Stranded runners don't prove costly to Cubs
ST. LOUIS -- What, Lou Piniella worry?
Nope. Not now, and not after Sunday's harder-than-it-should-have-been 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
"Boy, we played this game many times," said Piniella, whose team left 14 on base and had chances to blow the Cardinals out all day. "Nothing concerns me. We've got 12 games to go. What's going to concern me now?
"The only thing that'll concern me is if I get a heart attack. Outside of that, nothing else concerns me."
Piniella denied that Sunday's win induced any problems with his ticker, but it could have.
The Cubs began leaving a steady parade of runners on base, starting with two in the first inning and ending with No. 14 in the eighth.
Fortunately for them, they scored 4 runs on 5 hits in the third, and starting pitcher Jason Marquis was good from the get-go before giving way to the bullpen.
The victory improved the Cubs to 78-72 and kept them 1 game ahead of Milwaukee atop the National League Central. The Cubs all but finished the Cardinals (70-78) by taking three of four to drop them 7 back.
The visitors went up against lefty Mark Mulder (0-3), who is having a tough time recovering from last year's shoulder surgery.
After leaving three on base over the first two innings, the Cubs broke through in the third, with Matt Murton's home run off the left-field foul pole highlighting the inning.
"I honestly really wasn't watching it," Murton said. "I knew when I hit it, it had enough distance. I just didn't know if it was going to stay fair or not. The ball was up and in.
"As I was running the bases, it was kind of hard to tell from the angle I had. When the umpire pointed to the inside, that's when I knew."
Things got hairy for Marquis in the sixth, when he stranded three Cardinals. He gave up a run in the seventh, and Carlos Marmol came in and left another bases-loaded jam for Bob Howry, who cleaned it up when Jim Edmonds popped out.
Marquis (12-8) threw only 8 pitches in the first inning, 7 in the second and 11 in the third.
"It's definitely satisfying to get a win, especially at this point in time of the year, with us and Milwaukee going back and forth," Marquis said. "It's definitely a fun time, exciting time, and hopefully we can keep it going."
In addition to Marquis and the bullpen, the other star of the game was rookie catcher Geovany Soto, who went 4-for-5 and could be making his case for regular playing time over Jason Kendall.
"I tell you what, what a job he's done," Piniella said. "It's awfully impressive. Let's see what we do. … It's a lot of food for thought. How's that?"
Soto didn't mind chewing on that.
"Every day you go out there and you try to prove to yourself and try to prove to these guys that you can play up at this level," said Soto, who is 10-for-18 in his last 5 starts. "You go out there trying to impress everybody and try to play your game and try to show them you want the job."
Howry escaped more trouble in St. Louis' 1-run eighth, when the Cardinals made like the Cubs and left two on base. In the ninth, Dempster got one out before Albert Pujols singled. The game ended when pinch hitter So Taguchi grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
"Well, we didn't make it easy, but we got it done," Piniella said. "That's really what counts."
Cubs 4, Cardinals 2
At the plate: The Cubs outhit the Cardinals 13-9 and left a whopping 14 on base. The only inning they didn't strand a runner was the ninth. Matt Murton hit a 3-run homer in the Cubs' 3-run third. Catcher Geovany Soto was 4-for-5 with 2 doubles as he states a case for more playing time.
On the mound: Jason Marquis turned in a quality start with 61/3 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball. Carlos Marmol walked two in a shaky one-third of an inning. Bob Howry gave up a run in 11/3 innings. Ryan Dempster earned his 28th save in 31 chances.
-- Bruce Miles