When Todd Hollandsworth stole a home run from Joe Crede with a leaping catch at the left-field fence of White Sox Park, he seemed to snatch back nothing less than the Cubs’ entire season. The Sox had clobbered the Cubs 12-2 the day before in the opening game of the three-game city-series rematch, as if to assert once and for all that they not only had the best record in baseball but were clearly the class of the town. Sox starter Jose Contreras put his team in a hole in the second game by surrendering a grand slam to Aramis Ramirez in the first inning, but the Sox were mounting a comeback against Greg Maddux with back-to-back homers by Carl Everett and Jermaine Dye. That’s when Hollandsworth made his catch. A.J. Pierzynski was on base on an error, so a Crede homer would have tied the game at four. As it was, Maddux settled down and allowed only two more base runners before turning the game over to the bullpen, and the Cubs wound up with a 6-2 victory.
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The next day Mark Prior returned from a broken arm to outduel Jon Garland in the sort of game that delights baseball purists no matter which side of town they cheer for. Relying on his fastball, Prior mixed in just enough curves to keep the Sox honest–two of them thrown for strikes on 3-1 counts to Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko as both fanned his second time through the Sox lineup–and allowed only Pablo Ozuna’s single over shortstop through six innings. Garland matched his shutout into the sixth, baffling the Cubs’ left-handers with a darting changeup as elusive as a backyard mole, but then Corey Patterson yanked a curve down the right-field line for a homer that put the Cubs up 1-0. The Cubs added another with the help of a Konerko error in the seventh, and their bullpen survived a couple of leadoff walks to hold on for the 2-0 victory that wrapped up the Chicago rivals’ season series at three wins apiece.
Yet the promise of this four-game winning streak turned out to be a mirage. This year, much like last, the Cubs’ lack of fundamentals–their defensive lapses and a general failure to get on base and advance runners–has made them inconsistent even when they string together fine pitching performances, and when the pitching isn’t there they have little hope at all. Maddux was shelled as they lost the final game of the Brewers series 10-6 to end the streak. Prior got knocked around in five innings the following day as the Cubs lost to the Washington Nationals 4-3. Then newcomer Jerome Williams pitched decently but lost 4-2, as the slumping Patterson hamstrung the offense at the top of the order. The Nats, meanwhile, were in the process of establishing themselves as the White Sox of the National League, winning on pitching, defense, and “little ball,” as they went for the sweep and their 50th victory of the season in the finale Sunday.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he replied. “It’s so heartbreaking.”
