The Champions losing streak reached ten games after losing the 1st game in Kentucky. Keith’s Kentucky Kernels had to wait in their kar for the Armageddon rain to stop. Smitty stayed ahead of the storm all the way from St. Charles, but an accident by Kimball enabled the storm to catchup. The nimble skipper had to dodge raindrops & had to leap over the raging waters which were quickly approaching the curb top.
It was a very hard fought series with Kentucky taking the first game 4-3 in ten. Game #1: Alfonso Soriano scored from third on a passed ball with two outs in the bottom of the tenth. Game #2: Three Champ longballs, 2 by Swish & 1 by V-Mart, 3-2 Chicago. Game #3: Andre Ethier crushes a Papa Grande fastball for a walkoff and another 10 inning Kentucky winner winner chicken dinner. Game #4: Champs busted out the whopping sticks, scoring 12, 5 homers (including one by Buehrle, gotta love the pitcher’s hitting card), Mark also held the Kernels scoreless till allowing a 4 spot in the 9th. Game #5: Three Kentucky first inning runs proved to be the difference in a 5-2 win as Joel Pineiro allowed 2 meaningless 9th inning runs.
Then it was time to bring it on home to Crackerjack Park. Game #6: In a marquee pitching matchup Jered Weaver outdueled Tim Lincecum in the 6th game, 2-1, and Kentucky had a two game lead with three games to play. It was time to suck it up, regroup, and grind out some wins. The Champs took a win at all costs mindset to the ballpark. Game #7: Brett Myers controlled the game for 7 innings, allowing two runs on a 4th inning Soriano big fly, the Champions scored five runs without the benefit of a home run, and won 5-2 (2 RBI’s from Fowler, 2 more from Escobar, & one from pinch-hitter Francoeur).
Game #8: This was a defining game. Chicago was dead through seven innings, trailing 3-0. Then Victor nailed a 2 run 8th inning tater off Mike Leake. Carlos Lee lined a leadoff single to open the 9th, on came Andrew Bailey, with one out Gordon Beckham doubled, sending El Caballo to third base. Head scratching time, why was Grady Sizemore not brought in to run for Lee with the tying run? Now Sizemore was called on to run, would it be too little too late? It was time for the team to pickup their manager and Alicides Escobar came through with a sac fly. In the 10th, Buckeye Nick Swisher hit a second column walkoff to knot the series at four. There was a point in this game (bottom of the 5th) when the plug was almost pulled on Matt Cain, in favor of long reliever mopup man, Josh Beckett.
In the series finale Chicago was leading 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, before busting the game wide open off Ryan Madson (a double by Swish, an RBI single by A-Rod, a single by Lee, and a three run bomb by Bombon Olivo, how big was that!?! Pinch-hitter Ian Stewart tacked on another three run big fly, the Champs were signaled for piling on, and cruised behind rookie lefthander Madison Bumgarner to a 10-2 win, and a series 5-4 win, whew, that was easy!!!