Coleman, Cubs get special win against Carpenter

The Cubs made a little bit of history in Saturday's 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

They rallied from a 3-0 deficit to score 4 runs in the third inning, and by doing so, they defeated Cardinals co-ace Chris Carpenter.

The Cubs became the first team to beat Carpenter three times in a season in Carpenter's career. The main beneficiary was Cubs rookie pitcher Casey Coleman, who improved to 3-2 by working 7 innings and giving up 5 hits and 3 runs (2 earned).

The Cardinals scored 1 run in the second and 2 unearned runs in the third, but Coleman was able to regroup.

"It's big," he said. "I've been there before. I've had some rough innings earlier in the year since I've been up here, and my teammates picked me up. We scored runs and made great plays. The catcher (Koyie Hill) has been big part of my success, really calming me down, and Larry (pitching coach Rothschild) as well. Sometimes I get going too quick and get ahead of myself. But just being able to slow the game down really helped today."

Sam Fuld drove in 2 of the Cubs' 4 runs in the third with a single. Aramis Ramirez had his second RBI single in the fourth.

Fuld was involved in a scary play in the fifth. With one out, he lined the ball off the face of Cardinals reliever Blake Hawksworth.

Hawksworth fell to the ground but remained conscious. He left the field under his own power and went to the hospital for a CT scan. He may require stitches and dental work, according to Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.

Fuld sent messages of concern to the Cardinals clubhouse.

"I just wanted to double check," Fuld said. "Obviously, I was a bit rattled when it happened. It's something that's never happened to me before, but it's one of those things. Honestly, between that and the incident with Tyler (teammate Colvin, who was speared with a piece of a broke bat), it's just scary. This is a dangerous game. People don't realize it."

They keep coming: Saturday's announced crowed of 39,316 (there were far fewer than that in the house) pushed the Cubs' season attendance to 3,024,916. It's the seventh season in a row the Cubs have announced a season gate of more than 3 million.

This year, however, the announced crowds on many occasions were not the same as the number of bodies in the ballpark, what with the Cubs having a poor season on the field and ticket prices being raised last winter.

Still, manager Mike Quade was impressed.

"They're Cub fans," said Quade a graduate of Prospect High School. "They're the best. Whether they show up in droves on the road - you go into a ballpark and you see blue everywhere - or whether it's this park here. And we haven't had a great year.

"For them to hang in there and still support us is phenomenal. We'll have a special day tomorrow. We'll pass out some baseballs, and we'll spend a little time with them before the game and after the game. I was born and raised around here. I love this city. As a sports town, and I'm biased, it's second to none."

No go: Center fielder Marlon Byrd did not play, one day after bouncing a foul ball off his face. He was sporting a bruise and swelling under his right eye, but the Cubs said there was no structural damage to any bones.