Reznet

Down-and-Out Cubs

By Candace Begody

DES MOINES, Iowa –The Iowa Cubs extended their losing streak to three games after the visiting New Orleans Zephyrs won, 9-3, in the final meeting of a four-game series June 10 at Principal Park.

The Cubs (36-26) stumbled after winning the first game in the series. The Zephyrs (33-31) outscored the Cubs, 46-15, over the past three games, the last of which drew a crowd announced at 8,401.

In the first inning, Ryan O'Malley, a lefty, sent the Zephyrs Anderson Hernandez and Jason Alfaro around the diamond, each for a homerun lap, giving the Zephyrs a 2-0 lead.

"I really tried to work on taking it pitch to pitch," O'Malley said after the game. "They were a good hitting team. We just had to tip our hats to their hitting."

O'Malley's manager shook his head in disappointment.

"They killed us," said Buddy Bailey, with emphasis on the "killed" part. "Anytime you give away homeruns to the other team in the first inning, the players lose some confidence.

"We didn't pitch very well from the beginning," he said, "and lost the momentum early on." The Zephyrs scored twice more in the third inning to lead, 4-0.

With several opportunities to score, the Cubs struggled to chalk up even one run. In their first good chance to score at the bottom of the third inning, the Cubs loaded the bases with two outs. But Micah Hoffpauir's strikeout sent him and his teammates back to the dugout and ended the inning, Zephyrs still leading, 4-0.

In the fourth inning the Cubs scored their first run. Right-fielder Buck Coats raced to home plate on a field error by Zephyrs second baseman, Eric Patterson.

In response, the Zephyrs did more than make up for that last run.
They took control in the fifth inning, scoring another four runs and giving them a lead, 8-1.

"I've never seen anything quite like it," said left fielder Mike Kinkade, who was dismissed from the game in fifth inning after disputing an umpire's call. The Zephyrs pitcher, he said, "came up with good ways to get them out of those jams," when the bases were loaded.

The Cubs then scored a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings. Third baseman Scott Moore sent a homerun out of the park toward the Des Moines River. But still, the Cubs didn't catch their opponents.

"We're going to get cold spells," Kinkade said, "and that's what we're going through now. We'll get them next time."

The Cubs will have their shot at settling the score when the Zephyrs return July 4 to Principal Park for a five-game series.

Candace Begody, Navajo, is a student at the University of Arizona, Tucson. She is a graduate of the Freedom Forum's 2007 American Indian Journalism Institute and interned as a reporter at the Missoulian newspaper in Missoula, Mont.