Cubs-Orioles: Chicago Doomed By a Lack of Patience in the Ninth

The Baltimore Orioles had taken a 7-1 lead. I looked over to my brother and we agreed we'd rather watch the game at home and hope for a comeback there.

After getting some more wings to go (Oh, how I love Buffalo Wild Wings) we hopped in the car and turned on Pat and Ron.

Derrek Lee got a base hit. Aramis Ramirez got a base hit. And then something happened that gave everyone hope again, Jim Edmonds hit the long ball to left center-field, pulling the Cubs within three runs with two more innings to play.

I started honking my horn and put the pedal to the metal to get home to watch the Cubbies pull off a come-from-behind win.

I hate it when they get my hopes up; it felt like they had lost a playoff game, that's how disappointed I was.

I realize it's just a game against the Orioles, and the Cubs still have a 3.5 game lead over St. Louis, but there was something majestic about a team who hadn't been beaten at the Friendly Confines in 14 games, and I just couldn't believe that it would ever come to an end.

It almost didn't. In fact, it shouldn't have ended.

It's the bottom of the ninth. Geovany Soto got a base hit. DeRosa walked. Daryle Ward got a base hit. Bases loaded with NOBODY out.

A base hit would tie the game (at this point it was 7-5), an extra-base hit would win the game. There was no one out, how could the Orioles possibly escape unscathed from such a patient Cubs team?

Cedeno set the tone for the following two hitters. He swung at every single pitch and struck out. Then something happened that I knew sealed the deal, Kosuke Fukudome, the most patient of the patient Cubs hitters, struck out swinging.

While I was still upset when Blanco struck out after Fukudome, I wasn't surprised.

It was almost like it was a completely different batter from the man who had hit such a long home run in the bottom of the fourth. Fukudome had done so well earlier in the game that I thought there was no way we could possibly lose with him coming up.

On a positive note, a pleasant surprise, in my opinion was Sean Marshall. In four-and-two-thirds innings, he struck out seven, but did give up seven hits. For a pitcher making his first big league start of the season, I give Marshall a thumbs up.

Eric Patterson possibly was the second-biggest disappointment (next to Fukudome striking out in the ninth). Along with doing next to nothing at the plate—to the point where he was lifted for Blanco to pitch hit in the ninth—he came in and called off both Edmonds and DeRosa for a ball DeRo clearly had, and then he dropped it to give the Orioles yet another person in scoring position.

Had the Cubs been more patient in the bottom of the ninth, my drought of not seeing a Cubs win in nearly three weeks would've ended last night, hopefully tonight will be different.

The Cubs home streak ends at 14...Let's start a new one tonight. Go Cubs!