Late rally lifts Cubs in opener
Sabathia's win streak ends with no-decision
MILWAUKEE -- Derrek Lee doubled with one out
in the ninth to score Alfonso Soriano and the Chicago Cubs rallied
to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4 on Monday night to take a
two-game lead in the NL Central.
In the opener of a four-game series between the NL's top two teams,
the Cubs prevailed in a back-and-forth contest to improve to 32-26
at Miller Park since it opened in 2001.
With the game tied at 4, Brewers closer Salomon Torres (5-3) struck
out Kosuke Fukudome, but ran into trouble by walking Soriano and
pinch hitter Mike Fontenot.
Lee then flared a double to right, scoring Soriano. After an
intentional walk to Aramis Ramirez and a strike out of Geovany
Soto, Mark DeRosa's infield single scored Fontenot to make it
6-4.
The Brewers had tied the game at 4-4 with a solo homer by pinch
hitter Russell Branyan with two outs in the seventh off Bob Howry.
They couldn't mount another comeback in the ninth against reliever
Carlos Marmol, who picked up his fifth save after working around a
two-out walk. Soriano made a jumping catch near the wall on Gabe
Kapler's fly ball to deep left to end the game.
Reliever Chad Gaudin (2-1) earned the win with a scoreless
eighth.
The Cubs took an early lead off reigning AL Cy Young winner CC
Sabathia, the Brewers' prized acquisition picked up in a trade with
Cleveland before the All-Star break.
Soriano doubled, stole a base and then scored on Lee's single in
the first. The Cubs made it 2-0 when Soriano homered in the third,
his 17th of the season and second in two days.
The Brewers used the long ball to tie the game in the seventh. Down
2-0, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun hit back-to-back homers off Cubs
starter Ted Lilly. Milwaukee took the lead moments later when
Prince Fielder singled and scored on Corey Hart's double.
Lilly had retired 13 of his previous 14 batters before the home
runs.
The Cubs answered right back in the seventh off Sabathia. Ronny
Cedeno and Fukudome led off the seventh with singles after
Fukudome's grounder deflected off second baseman Rickie Weeks'
glove. Soriano struck out during a double steal, but Sabathia
walked Reed Johnson to load the bases with one out.
Sabathia forced Lee to ground weakly to Hardy, the shortstop, for a
potential double play. But Johnson's hard slide took out Weeks at
second and his errant throw allowed Cedeno and Fukudome to score to
give the Cubs a 4-3 lead.
That chased Sabathia from a game, but Branyan's homer off Howry
took Sabathia off the hook for the loss, setting the stage for the
frantic finish as the Brewers try to mimic what the Cubs did to
them last season.
Chicago overcame an 8�-game deficit last June
to win the division by two games over Milwaukee, and this year
Chicago's biggest lead has been 8� games on
June 16 only to have the Brewers catch the Cubs in the division
Saturday before losing Sunday to fall a game back.
With the four-game series, both teams get to showcase their best
pitchers, continuing Tuesday when NL All-Star starter Ben Sheets
(10-3, 2.87 ERA) squares off against Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano
(11-4, 2.96).
Darren Hauck/Associated Press
Jason Kendall stopped Derrek Lee from scoring in the fifth inning Monday night, but Lee's RBI double in the top of the ninth put the Cubs in front for good.
