October 13, 2015: North Side Hit Men

It was like those t-shirts they sell outside of Wrigley; those blue shirts with the title “North Side Hit Men” with a picture of Al Capone and the Cubs logo.  Yeah, I know Capone is from the South Side, but putting O’Banion, Weiss, or Moran, just wouldn’t have the same effect.  After last night’s 8-6 victory over the Cardinals in Game 3, this Cubs team definitely earned that title.

We really didn’t expect this game to have this result, at least not the 6 runs they put up.  After all, it was Jake on the mound.  He definitely did not have his best stuff in this one.  After getting through the 1st 3 innings unscathed with a 1-0 lead, we felt good.  Having Jake on the mound lately, meaning the entire 2nd half of the season including the wild card game, meant the Cubs were money.  I think they won Jake’s last 13-14 starts.  Having someone like Jake, who should be the NL Cy Young award winner, meant having that ultimate ace in the hole, that trump card.  Whatever the other team threw down, we top it with Jake.  We could always rely on him.  The only other time I had so much confidence was when MJ was leading our Bulls.  You could always count on him.  Yet tonight, Jake proved that he was human.  The great thing about it, we picked him up.  This is another quality of a great team.

It all started in the 2nd inning, when arguably the Cubs 3rd best rookie went deep.  The guy who has been just awesome this postseason took Wacha out deep to the opposite field.  Kyle flipped the bat, and the ball sailed into the first row before bouncing back in the basket.  Game, set, match…. not quite.  Back to that 4th inning, Jake had one of his roughest innings in 4 months, giving up 2 runs to these pesky Birds.  No fear though… in the bottom half of the inning, killing the Cardinals momentum, Starlin went way out to left center.  2-2.

The 5th inning was when the Cubs took the lead and never looked back.  Soler got on base again.  By the way, he’s the first player EVER to reach base in his first 9 postseason at bats… yeah, arguably the Cubs 4th best rookie has been lights out.  Then came up the rookie of the year Bryant, who got his first postseason hit earlier in the game.  He tore the cover off a Wacha pitch for a 2 run blast.  As the Cubs fans were celebrating, Matheny was going to the bullpen to get a lefty to face Rizzo; it didn’t matter.  Rizzo went deep, deep out to right.  Back to back home runs for the first time in a Cubs postseason since Jody Davis and Leon Durham in 1984, brought the total for the night up to 4.  5-2 Cubs… this is fricking awesome.

But wait…  there’s more.  Now with a 3 run lead, surely that was enough for Jake.  Well, yes, but no.  He served up a 2 run home run in the top of the 6th as the Cards pulled within 5-4, grabbing the momentum.  Jake struck out the next 2 batters before hitting pinch hitter Moss; it was time.  As Joe went to the bullpen, the crowd went wild for the man walking off the mound.  It didn’t matter that he just gave up 4 runs… more than he had in months, because if there was a single reason we are here, it’s him.  We know that.  We let him know that.  We couldn’t expect this streak to go on forever; we just hope a new streak will start now.  By the way, he still got the win…
It is not so easy to prevent sexual provocation but only ayurvedic cure to reverse erectile dysfunction is recently gaining the on line levitra highest popularity as maximum men facing erectile troubles are choosing the concerned option. A user, according to his choice, can pick the favourite type to treat discount price viagra his condition. Age – Although cheap order viagra type 1 diabetes can be detected through regular (at least once-a-year) preventive medical health checkups. Erectile problem can be caused by some psychological problem or stress and should be removed from the life of a person is like a buy viagra in uk prison with no excitement or entertainment.
With only a 1 run lead, the Cubs needed to tack on… and they did.  After the pinch hitter Coghlan singled to right on the first pitch he saw, Matheny went to his ace in the bullpen, Adam Wainwright.  As my brother and I texted back and forth about wanting to hit this guy in so many words, Soler did just that.  He rocketed that first pitch into the bleachers.  Unbelievable!!!  Cubs with their 5th home run of the night, now hold a 7-4 lead.

After Cahill and Wood got through the 7th, I flipped back on the radio to hear the stretch; I couldn’t get the TV and radio synched up tonight, so I had to listen to the national guys.  Thankfully, it worked out, and thankfully, I flipped the radio on for this mid 7th tradition.  Tonight, it was none other than Ernie Banks.  They played one of the renditions of the Cubs legend who passed away earlier this year; it was awesome.  You know Mr. Banks is smiling right now.  Fowler added on in the 8th with another home run, thankfully, since Rondon served up a 2 run home run in the 9th.  Final score 8-6.  Final home run tally, 6.. a MLB postseason record.

What a game; one we will never forget.  It wasn’t all perfect though.  Addison Russell, the 2nd best rookie, left the game with a hamstring injury after legging out a triple to left field; I really hope he’s OK.  We saw what the alternative on defense did last night.  Baez pissed me off with that first error he committed that brought the tying run to the plate; what a lazy throw.  Thankfully, it didn’t cost us.  Thankfully, his 2nd error in the 9th ultimately didn’t either.  Whether it was one of these errors, or the fact that Jake gave up 4 runs tonight, or when Castro got hit by a ball on the basepaths, there’s always that fear that something like that will doom the Cubs in the postseason.  It has before, many times.  I’m sure we’re not alone; things like that doom many teams in the postseason.  Not tonight; not on this night.  Nothing was going to stop the boys in blue on their way to getting a 2-1 series lead, but it’s not over.  We’ve let the Cardinals off the hook a few times this year; we need to finish the job.

The series resumes this afternoon with Game 4.  Hammel on the mound vs Lackey; we figured Matheny would bring him back on short rest.  They need to do everything and anything to stay alive and get this series back to St. Louis; we don’t want that.  What story will this game tell?  Hammel shuts them down?  We finally tag Lackey?  Another HR barrage?  I’ve cleared my calendar this afternoon to ensure I’m sitting on that couch at 3:30.  I can’t miss one pitch of this playoff run.  Maybe we’ll have our 3rd celebration later today, or maybe we’ll be heading to our 2nd elimination game, either way, I’m feeling pretty damn good after this W.  I’m feeling a cautious confidence that this team will get the job done, against whoever we face.  Let’s test that theory this afternoon.  Go Cubs Go!!!