Cubs Win, Cubs Win

The Cubs beat the Brewers 6-3 today, in front of a capacity crowd (12,726) at Hohokam Stadium. Cubs pitchers did a nice job overall against a Milwaukee Brewer team that came into today’s game with a National League best .333 batting average. Jason Marquis started today’s game and went 4 innings, allowing one run on 6 hits, one walk, and 2 K’s. Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and a walk. Ryan Dempster looked sharp in a one, two, three inning, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced. Les Walrond and Rocky Cherry each pitched a scoreless inning with Cherry striking out the side in the 9th for the save. Cubs Sean Gallagher gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in his one inning pitched.

Jake Fox belted a pinch-hit 3 run homer in the 6th inning for the Cubs, giving the team a HR in 11 straight games this spring. Aramis Ramirez and Tyler Colvin chipped in with 2 hits apiece. Cubs hitters entered the game with a .320 team batting average, good for 2nd amongst N.L. teams and a sizzling .361 average over the last 7 games. Defensively, Alfonso Soriano made a nice running catch in left center, while Michael Barrett made a strong throw, gunning down Cory Hart’s attempted steal in the second inning.

Hohokam beer dispensing giant “Mark the Beer Guy” led the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch. The Cubs will be in Scottsdale tomorrow to play the San Francisco Giants.