2:22: Scott Podsednik begins the game with a successful drag bunt, the Red Sox aren’t too proud to play small ball in an NL park.
2:26: Tons of empty seats around home plate at Wrigley, I guess the crowd is draining those last beers at Cubbie Bear (Cask ‘N Flagon of Wrigleyville) before stumbling over. Regardless, the Red Sox would count this as a sell-out for their fraudulent streak.
2:29: Some kind of two second delay, Youkilis flies out to right field but the crack of the bat takes a moment to happen on the broadcast. Weird, Red Sox waste 1st and 2nd with no outs.
2:32: Nothing says rebuilding year like David DeJesus batting third in your lineup. Yuck, Cubs have very little pop in their batting order.
2:34: Dice-K does the right thing and doesn’t challenge Tony Campana, walking him on five pitches to lead off the game. Can’t allow a great hitter like him beat you.
2:35: Starlin Castro has struck out 49 times and walked only six times this season, Orioles slugger Mark Reynolds thinks he has the right approach at the plate.
2:40: Campana steals third base and Kevin Youkilis doesn’t even bother to cover the bag, he stays in his defensive position to field the poor throw from Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Youk’s trade value really grows by the day.
2:47: Something named Steve Clevenger makes Dice-K pay (walked the bases loaded with a two-run double).
2:48: Classic Dice-K first inning (28 pitches, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 1 hit). We’re still waiting for the gyroball to make an appearance.
2:53: Wrigley has a big streak of brown grass around its outfield, not sure how that’s possible in mid-June. Maybe Theo got rid of the groundskeeper to cut corners.
2:55: Dice-K harmlessly flies out to center to end the second inning, watching AL pitchers at bat will never be anything but hilarious.
2:58:A shot of John Henry and Linda Pizzuti standing in the back of NESN’s booth, looking just about as awkward as you can imagine.
3:03: Dempster had one hit this season but he sliced a triple down the right field line. Adrian Gonzalez made a half-hearted diving attempt to catch it but he had no chance. Dempster’s last triple was in 2002.
3:08: DeJesus proves me wrong with a 2-out RBI single, 3-0 Cubs in the 2nd.
3:09: It seems like a million years ago since Alfonso Soriano (1999-2003) was on the Yankees. It’s like he never missed any games: Dice-K over 50 pitches in the 2nd inning.
3:16: Have Podsednik and Bruins winger Brian Rolston ever been seen in the same room together? They could be twins.
3:17: Not to sound like a dirty old man, butwatching Jenny Dell is honestly one of the only reasons I tune into the Red Sox anymore.
3:18: Don and Jerry mentioned that Adrian Gonzalez was heating up during his first at bat. He’s stuck out twice to start the game, what a miserable season for the former Padre.
3:24: Wow, the bleachers at Wrigley are general admission? That would never work in the Northeast.
3:27: Chicago’s shift is in perfect position on Ortiz but Castro bobbles an easy groundball and Big Papi is safe at first.
3:29: Cubs are 21-42 entering today’s action, in other words they’re a lock to lose 100 games this season.
3:30: Bryan LaHair might be the only person in the history of Worcester to not have a ridiculous Boston accent.
3:31:Salty hits one a long way but Soriano tracks it down just in front of the ivy in left center.
3:35: In less than 4 innings, Dempster has as many hits (2) as the Red Sox. Not exactly how Bobby Valentine drew it up.
3:41: Theo’s booth with all his boys is the life of the party as always, working those Blackberries.
3:43: As you’d expect, the Cubs defense is pretty horrible. 2nd inning in a row that they begin with an error.
3:45: Dice-K fails to bunt properly and strikes out after fouling it off with two strikes.
3:46: Dumb baserunning play by Mike Aviles, who gets caught too far off second base on a grounder to Dempster. Does this team do anything well?
3:50: I guess nobody told Remy not to make a comment on Jerry Sandusky’s trial during promos, yeesh. Might want to leave that one alone RemDawg.
3:53: DeJesus unsuccessfully bunts leading off the bottom of the fifth. Exactly what you want from your No. 3 hitter.
3:56: Remy wants a total renovation of Wrigley Field, “just like Fenway.”
3:58: What do you know, Dice-K has retired 10 of the last 11 batters. Now if only he could do that before his team was in a hole, then we’d have something.
4:12: Dice-K gets a 1-2-3 sixth on seven pitches, haha I give up trying to make sense of him. He’s probably done after retiring 13 of his last 14.
4:16: So predictable that Dempster is dominating the Red Sox today, they can’t do anything against above-average starting pitchers this season.
4:18: Nobody works a walk like Nick Punto (pinch hitting for Dice-K), it’s definitely his biggest strength at this point in his career.
4:23: Dustin Pedroia lines out to right, ending the top of the 7th with runners on 2nd and 3rd.
4:28: Nothing like a David Ortiz to Scott Atchison webgem on an inbetween grounder to first base.
4:30: Not afraid to say that Atchison has been Boston’s best pitcher this season, even though that makes me weep on the inside.
4:37: Red Sox go 1-2-3 in the 8th, 1 inning away from getting blanked by the worst team in baseball.
4:45: Mark Melancon starts the bottom of the 8th and walks DeJesus on 12 pitches.
4:46: Salty guns down DeJesus trying to steal 2nd, that was nice.
4:49: Melancon looks like a different player from his nightmare start in April, good sign for the Red Sox. Although he can’t score them any runs which is their biggest issue at the moment.
4:51: Carlos Marmol has been probably the worst closer in MLB so I expect a 1-2-3 9th for him vs. Boston.
4:53: Salty rips it to third but Luis Valbuena (who?) makes a great diving stop and throw to first to get him out.
4:54: Ryan Sweeney singles with 1 out.
4:56: Valbuena makes an error on a much easier play and Red Sox have runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Daniel Nava (pinch hitting) will be the tying run.
4:58: Nava strikes out looking at a nasty slider, I’m going to say he wasn’t expecting that.
5:00: Podsednik walks, bases loaded for Pedroia with 2 outs. Marmol has thrown 23 pitches already.
5:03: Pedroia hits a tough hop to Valabuena but he gets to 3rd base ahead of Aviles. Tough way to lose, Marmol did everything he could to cough this up. Cubs win 3-0. Chicago made three errors but Boston only had five hits, which will never get it done.
