Cubs 1992 Season-Game 98
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Chicago Cubs 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 2
- WP: Greg Maddux (13-8)
- LP: Doug Drabek (8-8)
- Save: Jeff Robinson (1)
July 27th, 1991
Wrigley Field.
Entering the 3-game series against the two-time Eastern Division-winning Pirates, the Cubs were in 5th place, with a 46-51 record, trailing the Pirates by 6 1/2 games. This game would spark a three-game sweep that briefly had Cub fans thinking that their team was prepared to make a run for the playoffs.
The Setup
Pittsburgh was the 800 lb. gorilla of the National League East, having won the division in each of the previous two seasons. However, in both of those seasons Pittsburgh was sent home in the NLCS, first by Cincinnati in 1990, and then by Atlanta in 1991.
By this game, Pittsburgh were struggling, entering the 3-game set at Wrigley, having lost 6 of 9 games. One week earlier, the Pirates and Cubs had split a four game series at Three Rivers Stadium.
The Cubs, who had been the last team before Pittsburgh to win the NL East when they captured the flag in '89, still had a relatively decent nucleus of players that had been brought in to the organization by Dallas Green, who had been gone from the organization for over four seasons. The Cubs lineup on this day had included Joe Girardi, Mark Grace, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Doug Dascenzo, Derrick May and starting pitcher Greg Maddux all of whom had been drafted, signed, or acquired in a trade by the Cubs on Green's watch. The only player in the lineup that was acquired by the since-departed Jim Frey was Rey Sanchez, a journeyman middle infielder. Frey's damage to the organization was taking a while to take root and, in the meantime, the Cubs still had a slightly average ballclub.
Frey's successor--Larry Himes--was responsible for the only other player in the lineup, Sammy Sosa, acquired on the eve of the '92 season, Himes' first as Cubs' GM after having served in the same role for the crosstown White Sox from 1987-1990.
Although the Cubs were struggling along at 46-51, their 4-game split with the Pirates in Pittsburgh the previous week had given the team confidence. Maddux was leading the lead in pitching, and Mike Morgan was in the midst of what would turn out to be one of his finest seasons in the big leagues. Additionally, Sosa was returning from an injury he had suffered after getting hit on the wrist by Montreal's Dennis Martinez on May 12th. The exciting Sosa, playing centerfield, was still at the beginning of his Cubs career.
The pitching matchup ensured that the series would get off on the right foot, as Maddux, who would eventually go on to win his first of what would turn out to be 4 consecutive Cy Young Awards, was set to face off against Drabek, who had won the award in 1990.
A See-Saw Battle Through 6
With two outs in the top of the first, Maddux served up a solo home run to Pittsburgh's Andy Van Slyke, giving Pittsburgh and Drabek an early 1-0 lead.
Sosa, playing in his first game in eleven weeks, led off the bottom half of the first inning by homering off of Drabek to quickly even the score.
Neither team scored in the second and third innings. In the fourth, Pittsburgh re-took the lead when catcher Mike LaValliere singled home Jeff King. Drabek put the Cubs down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning and Pittsburgh led 2-1 after four.
In the bottom of the fifth, Maddux kept the inning alive with a two-out single off of Drabek. This single moved Derrick May into scoring position at second base. This proved critical, as it kept the inning alive for Sosa, who promptly singled home May, tying the game for the second time in the evening.
Both teams went three up and three down in the 6th inning.
The Last Three Innings
Maddux danced out of trouble in the seventh and the eighth innings. In the seventh, he escaped damage when he struck out Jay Bell with runners on first and second. In the 8th, Maddux loaded the bases with only one out before coming back to strike out LaValliere and getting Chico Lind to fly out to end the inning. Heading into the bottom of the 8th, the game was tied at 2.
In the eighth, Sosa once again proved central to the action, as he singled with one out off Drabek. Sandberg singled Sosa to second and Grace drew a walk, loading the bases for Kal Daniels. Daniels put the Cubs up for the first time all night by hitting a deep sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Sosa.
After 8 innings, the Cubs led 3-2.
The Final Frame
The Cubs had an unsettled closer situation. Early in the season, Chuck McElroy had taken a stab at it before struggling. By early June, rookie Jim Bullinger came on, pitching well enough to earn National League Pitcher of the Week honors. Eventually, however, Bullinger also faltered. After Bullinger, the Cubs tried Bob Scanlan with mixed success. In this game, Cubs manager Jim Lefebrve elected to go with journeyman Jeff Robinson.
Robinson rewarded his manager's faith in him by going 1-2-3 in the ninth, securing his first (and what turn out to be his only) save of the season. The Cubs had shaved a game off of Pittsburgh's lead and were now 5 1/2 games behind the Pirates.
Postscript
The Cubs continued to stay hot, knocking Pittsburgh out 11-1 the next day. [Cubs 1992 Season-Game 100|The final game of the series] went 11 innings, before Sosa hit a game-winning walk-off homerun off of Pittsburgh reliever Stan Belinda. The three-game sweep had Cub fans in euphoria--in spite of the fact that they merely owned a 49-51 record. Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko--as big a die-hard Cub fan around at the time--took the fans and media to task for lowering the standards of excellence by celebrating as if the Cubs had won the pennant when they weren't even .500 in his article published a day after the series had ended.
Royko would prove correct, as the Cubs lost two of three in Shea Stadium to the Mets the subsequent weekend, and eventually faded from legitimate contention. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, who had fallen into a first-place tie with Montreal after the sweep, made some major changes, calling up several youngsters (including young knuckleballer Tim Wakefield) from the minor leagues. Jim Leyland's club managed to right the ship, regaining sole possession of first place on July 31st and remained there for the rest of the season, clinching their third consecutive Eastern Divison Title.
External Links
Game information available at Retrosheet
