If there is such a thing as a “must-win” one month into a baseball season, Thursday’s game at San Francisco sure had the feeling of one.

Never mind all the buildup with Dusty Baker going up against his old team. Of course Dusty didn’t want to drop two out of three against Felipe Alou’s Giants. And of course the baseball world was paying just a little bit extra attention to this mid-week series.

Forget also that it was an epic match up of 4-win starting pitchers going head-to-head–that it was Barry Bonds against Mark Prior (the “best” against the “phenom”).

Never mind that a 3-3 road trip seems light years better than a 2-4 excursion. Or that there’s something about a 16-12 record that beats the heck out of 15-13.

Sure the Cardinals had already won their game midway through the Chicago/San Francisco affair. Technically the Cubs would have to win to retain sole possession of first place. (That still sounds awesome by the way).

Most Cubs’ fans had this series vs. San Francisco circled on their calendars from the beginning. The April schedule was ridiculously diluted–with Montreal as the only opponent returning a plus-.500 record from 2002. These were the World Series Giants. They own the top record in the National League. This would be the first chance for the Cubs to flex their proverbial muscle against a sure-fire playoff contender. Winning the series IS a big deal.

And of course you want to start off a brand new month on the right track. You want to avoid losing your THIRD straight series. And you want to avoid losing 6 of the last 8. Middle-of-the-pack Colorado and flat-out bad Milwaukee are right around the corner with a chance for a very good homestand. Yes, a win Thursday is just good for all-around momentum.

So yes, all of the above helped to make the Cubs’ offensive explosion in the tenth all that much sweeter.

But it was HOW they won that solidified this game as particularly monumental in my mind. It was the day that Mark Prior grew up–just a little bit more. It was the day that he learned how to pitch (and even dominate) without that good command we’ve come to demand of him. He struggled with location
in the early going, and was forced to work out of some knuckle-whitening jams.

It was also the day that he demonstrated to Barry Bonds that there is a 22-year old kid in the league that is not afraid to play old school. It was a day that now Cubs’ manager Dusty Baker got behind his young righty, and stood up to his former slugger.

But it was also a day when the Cubs looked like anything but a Dusty Baker-coached team. They couldn’t run the bases to save their lives. It looked like opening day of little league out there. On at least two occasions, they completely ruined offensive innings by botching a simple sacrifice bunt. And the simple 3 to 1 putout at first suddenly became a most unwelcome adventure. Meanwhile, across the diamond the defensive Giants were making every play, and doing so with style.

And then Ramon Martinez and company turned the double play.

With runners on the corners, Mark Guthrie coaxed Jose Cruz Jr. into a shot to third. The Cubs’ infield had to be flawless to keep the runner at third from scoring. Another split second and the Giants had the go ahead run on the board. Instead, the less than sure-handed infield turned a picture
perfect 5-4-3 double play.

It was at that moment that you could literally feel the tide begin to turn. For that game, yes, but perhaps for the foreseeable future.

Juan Cruz is supposed to make things interesting when he comes into a ballgame. Instead, he came in and mowed through the Giants’ lineup like they were AA Birmingham.

Fast-forward to the top of the tenth, and the Cubs began to catch the breaks. It was the Giants who suddenly couldn’t play fundamental baseball. I even thought going into that inning, “If we can get a couple guys on here, it will give Alex “Mr. Clutch, 2002” Gonzalez a chance for some more late-inning heroics.

It seemed too good to be true. Winning an extra-inning road game against a team with an 11-3 home record is not supposed to be this easy. A-Gonz had already hit his dinger today.

But these are the 2003 Cubs. Two home runs later, and you had the feeling that a win like this could be a MAJOR turning point in the season.

Then again, it could be just another meaningless late-spring win in San Francisco. But I’m a Cubs’ fan. Let me dream a little here.