^st to give the Giants the lead and added his second in the 6^th to give them the win. Walt Moryn, yes the same that was thrown out at home on that controversial play, scored the only run in the 6^th after leading off with a walk. Randy Jackson then followed with the only hit for Chicago, a double, scoring Moryn. After that Downs, Fred Breining and Frank Linzy kept the Cubbies at bay and give the Giants the win in both the game and series.

What a great series.

--submitted by Ron Burnette--