The Morning After: 'Hawks Hold On, Sox and Cubs Lose
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 8, 2010 3:00PM
Blackhawks Hold Off Blues
It was a roller coaster ride for the Blackhawks as they rolled to a big early lead and held off a late Blues rally to knock off St. Louis 6-5. The Blues struck first but then the 'Hawks rattled off six goals in a row: Duncan Keith, Ben Eager, Bryan Bickell, and Kris Versteeg (short-handed) all scored in a 3:08 span in the first period. Andrew Ladd and Jordan Hendry added second period goals as the 'Hawks appeared to be on their way to a blow-out win. But the Blues battled back, scoring four straight goals of their own. Antti Niemi got his seventh straight start in goal and despite giving up the barrage of late goals, made 26 saves to hold on for the victory. While the last 20 minutes weren't pretty, the 'Hawks still got the victory and with it, they're in a first-place tie with San Jose atop the Western Conference. Next up is a trip to Denver on Friday to face potential first-round opponent Colorado (8 p.m., CSN+, VS).
Bullpen Dooms Cubs
Ryan Dempster had a sharp outing last night but it was all for naught as the Braves clipped the Cubs 3-2. In stark contrast to Zambrano's awful Opening Day performance, Dempster struck out nine and gave up only one run on three hits over six innings. He even helped his own cause in the fifth when a check swing with the bases loaded led to a Braves error and a run, followed by another run on a Ryan Theriot sac-fly. But relief pitcher John Grabow gave up a two-run homer to Chipper Jones in the eighth for the go-ahead runs. The Cubs, 0-2, face the Braves once more in a bid to get their first win of the season tonight (6:10 p.m., CSN).
Sox Fall To Tribe
The Cubs weren't the only team to blow a lead; the Sox gave away a 3-0 lead as they fell to the Cleveland Indians 5-3 in Jake Peavy's first start of the season. Paul Konerko continued his offensive hot streak, getting an RBI on a sac-fly in the first and a two-run homer in the second to give the Sox the 3-0 lead. But the Indians knocked Peavy (5 IP, 3 ER, 5 K) around in the fourth to tie the game. Reliever Randy Williams gave up the winning run in the seventh, earning the loss, and the Tribe scored once more on Bobby Jenks. The AL Central foes wrap up the series tonight as Gavin Floyd takes the mound for the Sox against Cleveland's Justin Masterson (7:10 p.m., CSN+).