Cubs` manager Gene Michael was unruffled by the prospect of the media blitz that awaited him in New York, where a four-game series with the Mets opens Thursday night. The ex-Yankee manager and coach got used to that kind of pressure when he was a keeper in George Steinbrenner`s ”Bronx Zoo.”
”The media in New York gets all over you, but I can handle that,”
Michael said. ”All I`m concerned about is the Cubs playing tough this weekend and beating the Mets.”
— ”Don`t forget the play Ryno made in the 10th inning,” said Shawon Dunston of Cub second baseman Ryne Sandberg`s brilliant effort to throw out the Phillies` Glenn Wilson with a runner on second in the 10th Wednesday.
”That saved a run, and probably the game.”
— Phillies` manager John Felske wasn`t angry at relief pitcher Don Carman for neglecting to cover the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning. Carman unleashed a wild pitch, enabling Ron Cey to score the winning run, but Felske`s postgame huddle was with catcher Darren Daulton.
”If you get beat, do it with your best pitch,” said Felske, irritated because Daulton had called for a curve instead of a fastball with pinch-hitter Thad Bosley at the plate.
— Catcher Jody Davis stretched his hitting streak to seven straight games, but it wasn`t easy. Davis was 1-for-4, getting credit for a single when the Wrigley Field wind blew his eighth-inning pop-up away from the glove of Phillies` first baseman Mike Schmidt.
— Pitching matchups for the Mets` series: Thursday, Scott Sanderson
(3-4) vs. Sid Fernandez (7-2); Friday, Dennis Eckersley (2-4) vs. Bob Ojeda
(8-2); Saturday, Jamie Moyer (1-0) vs. Ron Darling (7-2); Sunday, Rick Sutcliffe (4-8) vs. Bruce Berenyi (2-0).
— Fifty children from Holy Angels Church, which was destroyed by fire last week, were in Wrigley Field to see the Cubs close a 4-3 homestand.
