Diamondbacks 23-13
Cubs 20-15
POTG: SP Ted Lilly (7 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 10 K, W [3/77], QS [4]; H, RBI)
Runner Up: 2B Mark DeRosa (2B, 2 H, R, BB)
Don’t have much time to write about this game, but this was as much a Ted Lilly game as Carlos’ start have been his. It doesn’t end happy if DeRosa doesn’t break out of his slump, and Carlos and Kerry were plenty effective and efficient in the late innings, enough that both should be ready today if Dempster gives them a chance.
Dan Haren deserved better from that start, and I’m not sure if the Cubs can hold the Diamondbacks to one run again. It’s good to get the first win out of the way, to stop the trend from the playoffs before it becomes any strong, and to stem the tide of recent performances.
Yay for ‘only’ 12 pitchers. Yay for the Kerry Wood’s first appearance of a new pitch coming exactly ten years after the first appearance of another pitch that worked pretty okay.