Simulation Madness

The Cardinals have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Simulation Madness tournament where they are facing the Cubs.  The Cardinals, the #1 seed in the NL have defeated both the Nationals and Brewers 4 games to 1.  Here is a recap of how the Cubs series went.  vr, Xei
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Chicago Cubs vs St Louis Cardinals

Game 1: Carlos Zambrano vs Chris Carpenter
The Big Three, Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen each hit solo home runs and
Chris Carpenter allowed 6 hits and struck out five over 7 solid innings as
the Cardinals defeated the Cubs 5-3.  Zambrano went 4-2/3 innings, striking
out 9 batters.  Josh Kinney pitched a perfect 8th inning and Jason Isringhausen
a perfect 9th in picking up the save.
HRs: Pujols(1), Rolen(1), Edmonds(1), Ramirez(1), Barrett(1)
St Louis leads 1-0

Game 2: Ted Lilly vs Anthony Reyes
The Cubs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead one solo home runs from Aramis
Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano.  The Cardinals tied up the game on a solo
home run from Albert Pujols in the 4th inning.  The score remained 2-2 headed
into the 8th inning where the Cubs exploded for five runs, sending Anthony
Reyes to the showers.  Adam Kennedy blasted a three run home run in the bottom
of the 8th to pull the Cardinals to within 7-5.  The Cubs brought in Ryan
Dempster to close out the 9th inning but gave up three runs and the Cardinals
won 8-7 in dramatic fashion.
HRs: Pujols(2), Kennedy(1), Ramirez(3), Jones(1), Soriano(1)
St Louis leads 2-0

Game 3: Adam Wainwright vs Mark Prior
The Cubs rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the 7th inning,
breaking a 2-2 tie and holding on to win 11-3.  Mark Prior went 5-2/3 innings,
striking out 7, walking 1 and allowing only 5 hits.  Aramis Ramirez continued
his hot hitting by going 3 for 3 with a single, double, home run and two walks.
Albert Pujols homered in a losing cause for the Cardinals.
HRs: Pujols(3), Ramirez(4)
St Louis leads 2-1

Game 4: Kip Wells vs Jason Marquis
The Cardinals drew first blood with 2 runs in the top of the first inning.  The
Cubs tied things up with 2 in the 3rd inning.  The Cubs opened up a 5-2 lead in
the 5th inning on back to back home runs from Soriano and DeRosa.  The Cardinals
pulled to within 5-4 in the 6th, only to see the Cubs score 2 of their own in the
bottom half of the 6th to open back up a 7-4 lead.  Albert Pujols took Jason Marquis
deep in the top of the 7th for a three run home run, tying the game at 7-7.  The
Cardinals scored one more run in the top of the 8th inning, taking an 8-7 lead.  In
the bottom of the 8th inning Jacque Jones hit a solo home run to tie the game at 8-8.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the 10th inning when Aramis Ramirez doubled
home Mark DeRosa with the game winning run off of reliever Josh Kinney.
HRs: Pujols(4), Duncan(1), Edmonds(2), Soriano(2), DeRosa(1), Jones(2)
Series tied 2-2

Game 5: Ryan Franklin vs Rich Hill
Rich Hill was cruising along leading 3-0 heading into the 6th inning when Jim Edmonds
tagged him for a game tying three run home run.  Things got worse in the 7th inning
for the Cubs when Chris Duncan tagged Kerry Wood for another three run home run.  The
Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the 8th inning and went on to win 8-4 and take
a 3-2 lead in the series back to St Louis.  Reliever Josh Kinney picked up the win.
HRs: Edmonds(3), DUncan(2), Soriano(3), DeRosa(2)
St Louis leads 3-2

Game 6: Carlos Zambrano vs Chris Carpenter
The pitching duel lived up to the hype.  Carpenter went 7 innings, allowing 8 hits,
striking out 9 and walking 1.  Zambrano went 6 innings, giving up just 3 hits, striking
out 6 and walking 3.  Each teams big sluggers, Pujols and Ramirez each hit home runs
early in the game and the score was tied at 2-2 heading into the 7th inning.  The
Cardinals took the lead 3-2 in the 7th inning on a solo home run from Adam Kennedy.
The Cubs scrapped for three runs off of the Cardinals bullpen in the 8th inning, the
big blow a two run single from Cesar Izturis.  The Cardinals cut the lead to 5-4 in the
bottom of the 8th on a solo home run from Chris Duncan.  The Cubs got a very important
insurance run in the top of the 9th and took a 6-4 lead into the bottom half of the 9th.
Ryan Dempster gave up a run in the 9th and left the game with runners at 2nd and 3rd
with two outs.  Bob Howry came in and got the last out and preserve the 6-5 win
for the Cubs, sending the series to a game 7.
HRs: Pujols(5), Duncan(3), Kennedy(2), Ramirez(5)
Series tied 3-3

Game 7: Ted Lilly vs Anthony Reyes
In need of an exciting game seven?  Well, look no further.  The Cubs jumped out to a
3-1 lead after 4 innings of play.  The Cardinals pulled to within 3-2 in the 6th and then
took a 4-3 lead after 7 innings of play.  Jason Isringhausen was asked to preserve the
Cardinals 4-3 lead in the 9th inning.  Isringhausen gave up a walk and two singles, before
making the biggest mistake of his career, haning a fastball to Jacque Jones who hit a grand
slam giving the Cubs a 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th inning.  Ryan Dempster
walked Eckstein who would later score on Albert Pujols two run home run, pulling the Cardinals
to within 7-6.  The Cardinals would get no more baserunners, and the Cubs held on to win 7-6,
advancing to the semi-finals to face the winner of the Mets/Braves series.
HRs: Pujols(6), Rolen(2), Edmonds(4), Ramirez(6), Jones(3), Barrett(2), Floyd(1)
Cubs win series 4-3