The Cubs may have found their closer for 2007. Just one day after Ryan Dempster gave up a game-winning hit in the ninth inning, Scott Eyre surrendered the lead in the eighth as his team lost 5-4.
Eyre gave up a three-run shot to Ken Griffey Jr., after getting the first two outs in the inning.
Cubs management was excited a prospective 2007 closer has emerged.
“It’s good to know we have somebody who can step in and do the job should anything happen to Dempster,” said General Manager Jim Hendry.
Mark Prior, who is 1-6 with a 7.21 ERA this year, watched happily from the dugout as starting pitcher Wade Miller lost his chance for a win. Miller threw five shutout innings giving up just three hits, and has only one more chance to tie Prior’s one-win mark.
Prior said after the game that he’s certain Chicago’s “candy-ass” bullpen will fail Miller if he has a chance for a victory in Sunday’s game.
The rest of the game was typical Cubs style baseball. The North Siders tallied just three hits after the first inning, wasted a lead-off double by Aramis Ramirez in the eighth, and haplessly went down in order in the ninth after blowing the game seconds earlier.
Number of the Day: 2
Elimination number for the White Sox
