Week 11

Red Sox 11, Cubs 8
Sunday, July 27 @ Yetter Memorial Field, Wass Park, Lower Allen Township

Matt LaBuda did it all for the Red Sox in his return to action, leading the Sox with his bat, his glove and finally his arm. He even brought a quart of Rita's Water Ice to share with the team on a hot day against a tough Cubs team.

LaBuda missed last week with an ankle injury, and showed up for the game against the Cubs with a noticeable limp. But in his first at bat Sunday, he blasted a 3-run homer over the leftfield fence (see video below). In his next at bat, he ripped a single to drive in Kirk Strous, who had tripled. Next time up, the Cubs intentionally walked LaBuda to load the bases, setting up Matt Eckenrode's fluke infield pop that fell untouched and plated 2 runs.

LaBuda started the game at shortstop and made several nice plays. Meanwhile, the Sox built an 8-1 lead behind starting pitcher Keith Humes. Humes' defense let him down in the 6th, and Eckenrode came on in relief.

The Cubs battled all the way back, and loaded the bases with no outs in the 9th and the tying run on third. LaBuda came in and struck out the first two batters, then gave up a ground single to right to tie the game. But Humes fired home and nailed the potential winning run to send the game to extra innings.

Jerry McKeon led off the 10th with a bunt single and stole second. Dave Strock then doubled deep to centerfield to put the Sox back on top. Bill Miller later singled in a run, and Kirk Strous added a sacrifice fly to give the Sox some breathing room. LaBuda got 3 ground balls in the bottom of the 10th to close out the victory.

Lance Strous made a great grab of a foul pop up behind the plate. John Lindholm had a base hit, ran down a deep drive to centerfield, and filled in flawlessly at firstbase over the final 2 innings of the game. Michael Plank had 2 hits, a walk and a stolen base, and Gary Dubas, one of many Sox playing with nagging injuries, made a couple of nice grabs in rightfield and collected a beautiful bunt single (see video below).



The Sox greet Matt LaBuda at the plate after his 3-run homer.



Gary Dubas drops a perfect bunt down the third base line.

1 comment:

- said...

Oh, and I almost forgot -- LaBuda even tried to help out the Cubs by grabbing an errant toss while he was coaching firstbase...