Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL — 11 innings
Cincinnati 6
Chicago (NL) 5
W: L. Ondrusek (5-2)
L: A. Cabrera (0-1)
S: J. Broxton (4)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Joey Votto reached base four times: 2-4, 2 walks, a double, 3 RBI.
–Drew Stubbs also reached four times (no, really, he did). Stubbs went 3-5 with a walk and three runs scored…and he drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the eleventh inning.
–Scott Rolen was 2-4. He also walked and drove in a run.
–Excellent relief work by Sam LeCure. Again. Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect 11th for the save.
NEGATIVES
–Ryan Ludwick was “removed as a precaution.” Left groin tightness. We’ll find out more tomorrow, perhaps.
–Stubbs was credited with a tough error in the bottom of the tenth.
–Mike Leake was great until the wheels fell off in the sixth inning. In all, Leake went six innings and surrendered four runs on six hits and two walks.
–I’m not a huge fan of weeknight four-hour games.
–JJ Hoover was pretty bad in the eighth, giving up a hit and three walks. Somehow, he only allowed one run (thanks, LeCure, for putting out that fire.)
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Cincinnati wins their 90th game of the season. Wow. Just…wow. Magic number is three!
–Votto’s first-inning double was his 40th, which tied his career-high.
–Wilson Valdez went 1-5 tonight…and he actually improved his batting average (.199).
–I know you won’t be surprised by this, but the Cubs made two errors in the 11th inning (although only one was actually scored as an error):
Cubs gonna Cub
— Chris Garber (@cgarber8) September 20, 2012
–Magic Number:
Wooooo!