Cubs share high fives all around

It's not every day a team can celebrate a walk-off victory in right field, but that's where the Cubs found themselves Monday night in frenzied Wrigley Field.At the bottom of the pile in right was Mark DeRosa, whose infield single drove home the winning run capping a 3-run ninth inning as the Cubs rallied past the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 to stay a game ahead of Milwaukee in the NL Central.It was DeRosa's fifth hit of the night and he was mobbed by his teammates at the edge of the infield, with the party slowly moving into right field."What did he get, five hits?" asked Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "I didn't realize five hits. That's a big night. I remember three of them. Good thing I'm not the scorekeeper."DeRosa's smash up the middle went off the glove of Reds reliever David Weathers and came two batters after Aramis Ramirez's dramatic 2-run triple to the wall in right center."There's no quit in this team," DeRosa said. "We did not play fundamentally sound baseball tonight, but we never stopped fighting and we were able to come out on top."On a team with stars such as Ramirez, Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano, DeRosa has proved to be a very valuable addition. He hit his 10th home run in the third inning and his 2 RBI raised his season total to 71. His batting average went up 10 points as well to .292."Mark's been there all year for us, not only from the fact he gives us a very steady and reliable bat, but the versatility that he's given our team," Piniella said. "We've been able to utilize him in a lot of positions."DeRosa might have been the last guy anyone could have expected to deliver 5 hits after a road trip where he went 7-for-35."Coming off the road trip I had, I did not see 5 hits coming, that's for sure," said DeRosa, who also went 5-for-5 on Aug. 16, in his last game against the Reds. "I've been struggling at the plate lately, I've been taking it home with me trying to alleviate some of the pressure from the big guys."It's been frustrating for me personally, the last road trip we had, but I was able to get in and work with Gerald (hitting coach Gerald Perry) today and iron some things out where I at least felt comfortable at the plate."There's not another team out there with a better chance to ruin the Cubs' season than the Reds, what with five of the final 11 games still to play against them.The Reds are 4-3 at Wrigley Field this season and have won three of the first four series with the Cubs."Ever since I've been here the Reds have given us trouble and I don't know why," Lee said."Our chore, really, is to win series," Piniella said. "If we do that, I think we'll be in good shape."If the Cubs can take two of three in their final four series it would leave them with an 86-76 record. Piniella has said he thought 85 wins might be enough to win the division."I like our chances, but we've got to go do it on the field," Piniella said.