MVN - Most Valuable Network

BORN TO BE WILD

Cliff Floyd had visions of ending game three of the series between the Phils and the Cubs with a walk off styled celebration. He got it, in the wildest of fashions. Closer Brett Myers uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Cubs a 5-4 victory Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. It was only fitting that the game’s first and last runs were scored on wild pitches.

The Phillies loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning off starting pitcher Rich Hill, but Ryan Howard and Aaron Rowand both struck out, leaving it up to Pat Burrell to pick up his teammates. On a wild pitch to Burrell, Chris Roberson, who had reached on an error, scored to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. After a Burrell walk, Carlos Ruiz popped out to end the inning.

The Cubs answered back by scoring in each of the first three innings, taking a 4-1 lead on starting pitcher Jamie Moyer, who lacked his usual command of his pitches. Moyer went just five innings, allowing nine hits and four runs while walking two and striking out six. He threw 100 pitches.

The Phillies came back in the 5^th inning to tie the game at four a piece. After Tadahito Iguchi reached on a double, Jimmy Rollins lined a ball to left field to score Iguchi and cut the Cubs lead to 4-2. Ryan Howard then followed with a long double to center field, scoring Rollins. On an errant throw back to the infield, Howard tried to advance to third base. He was thrown out instead by first baseman Derrek Lee. Baseball must be a funny game because Aaron Rowand stepped up next and crushed a pitch from Hill into the left field seats. Had Howard stayed at second, the Phillies would have taken the lead.

Each team had chances in the bottom of the 8^th and top of the 9^th respectively. The Cubs loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8^th but Mark DeRosa popped out to end the inning. The Phillies also loaded the bases in the 9^th but Carlos Ruiz grounded out to retire the side.

The Cubs again loaded the bases in the 9^th, and after striking out catcher Jason Kendall, Myers uncorked the wild pitch to Floyd to give the Cubs the 5-4 victory.

Notes: Jayson Werth appeared in his first game since June 28^th for the Phillies as a defensive replacement for Burrell in the bottom of the 9^th. He made a diving attempt on a fly ball from Matt Murton and could not make the play… Of the 54 total outs, 21 came via the strikeout… Rich Hill was pulled by manager Lou Piniella mid-count against Jamie Moyer in the 5th. Hill went 4.2 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs, three being earned. He struck out five and walked three… Ryan Dempster picked up his second win of the season for the Cubs… Tomorrow’s game features new Phillie Kyle Lohse (6-12, 4.58) against Sean Marshall (5-4, 3.10).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.