OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - OOTP 7 Dynasty: Cubby Blue & Wrigley Field

DawnBTVS · 03-10-2008, 10:04 AM

Kevin Tapani will be trying to lead our squad to its 2nd road win although our offense has been poor for the season with a .639 OPS and .283 OBP. Not exactly numbers that correlate to lots of runs scored.

Things start off with a fly out from Mark Grace while Brian McRae strikes out, further showing off a weakness with this team. We have 31 walks against 101 strikeouts and that's largely killing us during offensive opportunities as well. Tyler Houston flies out to end the first inning and I'm hoping that Tapani has something in the tank this afternoon.

First batter: Lance Johnson lines a shot past Grace to get on first. A wild pitch moves him to second but Edgardo Alfonzo flies out to center. Olerud advances the runner on a ground out and up steps Todd Hundley hitting a robust .300/.391/.450 at home. I choose to pitch around him and get the grounder back to Tapani for the third out.

In amazement, Sammy Sosa starts the second inning off with a 9 pitch single and the best part is that after being in an 0-2 hole, he showed patience and saw 3 straight balls outside. Strong at bat, Sammy. My brain almost stops processing as Brant Brown follows that up with another single, this off an 8 pitch at bat. Could it be? These guys are getting it? That's 17 pitches resulting in 2 singles. Now we have runners on first and second with Tony Batista up. He flies out to deep right center but Sosa advances to third. We plate the first run with a ground out by Dunston but he beats the throw to avoid the double play.

I'm particularly pleased as we worked Armando Reynoso over 40 pitches thanks to that second inning. Now that's what an efficient offense is supposed to do but then again we're the Cubs so supposed is completely forgotten by the time the game starts.

Trouble rears its head for Tapani thanks to a single by Jim Eisenreich and double by Tomberlin. Tapani smoothly gets out of the jam of two runners in scoring position with a strikeout and slow roller and it occurs to me that we've managed to keep a one run lead for longer than a half inning.

Nothing much happens in the top of the third for us but Tapani did reach base on a single so he has that going for him. The bottom of the third goes smoothly despite a 9 pitch walk to Edgardo Alfonzo because it was followed by a double play grounder from John Olerud. After last night's fiasco from Mulholland it's nice to see one of our starting pitchers giving us some solid innings although it's only been three and I'm probably jinxing the game now.

We again don't do anything but what pleases me is that after only 4 innings, Armando Reynoso is up to 71 pitches on the night. Bottom of the fourth Tapani does his thing, getting his second strikeout of the game in the process and I'm really wishing our offense would start coming around soon. Both teams have 3 hits but that one run isn't filling me with hope that we can sustain such a commanding lead.

The fifth inning sees both offenses continuing to sputter along and we enter the top of the sixth with Armando Reynoso at 81 pitches (68% for strikes which is great to see). Just to prove my point, Mark Grace starts things off with a walk, the first of the night for our team. Brian McRae grounds out bringing up Tyler Houston.

Armando Reynoso has been really getting worked on by the offense of the Chicago Cubs, even if he's only held them to three hits. Up in the box is Tyler Houston, hitting .294 on the year and .407 on the road in 27 at bats. It's a 2-1 count in favor of Houston. Mark Grace at second, taking a small lead. A fastball towards the outside of the plate and Houston makes contact! Eisenreich's charging hard, he's at the wall and leaps but it's a hair too late! The Cubs take a 3-0 lead thanks to Tyler Houston's first home run on the year.

Sammy Sosa and Brant Brown proceed to get outs to end the inning but do so with 14 pitches between them. Awesome job.

Kevin Tapani continues to get help from the defense and the sixth inning ends with him at 74 pitches while the Mets are calling on Yorkis Perez to start off the seventh. Shawon Dunston winds up at second off an error and with one out, Dave Hansen strikes out on 8 pitches. The .250 average of Kevin Tapani strikes fear in all and results in an RBI single, driving in the fourth run of the game for us. You know it's a good day when the starting pitcher is contributing to his own success at the plate too.

Trouble again appears in the latter half of the seventh with a base hit by Butch Huskey and Jim Eisenreich. Kevin Tapani buckles down and proceeds to strike out Tomberlin but the shutout is broken up thanks to an RBI single by Carlos Baerga. He comes to strike out Matt Franco and the inning's over before anymore damage can happen.

After a nothing top of the eighth, I call on Kent Bottenfield to bring us through into the ninth. Lance Johnson flies out and Edgardo Alfonzo pops out to Tony Batista. John Olerud works a walk and suddenly we gets runners on second and third thanks to an error off the bat of Todd Hundley. Thankfully the inning ends with Butch Huskey flying out and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

The only thing of note in our ninth is Kent Bottenfield scoring Shawon Dunston with an RBI single to push our lead to four runs.

Tim Worrell comes in to close things out. He walks Jim Eisenreich on 7 pitches and then muffs an easy grounder from Tomberlin to put runners on first and second with no outs. We get a force out at second and runners are now at the corners. Bernard Gilkey strikes out on a fastball at the knees and Lance Johnson takes 8 pitches and works a walk to load the bases. I call on Mel Rojas to get us one out and the victory with the tying run at the plate in Edgardo Alfonzo.

Four straight pitches and my bullpen's lost all sense of control. Another walk and one run scores, cutting the lead to 5-2. Up steps John Olerud hitting .171/.213/.286 on the year so I have some hope that he'll hit a weak fly ball. He promptly gets plunked in the back and my lead's suddenly down to only two runs. Guh!

Turk Wendell comes in to try and get the final out after Rojas couldn't even get one out and allowed two runs to score. It takes 5 pitches but Todd Hundley flies out harmlessly to center field to end the game.

CHC 5 NYM 3
WP: Kevin Tapani (2-0) 7.0 IP, 6 HA, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K
LP: Armando Reynoso (2-1) 6.0 IP, 4 HA, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K
S: Turk Wendell (1) 0.1 IP, 0 HA, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Game Ball goes to Tyler Houston who helped break the game open with the two run home run and continues to be one of our more proficient hitters.

03-10-2008, 10:04 AM	#28 (permalink)
DawnBTVS Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sudbury, MA Posts: 145	I hear the Big Apple appears after a home run Kevin Tapani will be trying to lead our squad to its 2nd road win although our offense has been poor for the season with a .639 OPS and .283 OBP. Not exactly numbers that correlate to lots of runs scored. Things start off with a fly out from Mark Grace while Brian McRae strikes out, further showing off a weakness with this team. We have 31 walks against 101 strikeouts and that's largely killing us during offensive opportunities as well. Tyler Houston flies out to end the first inning and I'm hoping that Tapani has something in the tank this afternoon. First batter: Lance Johnson lines a shot past Grace to get on first. A wild pitch moves him to second but Edgardo Alfonzo flies out to center. Olerud advances the runner on a ground out and up steps Todd Hundley hitting a robust .300/.391/.450 at home. I choose to pitch around him and get the grounder back to Tapani for the third out. In amazement, Sammy Sosa starts the second inning off with a 9 pitch single and the best part is that after being in an 0-2 hole, he showed patience and saw 3 straight balls outside. Strong at bat, Sammy. My brain almost stops processing as Brant Brown follows that up with another single, this off an 8 pitch at bat. Could it be? These guys are getting it? That's 17 pitches resulting in 2 singles. Now we have runners on first and second with Tony Batista up. He flies out to deep right center but Sosa advances to third. We plate the first run with a ground out by Dunston but he beats the throw to avoid the double play. I'm particularly pleased as we worked Armando Reynoso over 40 pitches thanks to that second inning. Now that's what an efficient offense is supposed to do but then again we're the Cubs so supposed is completely forgotten by the time the game starts. Trouble rears its head for Tapani thanks to a single by Jim Eisenreich and double by Tomberlin. Tapani smoothly gets out of the jam of two runners in scoring position with a strikeout and slow roller and it occurs to me that we've managed to keep a one run lead for longer than a half inning. Nothing much happens in the top of the third for us but Tapani did reach base on a single so he has that going for him. The bottom of the third goes smoothly despite a 9 pitch walk to Edgardo Alfonzo because it was followed by a double play grounder from John Olerud. After last night's fiasco from Mulholland it's nice to see one of our starting pitchers giving us some solid innings although it's only been three and I'm probably jinxing the game now. We again don't do anything but what pleases me is that after only 4 innings, Armando Reynoso is up to 71 pitches on the night. Bottom of the fourth Tapani does his thing, getting his second strikeout of the game in the process and I'm really wishing our offense would start coming around soon. Both teams have 3 hits but that one run isn't filling me with hope that we can sustain such a commanding lead. The fifth inning sees both offenses continuing to sputter along and we enter the top of the sixth with Armando Reynoso at 81 pitches (68% for strikes which is great to see). Just to prove my point, Mark Grace starts things off with a walk, the first of the night for our team. Brian McRae grounds out bringing up Tyler Houston. Armando Reynoso has been really getting worked on by the offense of the Chicago Cubs, even if he's only held them to three hits. Up in the box is Tyler Houston, hitting .294 on the year and .407 on the road in 27 at bats. It's a 2-1 count in favor of Houston. Mark Grace at second, taking a small lead. A fastball towards the outside of the plate and Houston makes contact! Eisenreich's charging hard, he's at the wall and leaps but it's a hair too late! The Cubs take a 3-0 lead thanks to Tyler Houston's first home run on the year. Sammy Sosa and Brant Brown proceed to get outs to end the inning but do so with 14 pitches between them. Awesome job. Kevin Tapani continues to get help from the defense and the sixth inning ends with him at 74 pitches while the Mets are calling on Yorkis Perez to start off the seventh. Shawon Dunston winds up at second off an error and with one out, Dave Hansen strikes out on 8 pitches. The .250 average of Kevin Tapani strikes fear in all and results in an RBI single, driving in the fourth run of the game for us. You know it's a good day when the starting pitcher is contributing to his own success at the plate too. Trouble again appears in the latter half of the seventh with a base hit by Butch Huskey and Jim Eisenreich. Kevin Tapani buckles down and proceeds to strike out Tomberlin but the shutout is broken up thanks to an RBI single by Carlos Baerga. He comes to strike out Matt Franco and the inning's over before anymore damage can happen. After a nothing top of the eighth, I call on Kent Bottenfield to bring us through into the ninth. Lance Johnson flies out and Edgardo Alfonzo pops out to Tony Batista. John Olerud works a walk and suddenly we gets runners on second and third thanks to an error off the bat of Todd Hundley. Thankfully the inning ends with Butch Huskey flying out and I can breathe a sigh of relief. The only thing of note in our ninth is Kent Bottenfield scoring Shawon Dunston with an RBI single to push our lead to four runs. Tim Worrell comes in to close things out. He walks Jim Eisenreich on 7 pitches and then muffs an easy grounder from Tomberlin to put runners on first and second with no outs. We get a force out at second and runners are now at the corners. Bernard Gilkey strikes out on a fastball at the knees and Lance Johnson takes 8 pitches and works a walk to load the bases. I call on Mel Rojas to get us one out and the victory with the tying run at the plate in Edgardo Alfonzo. Four straight pitches and my bullpen's lost all sense of control. Another walk and one run scores, cutting the lead to 5-2. Up steps John Olerud hitting .171/.213/.286 on the year so I have some hope that he'll hit a weak fly ball. He promptly gets plunked in the back and my lead's suddenly down to only two runs. Guh! Turk Wendell comes in to try and get the final out after Rojas couldn't even get one out and allowed two runs to score. It takes 5 pitches but Todd Hundley flies out harmlessly to center field to end the game. CHC 5 NYM 3 WP: Kevin Tapani (2-0) 7.0 IP, 6 HA, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K LP: Armando Reynoso (2-1) 6.0 IP, 4 HA, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K S: Turk Wendell (1) 0.1 IP, 0 HA, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Game Ball goes to Tyler Houston who helped break the game open with the two run home run and continues to be one of our more proficient hitters. Last edited by DawnBTVS : 03-10-2008 at 10:07 AM.