Category: Game Notes

Reed Johnson Robs Prince Fielder of a Grand Slam

April 12, 2009 by cubsnet

The Cubs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 8-5 tonight thanks in large part to Reed Johnson's over-the-wall catch of a would-have-been Prince Fielder grand slam in the 5th inning. Here is the video. Johnson made the catch of the year last year in April. He appears to have done it even earlier this year.

GEO!

September 18, 2008 by cubsnet

Now that's a comeback.

Down by four with two outs in the 9th and no one on, Ryan Braun gave the Cubs life. No one's idea of a stellar fielder, Braun looked less than stellar in trying to shoestring Aramis Ramirez's line drive into rightfield, turning it into a double. Then a bouncer up the middle for Jim Edmonds, scoring Ramirez. Then a base hit to right for Mark DeRosa.

Then, the electric moment. Salomon Torres' first pitch to Geovany Soto landed deep in the leftfield bleachers, tying the game.

Here is the video of Soto's game-tying three-run shot.

Three innings later, Derrek Lee drove in the winning run. Here is the video of Lee's hit.

Cue "Go Cubs Go."

The magic number is down to 2.

This is the year.

Zambrano's Arm Awakens and Throws No-Hitter

September 14, 2008 by cubsnet

Carlos Zambrano came out of his "dead arm" phase tonight, throwing the Cubs' first no-hitter in 36 years, in the Cubs' 5-0 win over the streaking Houston Astros.

Combined with the Milwaukee Brewers' continued slide -- losing a doubleheader to the Philadlephia Phillies to close a four-game sweep -- the Cubs had a day today. With 15 games to play, the Cubs' magic number has been reduced to just 7.

Prior to tonight, Zambrano had allowed 24 runs in his past 26.2 innings, giving up 33 hits and 17 walks, over 5 starts.

Dempster Throws Complete Game for First Time Since 2002

June 11, 2008 by Squib Hits

Congratulations to Ryan Dempster, who threw his first complete game in tonight's 7-2 win over the Atlanta Braves since his final start of the 2002 season, which happened to be against the Chicago Cubs. Dempster didn't walk a batter tonight while striking out 11. His 82 game score tied his season-high game score, which he had set in his win over the San Diego Padres on May 15.

Video: Felix Pie Robs Ken Griffey, Jr. of Career Home Run #598

May 6, 2008 by Squib Hits

Here is the video of Felix Pie doing to Ken Griffey, Jr. what Griffey himself has done to others a few times over his career -- robbing him of a home run -- in the Cubs' 5-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds last night.

Soriano Errs and Redeems; Fox Returns; & Hill Walks

May 2, 2008 by cubsnet

Cubs 19 Brewers 5

May 1, 2008 by diana

I tried to record the 2am showing of the Chi Cubs 19, Milwaukee 5 game, but it was carried by ESPN and they for some odd reason blacked it out. ESPN did air it live (we're way outside of WCIU's broadcast area) but for some reason they didn't air it again at 2am, even though it was in the tv listings as such.

Perhaps they just couldn't squeeze 24 runs into 2 hours. I don't know.

We just started getting in ESPN in HD. Wow!
I can see the player's faces now. They have emotions! Imagine that.
The players look a lot thinner in HD too.

Here's a link to a review of the game and boxscore.

Video: Reed Johnson Makes the Catch of the Year

April 26, 2008 by cubsnet

Last year, the defensive play of the year came in late September when Sam Fuld made a catch against the ivy in right field and doubled-up a runner at first. This year, the play came early, and we can safely declare the competition over.

Reed Johnson, April 25, 2008, against the Washington Nationals, courtesy of Nationals TV:

Hawk's 3 Homer Day

January 31, 2008 by Squib Hits

Poor Tom Hume. Facing Andre Dawson having a great day in his most powerful year. The date: August 1, 1987. The video:

Piniella Did Not Lose the Game by Replacing Zambrano With Marmol

October 4, 2007 by cubsnet

The second-guessers -- Phil Rogers, Jay Mariotti, Gordon Wittenmyer, Melissa Isaacson, Rick Morrissey, Mike Downey, Mike Imrem, and Barry Rozner (talk about group think) -- were out in full force this morning after the Cubs' 3-1 loss in Game 1 of the NLDS. All of them consider Lou Piniella's removal of Carlos Zambrano to start the seventh inning in favor of Carlos Marmol to have been the cause of the Cubs' loss.

The real cause, of course, was Brandon Webb's mastery of the Cubs' hitters, the particular angle of some line drives off Cubs' bats, and Marmol's inability to locate his pitches in the 7th inning. But not to the aforementioned writers, who have created a new Zambrano in their mind, some unstoppable force who would of course not allowed any runs going forward. Either that, or they just could not come up with another angle on this game.

In making their judgments, they ignore the information Piniella had to go on when he made the decision, namely, that Marmol is a better pitcher than Zambrano over a 1-2 inning stretch.