farnsworth in for prior eduardo perez pinch hitting for stephenson. 96 mph first pitch sent to short on a grounder, one out.

eli marrero who was just activated off the DL pinch hits. prior 131 pitches, 80 strikes, 5 hits, no runs. eli hits a shot off farnsworth into the outfield. almost off kyles back.

he licks his fingers and gets back on the mound. SS bob hart with one out and man on first. cubs up by seven. bo uses a red bat 0-2. im not sure about red bats. outside pitch caught hart looking with that red bat on his shoulder. called third strike.

here it is, could be the last out of the game. former cub and brave joe girardi pinch hits. only 17 abs this year. likable catcher. was also a yankee. 0-2 everyone on their feet. me too. i sit back down to type and tell you it was fouled off.

cards have never been shut out on the road this year. until now. high fastball swung, missed.

cubs win cubs win. cubs just a game and a half back.

madpony

karros sends a shot to center, gives the fans a thrill but its out. pulled in by your pal so who replaces edmonds in center. one out.

first pitch single for ramirez. 16th hit of the game.

miller hits one back to the pitcher, double play.

cubs lead 7-0 going into the ninth.

will prior pitch? will it be farnsworth?

glenn reynolds

cairo batting for the first time. prior still on the mound. 1-1 fly ball lazy to sammy in right. one out.

sammy tells the bleach bums theres only one out. vina up. its eight thirty pm in chicago, single to left. eight thirty and the game tomorrow is at noon, i wonder if the players will go out for some drinks. my guess is yes. especially the cubs.

palmerio is 1-3 today, two balls. kerry robinson on deck. he hit the walk off homer in st. louis last week. ball three to orlando. prior has 120 pitches. larry rothchild the cubs pitching coach is on the phone. the bullpen stirs. strike one. kyle farnsworth with the 98 mph heat gets up. ball four.

robinson is up. the catcher to the mound. now rothchild. now the ump. the ump wants to go out tonight. one strike to robinson. now two. two men on one out, 0-2. if this was any other lousy place theyd be doing the wave. no wave at wrigley. outside, just missed. 1-2. crazy sinking curve, swinging, missing, seventh k.

so taguchi is up. yes thats how you spell it. japanese. 19 abs this year. little fella. long long shirt sleeves. wears stripes on his socks hung low. 1-1 now ball low 2-1. my back hurts. i need a laptop. so fouls it off. imagine what i could do if i didnt have to work for a living. the crowd gets riled up. no wave. fouled off by my man so. 2-2, two outs. will he throw a strike? yes, theres that wicked curve over the plate that just rainbows over. he swings but where do you swing?

eight strike outs for prior. cards 0 cubs 7

jeff jarvis and the buzz machine

prior hitting for himself drives the second pitch up the middle for his second hit of the game.

top of the order up. lofton a hit to left. prior to second. theyre going all the way which is why we’re doing this. tonight was the turn around.

bo hart comes in at short for the cards.

womack brings it to 1-1. 1-2 after a foul ball. before mlb held up the cubs when they had an interim mayor after harold washington was shot there wouldnt have been lights at wrigley meaning this game wouldnt be going on right now becasue of the dark clouds. and even though the cubs are winning this big big game it would be ok with me if i never happened if it meant no lights at wrigley. womack strikes out.

sammy drives it deep to left but that wind only will let one homer tonight. its a long out.

38, 400 fans at the game. alou sends it to a full count. first and second the runners will be off with the pitch. line drive to pujols in deep left. cards 0 cubs 7

science blog

cubs have a terrible bullpen. former yankee tino martinez takes the second pitch gently to left for one out.

edgar renteria comes up. hes 0-2 in this game. very dark skinned. wears red puma shoes. clean shaven. 80 mph curve in the dirt. 81 curve over the outside corner for a strike. swings, misses, fifth strikeout for prior. he has 190 ks this season. third in the NL. kerry wood is leads the league.

matheny goes 0-2 in the blink of a lash. crowd on their feet. 113th pitch gets matheney swinging at ghosts.

steve cochran and his kids sing “take me out to the ball game.”

the kids ask the cubs to get some runs, but theyve given you seven.

hosemonster

miguel caio substitutes for rolen at third. 86 mph something for a ball. hanging fastball to karros, long fly to left in the wind, pujols turns its back. its gone! eric karros with his 11th home run.

aramis ramirez with a flyout to center.

karros’s homer went 360 feet. cubs are up seven nothing. sepi left a comment, thank you sepi. single to left for hernandez. cubs are taking batting practice now.

damian miller with the first pitch grounder to third to second to first. double play but the cubs scored another one. cardinals 0 cubs 7.

sepi

best hitter in baseball. 2-2. pujols has a 6-game hitting streak, the count goes full. dusty baker is the cubs manager. he managed san francisco for years. tony larussa managed the oakland a’s for years, hes the cardinal manager. 95 mph fastball goes foul. i could really use some chocolate. popped foul, eric karros near the catcher out. one out.

edmonds takes it to 2-0 and then 3-0. prior has looked like the balls were wet all day. high ball four. second walk for prior. rolen who has made two errors is up next.

rolen 1-1. prior has to be close to 100 pitches. groundball to second, to short and over to first, 4-6-3 the pitchers best friend and the cardinals are done. cards 0 cubs 6

alfred has my back.

sammy sends a screamer through short for a single on the first pitch.

alou goes 1-2. cubs play st. lous, milwaukee and montreal, montreal games will be played in puerto rico. why cant i be going there? 2-2- to alou, shot to right, sosa around second, edmonds isnt throwing, then he is, good throw to third but it pulls the thirdbaseman off a few feet, sammy chugging long slide, dont break your leg sammy, safe at third. alou to second with a double.

1-1 to karros. slow curve over the plate, strike looking 1-2. karros waits for the pitch then asks for time. karros wears batting gloves. fouled off. why on earth would i want to be going to work tomorrow. drive through second barely touched by vina, sammy scores, alou rounds third but holds up, throw to the plate no body was running. crowd cheers, cubs score their first run.

runners at the corners nobody out for aramis ramirez. curve ball down and low, ball one. how many pitches does woody williams have. foul off behind the cards dugout. it says welcome to the friendly confines of wrigley field on it. ball two. 2-1. theyre holding karos on at first. 3-1 bottom of the 5th. that was williams’ 100th pitch, thank you. full count to ramirez. jeff faserro takes his jacket off in the lackidazical st. louis dugout. ball four to ramirez.

dave duncan slowly comes out of the dugout to get his bullpen going. theres no outs, bases full. the umpire allows a good long talk. faserro is a lefty. williams stays in the game. martinez up bases loaded. sinker low, 1-0. williams has 14 wins. ball two. williams won his 14th game 7 games ago. long foul to right. theyre clapping lets go cubs. martinez sends it through the hole between third and short, one run scores. bases loaded karros on third. damian miller up. miller is two for two, long drive to right almost over his head, out, karos tags, third run scored. cards 0 cubs 3.

one out for mark prior with runners at the corners. a nice fly ball would do the trick. takes the second pitch for a strike, 0-2, check bunt, appealed, ball. 1-2 to the cub cy young candidate the second year phenom mark prior, base hit over the shortstop, run scores for prior, what a great swing. thats it for williams.

10 hits in four and a third with two strike outs for woody williams. former cub jeff fassero will come in to relieve. cards 0 cubs 3 we’re still in the fifth.

lofton check swing to rolen, takes a bad hop off his chest bounces past the mound, run scores, its called an error.

fassero against womack now. first and second with one out and sammy on deck. strike one. cubs are up 5 zip. too eager swing on the second pitch makes it 0-2. lefty vs lefty. same pitch this time in the dirt. ball one. 1-2. high and outside evens it up. cubs fans hate the cardinals. cards lead the league in blown saves with 27. ball low, full count. sammy sosa is known for his home runs, hes on deck. that means hes next. slicing ball to left, its fair! womack with a double, 6-0. cubs have batted around. sammy is up. the wet crowd cheers.

sammy takes the first strike. hes batting .297 with 31 homers. catcher sets up inside, sammy pulls it foul. 82 mph left handed sweeping curve strikes sammy out in slow mo. two outs. alou first pitch pops up to right. two men left, but six scored after 11 cubs went to bat. cardinals 0 cubs 6.

folded space + amy rules america

card catcher matheny against prior who has 74 pitches going ito the inning. 2-2. cardinals have a rough rest of the season and it starts with this series against the cubs, easy single to right, sammy picks it up.

woody williams comes up. williams shows bunt, lays down a totally perfect bunt feet in front of home, they barely get him at first. one out the slow running catcher at second.

vina batting .263 comes up from the left side. shot to short dives, comes up, long throw to get the speedy vina who was injured with a hamstring, stretch by karos, out by a half step. runner to third with two outs. crowd cheers because palmeiro is up and his first name isnt rafael.

prior nearly hits orlando with the second pitch at the belt. 1-1 with pujols on deck. swinging strike on a bad pitch, crowd cheering gains to encourage the strike out, foul ball as palmerio loses his bat behind him on the follow through. crowd is standing. man is on third. inside pitch jams him but he fouls it back. then another foul. fly ball to left, alou moves to his right your left and nabs it. cards 0 cubs 0

jaime

martinez takes it to 2-1. then 3-1. williams hasnt walked anyone today. line shot down the left field line, just foul. the crowd was excited. it takes the organ a while to settle down. full count. then ball four. crowd cheers.

no outs, cub catcher damien miller up. last year he was a diamond back. 85 mph curve swung at 0-1. next one fouled back. next one fouled to deep right. organ keeps people clapping. the lights are on. inside curve too inside. 1-2. people chant lets go cubs. outside fastball just outside called a ball. 2-2. throw to first. safe. outside curve shot up the middle while the runner was moving, vina with the glovespectacularilly, underhand flips it to renteria who is running towards second but its over his head, it bounces over to behind third, everyone is safe. first and second for prior no out.

prior lays down a perfect bunt off a high pitch, runners advance, prior out at first, crowd cheers. great bunt. one out.

infield in for lofton who bats from the left side. 1-1 after a foul ball. williams on the mound has a red beard, short flyball to center no one tags. edmonds has a good arm and the wind blew it in. two outs.

two men on two outs in the chicago night in the friendly confines. tony womack who came over from arizona is up with sammy sosa on deck. two quick balls to womack. card pitching coach comes out to remind woody williams that sammy sosa doesnt hit well off woody so dont give tony anything good. fastball right down the middle taken for a strike. that was something good. inside pitch almost hits him 3-1. the clouds look heavy with dreams and rain. high high pitch swung at, full count with first base open. and sammy on deck. foul terriroty pujols with one hand on the cubs dugout catches it, cubs leave two more. cards 0 cubs 0

raymi is innocent