Cubs lose lead, then win in 8th

Baseball resembled chess as Cubs manager Lou Piniella out-strategized the Pittsburgh Pirates with his deep bench for an 8-5 victory at Wrigley Field on Sunday.

After the Pirates tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the eighth inning, Geovany Soto drew a walk with two outs in the bottom of the inning. That led Piniella to call on left-handed pinch hitter Daryle Ward to hit against Pittsburgh right-hander Craig Hansen.

Ward was announced but never saw a pitch because Pirates manager John Russell offset the move by pulling Hansen in favor of lefty hurler Sean Burnett. Piniella countered by burning Ward in favor of right-handed pinch hitter Reed Johnson to gain the upper hand.

Johnson then made his manager look like Bobby Fischer by stroking a 2-run home run to the left-field bleachers for a 7-5 Cubs lead.

Check.

Alfonso Soriano then followed with a solo shot home run to left.

And mate.

"You've got to have people who can do the job coming off the bench," Piniella said of the maneuver. "Reed's certainly done that and so have a few others. It gives you some favorable matchups. At least we can counter some moves that the other manager makes."

Johnson was asked to take a bow for the first time in his career, as 41,200 cheered in appreciation.

"That's probably the best moment for me on a baseball field," Johnson said. "I've never had a curtain call before. I've always wondered when I've seen Rammy go out there and D-Lee go out there when they hit big home runs what it would be like to have a curtain call."

Carlos Marmol retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his sixth save.

The Cubs were cruising with a 5-2 lead when staring pitcher Carlos Zambrano took the mound in the sixth. However, after 7 warmup pitches Zambrano was pulled in favor of Jeff Samardzija, who had been warming up.

Piniella said the move was preplanned because Zambrano had thrown 125 and 118 pitches, respectively, in his last 2 starts, and they wanted to "shorten him up." Piniella said Zambrano took the mound to start the sixth o give Samardzija, formerly a starter at the minor-league level, more time to get his arm loose.

Zambrano, who threw 82 pitches, said he essentially removed himself an inning earlier.

"Actually, it was my idea (to come out). I told (catcher) Geo (Soto) that I might throw 1 more after I got out of that fifth inning," said Zambrano, who got a no-decision. "Geo went to Lou and (Lou) came to me and said, 'Do you think you can go one more?' I said, 'Yeah.'

"But the day was getting longer and Lou said, 'You know what? I've got Samardzija warming up. Just go out there and throw some (warm-up) pitches, and I'll make the change."

Pittsburgh stuck a 3-spot on the scoreboard against relievers Neal Cotts and Chad Gaudin, tying the game at 5-5, highlighted by Andy LaRoche's game-tying 2-run home run off Gaudin.

How they scored

Pirates 1st: With two outs, McClouth walked. Doumit singled, McClouth scored on an error. Pirates 1, Cubs 0.

Pirates 2nd: Moss led off with a home run. Pirates 2, Cubs 0.

Cubs 2nd: DeRosa led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Edmonds walked, Soto singled, scoring DeRosa, Edmonds to third. Zambrano grounded into a double play, scoring Edmonds. Cubs 2, Pirates 2.

Cubs 4th: With one out, Edmonds doubled. Soto doubled, scoring Edmonds. Zambrano doubled, scoring Soto. Cubs 4, Pirates 2.

Cubs 5th: Ramirez led off with a home run. Cubs 5, Pirates 2.

Pirates 8th: With one out, Mientkiewicz doubled and took third on a wild pitch. One out later, Doumit singled, scoring Mientkiewicz. LaRoche homered, scoring behind Doumit. Cubs 5, Pirates 5.

Cubs 8th: With two outs, Soto walked. Johnson homered, scoring behind Soto. Soriano homered. Cubs 8, Pirates 5.

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