The Cubs have made me an insecure Statis Pro player.
In the real 1984 they were the first place team in the NL East and nearly made it to the World Series. But in Statis Pro they've been in the basement for a good while now, thanks in part to a huge losing streak earlier in the season.
On paper I thought this was a slam dunk. We had a 2-5 rated Steve Rogers facing off against a 2-7 rated Dennis Eckersley and an Expos lineup that only had two noteworthy hitters (Tim Raines and Gary Carter).
Alas...another Cubs loss!
Eckersley allowed the first three batters to reach base in the first and then walked Gary Carter for the first run of the game. He got out of the jam only allowing that single run, and a Gary Matthews solo homer in the bottom of the first tied the game up again.
And that would be all the scoring until the seventh inning because both Eckersley and Rogers had the offense on lock-down. The dam broke in the top of the seventh when Eck walked lead off hitter Pete Rose. Rose moved to second two batters later on a Rogers sacrifice bunt. With two outs Bryan Little doubled to plate Rose and that was enough to give Rogers and the Expos the win. You're killing me, Chicago.
Winning Pitcher - Steve Rogers
Losing Pitcher - Dennis Eckersley
Save - Jeff Reardon
Player of the Game - Rogers, 8IP, 3Hs, 2BBs, 4Ks, ER
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, Ryne Sandberg, Dennis Eckersley
I have to give this Reds team credit - they've hung around .500 ball in a competitive NL West despite a starting pitching rotation that features Mario Soto and not much else.
The Reds scored right away in the top of the first when Duane Walker doubled and later crossed home plate on a Wayne Krenchicki single. They added two more runs in the second thanks to a Cesar Cedeno double that scored Brad Gulden and pitcher Jeff Russell (who doubled twice in the game!).
The Astros, though, tied the game in the bottom of the third. Terry Puhl hit a two-run homer and Jerry Mumphrey later scored on a bases loaded walk to Mark Bailey.
The fourth inning was yet another explosive frame. Dan Driessen hit a bases loaded double to score two for the Reds. But in the bottom half of the inning Jose Cruz went big fly to plate three runs and give Houston a 6-5 lead.
The Red suffered a tough injury collision in the game when Ron Oester and Cedeno ran into each other. Both are headed to the DL, but Oester's replacement, Tom Foley, scored in the fifth on a Walker single to tie the game.
The Reds pulled ahead for good in the top of the seventh. Joe Sambito got tagged for four runs, including a three-run homer from Duane Walker, who destroyed the Houston pitching. Meanwhile, Bill Scherrer, John Franco, and Tom Hume combined for six innings of scoreless relief.
Winning Pitcher - Bill Scherrer
Losing Pitcher - Joe Sambito
Player of the Game - Duane Walker, 4-5, 2 2Bs, HR, 5RBI, BB, 3Rs
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Perez
No comments:
Post a Comment