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Originally Published: September 24, 2003

Cubs clicking; Astros clocked

Exactly when did the balance of power in the NL Central shift to the Cubs? Right around 8:35 p.m.

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By Buster Olney
ESPN The Magazine
Archive

The division race in the National League Central goes minute to minute these days. The balance of power shifts rapidly between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros, even when they're playing hundreds of miles apart, as they were Tuesday night.

Kerry Wood found his control, and so did the Cubs in the Central race.

7:10 p.m.: The Cubs' Kenny Lofton is introduced as the first batter in Cincinnati's Great American Park, and we have our first clue that the Reds' fans don't care anymore: Lofton is cheered because most of the fans in the place are rooting for the Cubs.

7:11: Lofton singles through the left side of the infield against Scott Randall, who is making his first major-league start. Randall is the 16th starter used by the Reds this year, he's got an ERA close to infinity while pitching in relief, and the announcers say something about how Randall has spent the last 14 centuries in the minor leagues. Nice matchup with a playoff spot on the line: Randall against Kerry Wood.

7:17: The Cubs are facing a pitcher they don't know, a classic September quandary. Moises Alou takes some funky swings against Randall's sinking fastball, jamming himself, and pops out. Sammy Sosa flies to right. Cubs don't score in the first.

7:21: Kerry Wood's control is eluding him in the early innings -- which is typical. He rushes his delivery with adrenaline, his fastball sails high and he walks D'Angelo Jimenez (That guy is hitting third for the Reds? Yeesh.) Aramis Ramirez makes an error, and Cincinnati has two runners on base, but then Russell Branyan takes a slider down the middle and strikes out for the 1,996,235th time in his last 1,997,103 at-bats. End of inning.

7:34: Cincinnati first baseman Sean Casey, who seems to be the only member of the Reds' lineup with a jersey number lower than 60, scoops a ball out of the dirt and makes a nice play. The Cubs are having problems with one Scott Randall.

7:58: Wood retires Jimenez to end the third, the game still scoreless. Wood hasn't allowed a hit but he's already thrown 56 pitches, a growing problem for the Cubs.

8:05: Scott Randall retires the Cubs in order in the top of the fourth. The tension figures to be building in the Chicago dugout. Good thing the Reds look like Little Leaguers trying to hit Kerry Wood.

8:06: Wade Miller throws a fastball inside to Ray Durham to start the game between Houston and San Francisco.

8:11: Kerry Wood strikes out the last two hitters in the bottom of the fourth inning in Cincinnati. He's already accumulated eight strikeouts, he hasn't allowed any hits, and his fastball is getting clocked at 98 mph.

8:12: Barry Bonds steps in to bat in the top of the first, with a runner at first base, and Miller pitches to him. Bonds makes an out. Both games are scoreless.

8:13: Not anymore, however: Aramis Ramirez blasts a home run off a hanging breaking ball to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. The Chicago hitters seem to be backing away from the plate against Randall, making the adjustment so his sinking fastball doesn't tie them up inside.

8:18: Jeff Bagwell grounds out against the Giants' Jason Schmidt to end the bottom of the first inning.

8:21: Marquis Grissom appears to hit a pop-up to left field for the Giants. But a pop-up to left field in Minute Maid Park means something different: home run. Astros are down a run.

8:23: Randall grounds out to end the bottom of the fifth; Wood is no-hitting the Reds, and the Cincinnati hitters have given no reason for anyone to think they might actually get a hit.

8:24: Jose Cruz pulls a ground-rule double inside the first base bag off Miller to score Benito Santiago and give the Giants a 2-0 lead; San Francisco has runners at second and third and nobody out, and Miller -- who looked so good in the first inning -- only looks perturbed now.

8:26: Miller walks the pitcher, Jason Schmidt, to load the bases. Astros pitching coach Burt Hooten, realizing the game might get away from Houston at this moment, visits the mound in an attempt to calm Miller.

8:29: The Cubs are beginning to whack around Scott Randall. Mark Grudzielanek pulls a two-run double into the gap, and when Moises Alou follows with a single, Chicago leads, 4-0. The competition part of this game is over; now the question is whether Kerry Wood can finish his no-hitter.

8:31: J.T. Snow singles to right field, driving in San Francisco's third run and ensuring that Bonds will hit in the second inning.

8:34: Wade Miller is completely disintegrating. He walks Rich Aurilia to force in a run.

8:36: The Cubs knock Randall out of the game, taking a 5-0 lead. Seconds later, Bonds chops a grounder to first base. Jeff Bagwell -- playing with a bad shoulder -- tries to throw home for a force play and instead appears as if he is hurling a piano. The throw bounces away, the bases are still loaded, the Giants lead, 5-0.

8:41: Miller walks Santiago to force in San Francisco's sixth run, and Houston manager Jimy Williams decides to save him for another day, yanking Miller out of the game.

8:44: Edgardo Alfonzo crushes a grand slam off reliever Ricky Stone. San Francisco has scored 10 runs in the top of the second inning, the first time the Astros have allowed 10 runs in an inning since 1989. In a matter of 21 minutes, the Cubs have effectively moved into first place.

8:47: Wood retires the Reds in the sixth, his pitch count climbing toward 100 in this no-hitter. A difficult decision is taking shape for Chicago manager Dusty Baker: does he let Wood go for the no-hitter in spite of a high pitch count, or does he pull him out and keep him fresh in case he is needed to pitch Sunday?

9:00: Cincinnati's Wily Mo Pena rescues Baker, hitting a high bouncer off home plate and beating out an infield single to break up Wood's no-hitter. Wood finishes with 12 strikeouts over seven innings of one-hit ball.

9:28: Cubs close in on their 6-0 victory in Cincinnati. The Houston announcers, forced to wade through the last eight innings of a game that will end 10-3, are talking about how valuable Geoff Blum is. The Godfather is in its first half-hour on HBO, which is not good news for the horse that belongs to the studio head. The Cubs lead the Central. For a day, at least.

Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.