I was blacked out of this one on MLB.tv (thanks MLB national deal with Fox) and my Fox game was Atlanta/Washington … you know, because those cities are far closer to Columbus than Chicago … er, wut?
Jeff Samardzija wasn’t as dominant as he’d been in his first two starts, but he gave the Cubs six solid innings, and the bullpen was largely effective. The Cubs were down three when Dioner Navarro hit his second pinch-hit homer in as many days, a two-run shot bringing the Cubs within one. The next inning the Cubs loaded the bases but couldn’t bring a run home. Welington Castillo ended the inning on an easy groundball double play to short. The Cubs did nothing in the ninth, complete with Steve Clevenger appearing to re-injure his oblique on the final swing of the game. It looked pretty bad, and I’d expect we’ll be seeing him hit the DL soon.
Alas. Bright spots? Well, if it wasn’t for a blown call at first base, Alfonso Soriano could have been a perfect 4-4 (presuming his hard grounder that bounced off of Panda at third base would have been ruled a hit).