But I didn't want myself to be affected so my performance wouldn't be there. The base hit snapped a scoreless tie and lifted Arizona to its fifth straight victory. All winter I thought about coming back and playing good in front of these great Cubs fans and against my employer for 13 years. Before Grace batted in the sixth, Luis Gonzalez, who is riding a 13-game hittting streak, was walked intentionally to load the bases. It is pretty much automatic what you should do there.
Grace is a good contact hitter.
Lieber got him to hit the ball on the ground. Unfortuntely, it was through the hole. Johnson allowed just one hit over five innings with seven strikeouts and four walks. Arizona manager Bob Brenly is attempting to keep his star lefthander's pinch count down and pinch-hit for Johnson in the sixth inning after he had thrown 95 pitches. I don't make excuses about throwing too many pitches in previous starts.