After Thursday’s 8-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cubs are down 0-2, a mere one game from elimination. Their two best starting pitchers, Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly, should be well rested if there comes to be a game 4 and a game 5. Then again after a second straight loss that put them into the 0-2 hole, a game 5 seems very unlikely indeed. But what if they manage another winning streak such as the Boston Red Sox did just a few years ago, when they were down 0-3, also one game from elimination. The Red Sox managed to pull out the 4 games needed to beat the New York Yankees to get into the World Series, and then they won that. So it’s not completely out of the question, but it will be extremely difficult. Their fate rests in the hands of their 27 year old left hander, Rich Hill, who has an 11-8 record and a 3.92 ERA. Hill is to start game 3 at Wrigley Field. According to ESPN sources, “Hill was calm, cool and nibbling an ice cream bar after the loss.” “It’s going to be very exciting,” said Hill, “We’re in a very good position. This isn’t something to look at negatively. I know that sounds strange, but you’ve got to think positively. We’ve been in this situation, it seems, all year. We were way behind at the start of the year, we were chasing the Brewer’s (Milwaukee) for first place, we were behind in a lot of game – that’s something we need to remind ourselves. Coming back, in a way, has defined us a little.”
Lilly had a big part to do with coming back from the Cubs disastrous start. He won seven decisions in a row throughout June and July to keep the team from sinking Pittsburgh depths in the National League Central. On Thursday, however, he pretty much blew the game. To get through only 2 innings, needing only 6 outs, it took 58 pitches!! He threw 79 pitches in 3 ½ innings, only six fewer than Zambrano threw in 6 innings in game 1. “That was a nightmare,” Lilly said. “I don’t care how many games I won in the regular season. It’s the post season that matters.” Lilly can hopefully take comfort in the fact that he set an unofficial record for the hardest thrown pitch in post season history. Geovany Soto called for a curveball, with the count at 3-2, and Lilly shook it off, calling for a fastball. Soto being a rookie, only in the major leagues for only 5 weeks said “I wanted to go with what he was comfortable with. He wanted to go up and in with a fastball.” Unfortunately, Chris Young of the Diamondbacks smashed it, out of the middle of the strike zone, for a 3 run home run, giving the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead that they never relinquished. He reacted terribly, ripping his glove off his hand and throwing it into the pitcher’s mound. Cub’s manager Lou Piniella said “I’ve never seen a pitcher throw their glove like that on the mound.” Lilly says of last night, “I’ve got absolutely no excuses. The fact of the matter is, I didn’t get my job done. I guess if I want to think up some excuses I could come up with some BS. …It’s something I’ll have a hard time with. I certainly want another opportunity.” The only way he will get that opportunity is if the Cubs win the next two games, tying the series at 2-2, as he is not scheduled to pitch again until game 5. We can hope, we can pray, and hopefully the Cubs will get it done. The last time the Cubs won a World Series was 99 years ago, in 1908. If they managed to win this series, they would be a top choice to do that, the same as the Red Sox were when they came back from 0-3 to win the series.
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