That wasn't much fun at the end, was it? LaTroy Hawkins walked in the winning run last night, and the Cardinals won the game 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. This was one of those games where just enough things went against the Cubs -- most notably, a Michael Barrett foul ball that was this close to being a home run -- and St. Louis was able to squeak out a victory. Brian over at Redbird Nation has a great post about all the close calls found in the game.

I don't know what was more embarrassing; that the Cubs lost by walking in Mike Matheny (!) with the bases loaded, or that the Cubs lost after Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa asked both Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen to bunt runners over in consecutive at-bats. As infuriating as Dusty can be as a manager, I have to imagine that being a Cardinals fan can be even more frustrating. At least Dusty's occasionally-lame tactical moves are understandable, given his "old school" manager mentality. LaRussa comes across like Dr. Frankenstein, a once-sharp man who has lost it, and whose bizarre experiments with run-scoring and relief strategies are an unfortunate combination of senility and hubris.

Back to that walk-in run. Doesn't it seem like that's happened an awful lot with the bases loaded this year? Well, I checked April's game logs to see just how often the Cubs have been wild with the bases loaded, and was horrified to see that Cubs pitchers walked in a run a whopping six times in the month of April, including twice in a game against Pittsburgh.

DATE  CONTEXT               WHAT HAPPENED
-----------------------------------------
4/8   Cincinnati, 5th inn.  Kent Mercker walks Jimenez, Reds win 5-3
4/10  Atlanta, 8th inn.     Kyle Farnsworth walks Jones, Braves win 5-2
4/12  Pittsburgh, 4th inn.  Greg Maddux walks Wilson, Pirates win 13-2
4/12  Pittsburgh, 8th inn.  Mercker walks Meadows
4/16  Cincinnati, 6th inn.  Todd Wellemeyer walks Miller, Cubs win 11-10
4/30  St. Louis, 9th inn.   Hawkins walks Matheny, Cardinals win 4-3

Clement goes shortly against Suppan, which on paper is probably the game that favors the Cubs the most in the series. Let's hope the Cubs offense can kick it back up a gear, and that the Cards don't load the bases at any point in the game.