Cubs never needed a bounce like this

When teams are as bad as the Cubs have been lately, they often talk of needing a bounce.

Or a fight.

Both occurred in the bottom of the eighth at Wrigley Field on Thursday, though the brawl that erupted in the upper deck showed more fight from their fans than the Cubs have displayed all season.

On the field, they finally got a break, and then they decided to battle.

It came at the expense of the White Sox and second baseman Chris Getz, who got in front of, but couldn't handle, a one-hop smash off the bat of pinch hitter Micah Hoffpauir.

The Cubs were trailing 5-1, but they had a bounce go their way and the leadoff man aboard.

"Lou (Piniella) told me before that at-bat to get up there and get on base, so I did, but obviously not how I planned it,'' Hoffpauir laughed. "It was a tough hop, but we'll take it.''

It led to a 4-run inning for the Cubs, their first in 29 games, dating back to an 11-3 victory over San Diego on May 14.

"It feels,'' Hoffpauir said, "like it's been that long since we even scored 4 runs.''

Not long after Hoffpauir reached on the error, Derrek Lee's two-out, 3-run homer, followed by Geovany Soto's solo shot, tied the game at 5-5.

"The great thing about D-Lee's homer is it went to right-center, and that's a sight for sore eyes,'' Hoffpauir said. "Someone finally hit one the other way.''

After the Cubs' first back-to-back homers since May 13, the Cubs won it in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out, broken-bat single to right-center by Alfonso Soriano.

"That's the kind of thing that could get him going,'' Hoffpauir said. "That's the kind of thing that could get everyone going.''

So could one big break that began the Cubs' big rally.

"Maybe it will,'' Hoffpauir said, shaking his head with relief. "Maybe it will.''

Tough loss

Matt Thornton took the loss for the White Sox, but it's not like the Cubs hit him hard in the ninth.

Reed Johnson's single leading off the inning was on a pitch in on his hands, Johnson said, and Alfonso Soriano's two-out, two-strike single was a dying quail that found some green grass among three Sox fielders in right-center.

"They executed well in that inning,'' Thornton said. "They've been in a tough streak, but in that inning they did their jobs and I didn't.''

Thornton took the loss but it was Scott Linebrink who let the lead get away in the eighth.

"Linebrink didn't throw the ball over the plate, and when he did they hit it for a home run,'' said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "Very bad day. Very bad week for him.''

Guillen said he has no plans to take Linebrink out of his set-up role.

Jenks a lot

In case you're wondering if Ozzie Guillen thought about going to Bobby Jenks after the Derrek Lee homer with two outs in the eighth, and the Sox still leading 5-4, he didn't have Jenks up in the pen and Jenks hasn't pitched more than an inning yet this year.

Last season, Guillen did it only 6 times and 5 were after Aug. 23. Guillen pitched Jenks for 2 innings once last June, but obviously wants to avoid it this time of year unless absolutely necessary.

Anyone home?

No one wanted to hear it the countless times it said here that all the Cubs' backloaded, long-term contracts for bad fundamental players would come home to roost on the North Side, but now that it's happened, everyone's suddenly shocked and up in arms.

Sorry, but that horse left the barn a couple years ago.

Yet, despite all those mistakes, it doesn't excuse the fact that the Cubs have an absentee owner who doesn't care whether they win or lose, and doesn't even pick up the phone to let the team know whether it can make moves between now and July 31.

Mistakes or not, the Cubs are in the middle of a pennant race they can still win, but they need to make changes if only the owner will let them.

Fundamental change

Ozzie Guillen laughed Thursday at the focus on his call for a squeeze Wednesday.

"A lot of people make a big deal out of a squeeze bunt or a hit-and-run because you don't see that (bleep) anymore. All you see is home runs,'' Guillen said. "But that's going to change. Home runs are coming down and every manager is going to need players who can do that stuff.

"It's simple stuff, like bunting, that people forgot how to do, but it's been part of baseball for 100 years, except when all the home runs happened.''

Don't Nix him

While Ozzie Guillen doesn't think Jayson Nix is ready to be an every-day player yet, he couldn't be happier that Nix is on the club.

"I love this kid,'' Guillen said. "He's tough and he's very professional. You put him anywhere in the field or in the lineup and he doesn't say a word. You just put him there and he plays.

"He shows up every day and I appreciate that.''

Best stat

The Cubs' pitching staff has the second-best opponents' batting average in all of baseball.

Worst stat

The Cubs' offense has the 24th-best on-base percentage in all of baseball.

And finally-

Ozzie Guillen, doing his best Yogi Berra: "It's not a good team right now because we're below .500. Whoever is above .500 is a good team compared to a bad team. I'm not going to call the ballclub a bad ballclub. It's a good club playing not good.''

brozner@dailyherald.com