Cubs Continue Hot Streak
Cajun Dynamo Leads Teams to Third Straight Win
Jun 15, 2007 Oliver VanDervoort
In the fourth inning, Mike Fontenot hit the sac fly that allowed the Cubs to take a 1-0 lead over the San Diego Padres, and then when the Padres tied the game 1-1 in the top of the sixth, he took it upon himself to put the game out of reach. With Michael Barrett on first with his second single of the game, Fontenot took a 1-2 pitch and used all of his 5-11 frame to hammer it into the left field basket for a two run homerun.
Mike Fontenot has played in a total of nine games this season, and at 27 his shelf life as a career minor leaguer is running down.
Fontenot needs to prove to Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella that he deserves a spot not only on the roster, but in the starting lineup. The tiny Cajun is making quite a statement. In twenty-seven at-bats Fontenot is hitting .407, and 9 RBIs. Of his 11 hits, 6 (over half) have gone for extra bases. "He's making it hard to keep him out of the lineup, that's for sure" his Manager commented after the team's latest win. But Fontenot isn't doing it with his bat alone, the 2nd baseman teamed up with his College Teammate, Ryan Theriot for a key double-play that killed any chance the Padres had to make a comeback in the top of the 7th, and despite defense supposedly being his biggest weakness, he's turned four double plays and committed just one error since his recall.
Fontenot wasn't the only hero of the game for the Cubs. Derek Lee, who had been struggling a bit as of late, went 4-4 with 3 doubles, including one that might have been a homerun if not for a fan reaching out of the stands, making contact with the ball. Ted Lilly also rebounded nicely from his last start, which lasted all of two thirds of an inning. Lilly was the victim of a trigger happy umpire who was calling the third game of a testy series between the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves, Lilly hit the third batter he faced and the umpire decided he had done it on purpose, promptly ejecting him from the game.
The Cubs have now won three in a row, and four of their last five, getting themselves back into the NL Central race thanks in no small part to every other team struggling mightily. The Milwaukee Brewers, who seemed to be the class of the National League have even fallen back to the pack, losing 9 of their last 12
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