Cubs keep it "real" in 7-1 win over Mets
Cubs manager Lou Piniella was a bit taken aback Monday by suggestions the Cubs finally were playing a "real" team in the New York Mets after beating up on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Cubs looked every bit as "real" as the Mets in the opener of a two-game series, breaking open a tight game in the eighth inning to post a 7-1 victory.
The victory was the Cubs' fourth straight and seventh in eight games, moving their record to 13-6 and allowing them to keep their hold on first place in the National League Central.
"The Mets are a good team, no question, and they've been playing good baseball," Piniella said. "We feel that we can go out and compete with the best teams."
Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano pitched like an ace, giving the Cubs and their beleaguered bullpen 7 much-needed innings.
The Cubs also got contributions from some expected and unexpected sources. Aramis Ramirez gave them a 2-0 lead in the fourth with a 2-run homer.
The Mets got a run in the sixth, and the Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth, when Derrek Lee reached on an error, Ramirez was hit by a pitch and Kosuke Fukudome singled on a 10-pitch at-bat.
Things looked bad for the Cubs when Mark DeRosa struck out and Geovany Soto popped out. But Ronny Cedeno battled Mets reliever Aaron Heilman and finally singled up the middle to score 2. Cedeno was a last-minute replacement for Ryan Theriot, whose back tightened.
Then, Felix Pie came up against Jorge Sosa and homered into the right-field bleachers. Pie spent the pregame working with minor-league hitting coordinator Dave Keller.
"We've been relying on our bench," Piniella said. "I said coming out of spring training that we had some capable people. We played them all spring to get them ready for this, and we weren't going to let them sit."
Perhaps because of that, Cedeno said he felt confident in the clutch situation.
"I feel good," Cedeno said. "In that AB, I'm going to fight. If he throws me a good pitch and strikes me out, OK. That's what I'm thinking, in that AB, to take it to the middle."
Pie's homer was his first of the season and came after he began the season 4-for-28.
"I felt good in batting practice, too," he said. "One swing, you know?"
Coming into the game, the Cubs hadn't had a pitcher go at least 7 innings since Zambrano did it his last time out on April 16.
He threw 21 pitches in the first inning but economized after that and got help from double plays in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
"When my sinker is running good, which is my best, I throw it in any situation," he said. "I get a groundball or a strikeout. It's good to have a good sinker. That's basically what I did today -- use my sinker in the first inning.
"I played with one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball: Greg Maddux. He told me one time he preferred to throw more sinkers, more movement, than velocity.
"Anytime I want to throw 95, 96 (mph), I can throw it. It's not how hard you throw in the big leagues. It's how you locate your pitches. It's how you're willing to learn to pitch the game."