Well, the Cubs walked off twice against the Cardinals at Wrigley, so I suppose this was fair.
The Cubs got to Kyle Lohse early and tacked on a couple more after that, but – wait for it – the bullpen blew the game late. Kerry Wood let in the tying run in the 7th(after the usual bout of control problems), and James Russell gave up a solo homer in the 8th. He also gave up a triple, which was one of the more interesting discussiong pieces in the game. The “triple” was an easy double down the line to left, that Alfonso Soriano jogged casually to – not because he’s lazy, but because his legs are obviously bothering him. It seemed criminal at that moment to keep Soriano in the lineup. What possible reason could there be to suffer his obvious injury? It’s not like he’s hitting dingers at the plate or anything.
And then he hit a game-tying homer the very next inning.
Unfortunately, all it did was extend our pain, because Rafael Dolis gave up a couple ground ball singles in the 9th, well-placed and well-timed, which won the game for the Cardinals. Eff.
Paul Maholm wasn’t at his best, but he kept the Cubs in the game long enough to give them a chance (which tends to be a thing you say about a pitcher’s performance when the offense scored about as many as he gave up (“Garza was wild today, but kept the Cubs in the game by holding the Giants to seven runs. Coincidentally, the Cubs scored eight runs.”)).
But Soriano was the story, even in the loss…