Cubs' home hop-pening

There looked to be little panic after the Atlanta Braves went ahead of the Cubs 3-0 in the first inning Tuesday night.

After all, the Cubs were playing at Wrigley Field, and Wrigley Field has been home sweet home for the North Siders this year.

Sure enough, the Cubs rallied. They then had to hold off an Atlanta charge in the eighth inning before walking away with a 10-5 victory before 41,624.

Geovany Soto's 3-run homer in the bottom of the eighth capped a 4-run Cubs outburst and helped them win their second straight and improve to 41-24.

If home is where the heart is, it's also where the victories have been for the Cubs this year. They're 27-8 at the Friendly Confines. On the flip side, the Braves are 7-22 on the road.

"Well, you got confidence," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We played well at home, and you have confidence. You know, we've had a penchant for coming from behind at home. They put 3 runs on the board early, in the first inning, and then we added runs, and we tacked on runs, which is really important."

The Braves jumped on Cubs lefty Ted Lilly quickly. Yunel Escobar worked a walk to open the game, and Kelly Johnson jumped on a first pitch for a single.

Lilly struck out Jeff Francoeur and Mark Teixeira, but Greg Norton cracked a 3-run homer to left-center, giving the Braves their 3-run lead.

Right after that, Lilly was given a warning by home-plate umpire Doug Eddings for throwing a pitch over the head of the next batter, Brian McCann.

"I understand what he's saying," Lilly said of Eddings. "I had just given up the homer, and then I throw one up around the head. I'm sure Brian knows that I didn't mean to do it."

Lilly (6-5) settled down after that and wound up going 6¿ innings, giving up 4 hits and only those 3 runs.

"I guess I just felt like I had to," Lilly said of buckling down. "I was confident we were going to score some runs … I felt if I could hang in there, we could come out on top."

The Cubs rediscovered the base on balls as an offensive weapon as they began their comeback in the second. Aramis Ramirez drew the first of his 3 walks leading off and came around to score.

In the third, Derrek Lee led off with his 14th homer of the season. Ramirez walked again and later scored on Reed Johnson's single.

Braves pitcher Tom Glavine exited the game after the third with a strained left elbow.

Cubs reliever Bob Howry made it interesting in the top of the eighth, giving up 2 runs and allowing Atlanta to come within 6-5, but lefty Scott Eyre bailed him out with a big inning-ending strikeout of Gregor Blanco.

That set the stage for Soto's big blast in the bottom half, his 11th homer.

"We really swing the bats well here," Lee said. "So regardless of the score we feel we're still in the game, and we showed that tonight."

Lilly also noted how much Wrigley has provided a homefield advantage.

"You just feel like you're never out of it as a starter," he said. "I think our lineup's just going to continue to battle against good pitching. We're tough.

"As energetic as the crowd is, even when we're down by a few runs, they think we can win, too. This is a fun place to play."

Cubs 10, Braves 5

At the plate: Derrek Lee hit a solo homer in the third, his 14th of the season. Geovany Soto hit a 3-run homer in the Cubs' 4-run eighth.

On the mound: Lefty Ted Lilly posted his second straight quality start, going 62/3 innings and giving up 4 hits and 3 runs, all coming on a first-inning homer by Greg Norton. Carlos Marmol retired the only batter he faced. Scott Eyre bailed Bob Howry out of eighth-inning trouble and extended his scoreless-appearance streak to 31, tying Ryan Dempster's club record.

-- Bruce Miles