Recap: Padres 3 @ Cubs 11 05/14/09

A quiet and somewhat boring game for the first four and a half innings, the Cubs finally broke through against ex teammate Chad Gaudin and scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth to bust open a tie ball game. The Cubs added 4 more in the sixth to finish off San Diego's windy city nightmare.

You could tell Ryan Dempster watched closely the first two games when teammates Rich Harden and Ted Lilly both served up two run first inning home runs to Adrian Gonzalez. Dempster got the first two outs, then proceeded to walk Gonzalez before getting Chase Headley to pop out to Bobby Scales at third to end the inning.

The Cubs threatened in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with two outs thanks to two walks and an error in the inning. With two on and two out, Geovany Soto reached on an error by Padres third baseman Edgar Gonzalez, brother of Adrian. Reed Johnson promptly ended the threat striking out. Gaudin labored in the inning throwing 34 pitches as the Cubs worked deep counts.

Dempster once again worked a quick inning, retiring the Padres in order in the top half of the second. In the bottom half, the Cubs once again put a runner on 3rd with two outs. Bobby Scales led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on a couple of ground outs. Just like the first inning, the Cubs couldn't even make contact with Alfonso Soriano striking out to end the inning.

San Diego went down weakly in the 3rd inning, managing a single off Dempster but couldn't mount any serious threat. Meanwhile, the Cubs finally scratched in the bottom half. Ryan Theriot once again showed his new found power hitting a ball deep the opposite way and off the top of the right field wall for a lead off double. After a walk to Kosuke Fukudome, Hoff-POWER just missed hitting one into the seats flying out to the warning track in right. It was however good enough to move Theriot to third where he scored on a fly ball by Geovany Soto.

In the top of the fourth, that man struck again. Adrian Gonzalez hit a ball that very well might not have landed yet, clearing the back bleachers in right, tying the game up at 1. It was Gonzalez's fourth home run of the series. I guess Dempster figured with a one run lead and nobody on he would challenge Gonzalez. Nice try.

The Cubs went quietly in their half of the inning, going down in order.

The Padres 7-8-9 hitters went down in order in the top of the fifth, setting the stage for the Cubs. Soriano led off the inning by popping out to second and it was all down hill for Gaudin after that. Theriot, Fukudome and Hoff-POWER all drew walks to load the bases. San Diego went to the pen and called on Luis Perdomo who promptly walked his first hitter, Geovany Soto, to force home Theriot and give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

The Cubs were not done though as Reed Johnson then doubled deep to left off the top of the wall scoring both Fukudome and Hoffpauir. The Padres went to the pen once again and called upon Duaner Sanchez to face Bobby Scales. Scales greeted Sanchez with a two run double, taking his hit streak to all 6 games he has played in since being called up. After Aaron Miles flew out, Dempster dumped a bloop single just over second baseman David Eckstein to score Scales giving the Cubs a 7-1 lead.

Dempster remembered the last at bat by Adrian Gonzalez and promptly walked him for the second time today in the top of the sixth. The rest of Padres could do nothing and Gonzalez was left standing at first.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Cubs struck again. With runners on first and third that man Bobby Scales stepped to the plate again. He must have liked what he seen the last time he faced Sanchez (just the inning before) and Sanchez must have forgot as Scales once again laced a two run double, this one into the right center field gap. Miles then doubled down the left field line scoring Scales and bring Dempster back to the plate. Dempster came in hitting 0-for-17 on the year, had singled in a run his last at bat. Dempster crushed a Sanzhez fastball off the base of the center field wall to score Miles and put a cap on the Cubs scoring for the day.

The Padres did pick up a couple more runs late, scoring one off Dempster in the seventh and one in the 8th off Jose Ascanio, making his season debut for the Cubs.

Game Notes

The Cubs have now homered in 8 straight games and 16 of the last 18....Cubs are now a season high 6 games over .500 at 20-14.....Cubs are now 10-3 in May, best in the Majors and were 18-11 last May....Cubs are now 14-4 when drawing at least 4 walks in a game and 6-10 when they draw 3 or less......Cubs are now 18-5 when playing errorless ball and 2-9 when they don't......Bobby Scales has hit safely in his first six career games which is the longest hitting streak to start a major league career by a Cub since Jerome Walton hit in his first seven games in 1989........

Cubs at the plate

Alfonso Soriano went 0-for-4 with a walk before being replaced by Ryan Freel. Sori is hitting .271 with 11 HR's 23 RBI's and 30 runs scored thus far through the first 34 games.

Ryan Theriot went 1-for-3 with two walks and scored two runs. Theriot again displayed his new found power with a double high off the right field wall. Theriot is hitting .297 with 5 HR's and 17 RBI's.

Kosuke Fukudome was 2-for-3 with two walks and scored a run. Kosuke continues to have great at bats and is not getting on base at a .462 clip. Fukudome is hitting .340 with 4 HR's and 17 RBI's.

Micah Hoffpauir was 0-for-3 but did score twice getting on via the walk twice. He just missed hitting one out of the park in the first and did have a couple good at bats, working the count deep. Hoff-POWER is hitting .292 with 3 HR's and 11 RBI's.

Reed Johsnon went 2-for-5 with 2 rbi's and scored twice even though he left 6 guys on base. Was impatient early in the game but had some nice ab's late including a big 2 run double with the sacs full. Reed is hitting .241 with 0 HR's and 6 RBI's.

Geovony Soto Geo was 0-for-2 but managed 2 rbi's with some good at bats, hitting a sac fly and drawing a bases loaded walk. He didn't have the hits like last night, but he looks to be coming out of his year long slump. Soto is hitting .188 with 1 HR and 9 RBI's.

Bobby Scales was 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of 2 run doubles, getting a career high 4 RBI's and stretching his hit streak to 6 games, one short of Jerome Waltons club record for games to start a Cubs career. The "kid" continues to impress and is playing with so much confidence, that if you watch him he looks like he has been here for years. Fast becoming a fan favorite. Scales is hitting .444 with 1 HR and 5 RBI's in his brief time.

Aaron Miles went 2-for-5 with a run scoring double and a single. Miles is hitting a paltry .220 with 0 HR's and 4 RBI's on the year.

Cubs on the mound

Ryan Dempster had his best start of the season going 7 strong innings, giving up just 2 runs on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 5. Dempster was never in any serious trouble all day, helped by avoiding Adrian Gonzalez for the most part. Dempster is now 3-2 with a 4.65 ERA on the season.

Jose Ascanio made his Cubs season debut pitching 2 innings giving up 1 run on 1 hit while striking out 3. Other than the home run he gave up to pinch hitter Drew Macias in the 8th, his stuff appeared very good.

Series Record 3-0
Season Record 20-14
Road Record 9-8
Home Record 11-6

Next Game: 05/15 vs Houston @ 1:20 pm CST

Article also featured on CubbieFans.com and includes post game locker room video.