Friday, October 10, 2003
The Cubs just caught Flight 545 en route to a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. What an unlikely play to cap off a game filled with unlikely heroes. Two pinch-hit triples for the Cubs from Tom Goodwin and Doug Glanville? Todd Hollandsworth tying the game off Cubs closer Joe Borowski? Borowski going 2 1/3 for the win? Lefty Mike Remlinger asked to close the game against righties Ivan Rodriguez and Derek Lee when righties and onetime closers Dave Veres and Antonio Alfonseca are up and warm in the pen?
What will happen next? One concept that has been somewhat battered by the topsy-turvy Games 1 & 3 is that of momentum. Recall Game 1, anytime it looked like the Cubs had anything resembling momentum, it was gone within an inning and a half. The four runs in the bottom of the first were countered by the Marlins' three dingers in the top of the third. The Cubs' Alex Gonzalez's game-tying homer in the bottom of the seventh was countered by the two runs the Marlins pushed across in the top of the ninth. Sammy's equalizer in the bottom of the ninth only got the Cubs as far as Mike Lowell's game-winning shot in the top of the 11th. Game 3 seemed like one long affair of momentus interruptus, starting with the Cubs leaving a bunch of guys on base in the early innings (and Marlin Alex Gonzalez's near-miss of a three run homer), to the Marlins stranding runners in the middle innings, to the back-and-forth of game-tying or go-ahead hits from Pudge, Randall Simon and Hollandsworth, to once again having the visitors pull one out in 11 after a late rally by the home team.
Maybe this bodes well for the other guys in the Cubs' rotation, Matt Clement and Carlos Zambrano, who have had nothing but bad momentum in recent weeks. Or maybe it means bad news for the Cubs, who seem to have the momentum in the series after scraping by with Wood having less than his best. Who can say for sure? That's why they play the games, I guess...
posted by Tom Renbarger 11:13 PM
