Game 38: Cubs 12 – Padres 3

Cubs 23-14
Padres 14-25

POTG: LF Soriano (2 H, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R)
Runner Up: SS The Riot (2 H, 3 R, 2 BB), 1B D Lee (2B, SB, 2H, R, RBI), 3B Ram (H, BB, 2 R, RBI), RF Fukudome (3 BB, RBI, 2 R), C Soto (2 RBI, H, BB), 2B/3B DeRosa (2 H, 2 RBI, BB, R), SP Z!!!! (2B, 2H, R; 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W [6/88], QS [7])

0) I bought the tickets for the game myself. There comes a sad point in life where it just starts making more sense to be buying gifts from you to you. There’s little better in life than someone getting you something you needed (without even knowing you needed it), but more often, if you want to something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.

So way back on single ticket sales day, I got on to the ticket system as fast as I can, hurried to this game, and got the best tickets I possibly could. I think I’ve been to all the home guys on my birthday for the last few years, and I’m going to keep it up as long as I can afford it.

The rest of my birthday celebration involved having a meal at one house with people who didn’t bother to get out of their pajamas for it, and later going to someone else’s house so they could all spend time together while I sat bored, eating a tiny cake. Fun times!

1) I was super prepared for everything, after much past troubles. I had directions and a GPS unit, I had cold weather gear, I had a spot arranged to meet someone there to give them their ticket. I got to Jim’s house to pick him up in pretty fast time, knowing that we need as much time as possible to get thru interstate traffic

And then Jim’s drive to his house started late, and went longer. Something like an hour longer than usual. Oops.

We ended up leaving at about 6 for a 7:05 start, and the drive usually takes 90 minutes. Things worked out really well – outside of one gapers delay and despite the GPS goofing up, traffic was light for rush hour and we were able to take 15 minutes off the top This might have involved me pushing the car north of 80 for stretches, but don’t tell anyone.

2) We got to our seats in the bottom of the 1st, just before D Lee stole third. Not that any of can figure out what the deal is with everyone stealing third this year.

I had section 9, row 11 seats. There’s really only 10 rows in section 9. At some point in the last few years, when they’ve been trying to find ways to add more seats and stop people from strolling around the seating area, someone must’ve decided to add another row of seats on what’s used to be the walkway between the sections. The row is fenced off from the rest of the walkway, and you’ve got to get waved by an usher every time in and out. It’s not quite big enough for two rows, so you’ve got one row with tons of foot room and not much for viewing angles – you’re seeing a lot off the back of heads if you’re looking at the plate and not seated just right.

On the other hand, you’re in the 11th row. Which is cool.

3) I thought Z had an outside chance of getting a no-hitter today. Well, everyone’s chance of getting a no-hitter is pretty outside, but just watching the Padres batting averages come up as they got up was eye opening about how bad their offense is this year. Lots of guys who can only hope they get 250.

Jim disagreed, pointing out Z’s low strikeout rate this year, and he was right. A ball was bound to get thru, and did to start the third. The stirkeout thing is still worrisome, but it’s working with this defense. Hopefully he can get the Ks when he needs them later on.

4) We had no idea what as up with the trainer’s visit in that inning until after the game, except it had something to do with his forearm and perhaps bananamania was involved. I decided to to run for food rather than see the ace pitcher walk off the mound hurt (he didn’t), and Jim happened to come with me (which was good because I didn’t know yet that I had left my wallet in the car.)

Jim caught up to me in the hallway, and we had a conversation that went approximentaly like this

Jim: “Did you see who you just walked passed?”
Me: “No, who?”
Jim: “That restruant chick”
me: “What?”
Jim: “The restruant woman from PBS 11. I spotted a celebrity.”
me: “The indian girl? She doesn’t count as a celebrity.

I eventually came up with Check, Please!, but neither of us could actually remember Alapana Singh’s name, so I think I win that one. Mike had no idea who were talking about when we finally got back to the seats, which is also fair.

I bummed $10 off Jim, got pizza and wanted hot chocolate, but they didn’t have what it where I was stuck and I didn’t want to wander around looking for it, so I made the poor decision to get a cold Mountain Dew.

Jim, who can not leave his house without running into some random person he knew at one point, could not make it back to his seat without running into the husband of someone he worked with. 5 million people in the metro area, only 39,000 in this building, and it was an absolutely certainty he’d get roped into some conversation with someone he barely knew.

5) It was COLD. Unbelievably cold for this late in season, irrationally cold compared to early in the day. When I started my winding trip to the ballpark around 4pm off in the suburbs, it was 70 degrees and warmer than that in my car. When I left Jim’s around 6, it was 65. At 7pm, in the city, the offical game time temp was 41 and the wind blowing in to make it colder. Lake or no lake, this was quite ridicouls. I should not be seeing my breath and wishing for gloves on May 12th.

I felt bad for the people who got the ice cream concessions today. I wish I had my wallet to unload it on the people selling hot chocolate (which they ran out of it in some of the concession stands, because who keeps that much around in mad.) I was amused by the people who were selling tiny thin blankets for $20, the biggest rip off in a stadium full of jacked up prices.

6) Jody Gerut coming back to hit a home run and put the Padres ahead was one of the least predictable things every. Perhaps they made a smart move calling him up? Z was so ticked going to the dugout after that inning and that home run, it was funny to watch

7) Z! and me and most of the stadium thought his hit in the bottom of the 5th was going out. It just missed, maybe two feet more and it’s in the basket. I think he may have taken a slow trot to first anticipating it going out, but he got the double anyhow.

Soriano’s ball was kind of the same way, except it was hit higher and hit harder to escape the wind. It just barely cleared the wall itself.

I don’t understand why the Padres didn’t get someone up at this point. They waited until about after Ram to finally do it, but that meant the inning (and the game) would probably be decided one way or another before the reliever was ready to come.

8) There was really no big hero in this game. Soriano’s home run was huge, but the game was blown out via lots of walks and lots of singles getting past guys. IF the infield was about a step quicker, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten out of control.

9) After the walk in the 8th, I decided someone’s got to track “most walks with the bases loaded”, because Kosuke is clearly going to run away with it if they keep bating him fifth. You can not make him swing at a bad pitch in that situation, and he’s very content in scoring a run without putting the ball in play if the pitcher wants to do it.

10) Kevin Kouzmanoff had a decent shot at beating Ram to third, but Ram just got off to a great jump on the 3-2 count and beat him. That part wasn’t really much his fault, but that throw he made to first was atrocious. It didn’t help that Adrian Gonzalez had fallen asleep. The ball was so far away, Gonzalez seemed to decide he might as well just let it fly into the crowd and give up the base. Which it didn’t, which cost them an extra run.

I think that should’ve been a fielders choice and an error, but I’m fine with DeRosa getting a free hit.

11) We were debating if Z could go 8 during the middle innings. I was thinking so, others were doubting. It looked really good when he only needed 9 pitches to go thru the heart of the Padres order in the 6th, but the long Jody Gerut at bat doomed him even more than 9 run lead. I think Lou might have given him a shot with under 95 pitches, but the walk ended it.

12) We took off after the bottom of the 8th. There probably are times where I still stick around for 9 run blowouts, but when it’s getting on 10pm, people have to get up early, and you’re freezing while Howry and Eyre conspiracy to pitch as slowly as possible, it’s time to go. I wanted to stick around long enough to see Henry Blanco bat and, seeing as he never took the bat off his shoulder, I’m not sure he actually did.

Really fun to see a blowout, a Z win, and a Cubs win to push them 1 full game in first place. It is getting a bit concerning to see the offense go thru these binge/purge cycles – Baseball Musings pointed out the Cubs have yet to score just 4 or just 5 runs in a game. I hope it it’ll even out, but it seems like right now that the some opponents of the Cubs have figured them out and some have no clue, and it’s not clear if everyone will eventually figure it out or if the Cubs will just adjust.