Cubs make things exciting again with 8-7 extra inning win

It's old home week at Wrigley Field, and these walk-off wins by the Cubs have become old hat.

Ryan Theriot did it for the second time this week, as his cue-shot single between the first and second basemen skittered through and scored Alfonso Soriano with the winning run as the Cubs came from behind to beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings Friday.

"I don't know," said Theriot, who beat the Minnesota Twins with a single Sunday. "I wish I did know. I would try to do that every time."

The comeback was a stunner. The Cubs trailed 7-0 by the fourth inning against reigning Cy Young winner Cliff Lee.

And as long as we're talking old home week, things couldn't have played out any better.

Former Cubs Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood returned to warm ovations, and the fans cheered even louder when Derrek Lee homered off Wood in the ninth inning to tie the game at 7-7.

The retro craze really was on full display, as Lee seems to have rediscovered his power stroke. He homered in the sixth inning off Lee after Reed Johnson homered in the fifth.

In the fateful 10th, Soriano also showed some flashes from days gone by. He walked with two outs, and this former basestealer swiped second, bad knee and all.

That set the stage for Theriot, as the Cubs came from behind for a second straight day for a walk-off winner.

"You're starting to see the guys that in the past have been the ones we've leaned on, they're picking it up, man," Theriot said. "I tell you, D-Lee's on fire, and that really changes everything. He's put us on his back, and he's carrying us."

What really set the inning up was the walk and stolen base by Soriano, a one-time 40-steals man who has not had that part of his game working since coming to the Cubs two years ago.

"They haven't see that too much this year, but that makes me happy because I have my speed," said Soriano, who had the green light from manager Lou Piniella. "I'm not feeling 100 percent with my knee, but I think I'm fast enough to get that stolen base in the 10th inning."

The Indians scored all 7 runs against Cubs starting pitcher Rich Harden, who was not sharp. But a big shift in the wind, from blowing in lightly to blowing out hard, helped to change the Cubs' fortunes.

After Johnson and Lee homered, the Cubs scored 4 in the eighth against Lee and the Cleveland bullpen. Wood came on in the ninth and gave up Lee's homer with one out.

"He was throwing 96 (mph)," said Lee, who was 1-for-11 against Wood. "He made a good pitch and jammed me. It just got up in the wind and got out of there."

The 3 walk-off wins this week have enabled the Cubs to stay above water. Their record is 32-32. Piniella talked of the "resiliency" of his club. The players didn't disagree.

"It's huge," said Lee, who has 10 homers for the year. "For a team that had a hard time scoring runs at all, to make two big comebacks the last two days, it's a lot to character. We've been taking it pretty hard. We stayed up. That's all you can do. We were able to get 2 big comeback wins."

Bruce Miles' game tracker

He's on fire: Derrek extended his hitting streak to 16 games with 2 homers and a double. He's got his slugging percentage up to .490. He has reached base safely in 26 straight games.

The name game: Lee's homer in the sixth off Cleveland's Cliff Lee was his first against a pitcher named Lee.

Walking men: The Cubs drew 6 walks, 2 each by Geovany Soto and Alfonso Soriano.

Hard day: Starting pitcher Rich Harden gave up 7 runs, 1 short of his career worst, set in 2003 against Boston while he was with Oakland.

Dueling closers: Former Cubs closer Kerry Wood suffered his third blown save. Current Cubs closer Kevin Gregg improved to 2-1.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=301834">Old home weekend for DeRosa, Wood<span class="date"> [6/19/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=301830">Fox, Hoffpauir could see DH duty<span class="date"> [6/19/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>