You can’t beat fun at the old ball park.  That’s right, I attended tonight’s game against the Reds and with the wind blowing in and Harden pitching you knew the Reds weren’t going to score much but I felt the Cubs would put some runs on the board.

Well going into the bottom of the eight I was still waiting for these runs.  The only tally on the board to this point was a squeeze bunt from Harden with Soto on third.  Don’t get me wrong after DeRosa failed to get Soto in, and remembering Harden’s ill fated attempt at a bunt his prior at bat, it was nice to see such a perfectly executed bunt.  When Soto saw he wasn’t being looked back, he took off for home and scored.  It was a great play and very exciting but to be honest, I was looking for a little more from the offense today.

When the bottom of the eight did start I was really hoping the Cubs would put some runs on the board and seal this game up.  I wasn’t disappointed. Stringing hits together, the Cubs lead by Fukudome’s 2 RBI hit put four on the board.  The only bad part now was hearing my brother complain that Wood wouldn’t come in since it wasn’t a save situation.

But in the top of the ninth, enter Kerry Wood and my brother’s disappointment turned to rants on how Wood was going to hit 98 mph.   Each pitch would be followed by my brother’s announcement of the speed and/or his nonacceptance of any off speed pitch thrown.   Wood did hit the 97 mph mark but more importantly he recorded one pop-out sandwiched in between two strikeouts to end the inning.

The Brewers fell to the Stros and the Cards to the Bucs leaving them 6 and 8.5 behind respectively in the standings.  Next Century Is Here.