Cubs 6
Astros 5
WP: C. Marmol (5-1) S: R. Dempster (25)
LP: C. Qualls (6-4)
Cecil Cooper talks about the Astros’ “gifts”.Regarding being taken out after the 5th, and Cooper saying he was tired, "By no means was I tired," Williams said. "I had [95] pitches and was ready to go on."Baseball is a simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. However, when you aren’t doing all three, it gets very complicated. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Astros up 5-1, runner on 1st no outs. McLemore had just relieved Williams. Kendall hits a bouncing ground ball just to the left of 2nd. Tailor made double play written all over it. Bruntlett is in position, but the ball takes one last bounce off the indifferently maintained Chicago infield and shoots sharply to his left. Instead of staying in front, he tried to spin and play the ball off to his side. He missed it and everyone was safe. The Cubs load the bases on a walk and the game slipped out of the Astros hands.
Another cliché about baseball is that the defense controls the ball. Bruntlett’s error put the control into the Cubs hands.
Of course, the loss wasn’t completely Bruntlett’s fault. Just as Saturday, when,
Pence and Sampson were both trying to take blame Qualls was also explaining that his sinker to Derek Lee in the 8th didn’t sink.
