Cubs' improbable comeback has a lot of heroes to credit
Center fielder Marlon Byrd joked that the Cubs "knew it all along." But as comebacks go, Wednesday's was about as improbable as it gets.
The Cubs scored 4 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning - all after two outs - against their former combustible setup man, LaTroy Hawkins, to post a 7-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and even their record at 4-4.
It was both easy and tough to pick a hero:
• Jeff Baker singled with two outs and nobody on after falling behind Hawkins 0-2.
• Geovany Soto and Tyler Colvin worked their plate appearances hard and drew walks to load the bases.
• Ryan Theriot (4-for-5) singled to right-center to score 2 and bring the Cubs within 6-5, and Kosuke Fukudome singled to right to drive in the go-ahead runs.
• Closer Carlos Marmol came on in the ninth and featured some of the most wicked sliders he's thrown since spring training to strike out the side and post his third save.
"Heck of a comeback win," said manager Lou Piniella, who didn't wait for questions. "Two big hits by Theriot and Fukudome get us 4 runs, but you know what? The two at-bats by Soto and Colvin, getting on base, working a walk."
The Cubs were hardly perfect on another near-perfect spring day at Wrigley Field. Starting pitcher Randy Wells gave up 10 hits in 61/3 innings. Reliever Jeff Gray, just up from the minors, picked up his first big-league victory despite giving up 2 runs in the top of the eighth and seemingly putting the Cubs too far behind.
Wells was ahead of the Brewers and ahead in the count most of the early innings. His first bit of trouble came in the fifth, when he walked pitcher Dave Bush with two outs after getting ahead 0-2. Milwaukee scored 2 on a double by Rickie Weeks to take a 2-1 lead.
"You can't do that anywhere, much less the major leagues," Wells said. "That forced me to face a guy like Rickie Weeks. Walking the pitcher is not a good idea, but we got into a little battle there. He (Weeks) didn't look too good on the sliders earlier in the game, so I stuck with them and threw one too many and hung one. That was kind of the turning point."
Until the Cubs eighth. Hawkins retired Byrd and pinch hitter Chad Tracy before the next five Cubs reached.
"I was kind of in-between being super-aggressive or being real patient with him," Theriot said. "He made some good pitchers on the sliders the first two pitches. After that, I was like, 'Oh, I guess I'll just see it and hit it.'"
Fukudome remembered his fifth-inning lineout to first base and tried to learn from it.
"I had that in my mind, and I wanted to do the same thing and hit it really hard, and it went through," he said. "It was a really good at-bat."
Marmol finished by striking out Corey Hart, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.
"He threw the ball," Piniella said. "That's impressive. I mean that is really, really, good stuff. Really."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p>
<p class="News"><b>Mr. April:</b> Right fielder Kosuke Fukudome leads the Cubs in batting with a team-high 10 hits in 24 at-bats (.417), continuing his trend of three straight hot Aprils. "I've really settled down this year; that's really helped," he said.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Hitting through it: </b>The Cubs won their second straight game when not getting a quality start, as Randy Wells worked 61/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and 4 runs. He threw 29 pitches in a long fifth inning to run his pitch count from 50 to 79. He wound up with 104.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Leading man:</b> Leadoff man Ryan Theriot went 4-for-5 with 2 stolen bases. He has a five-game hitting streak and has raised his on-base percentage to .333. He has stolen two bases in two games so far this year. </p>
<div class="infoBox">
<h1>More Coverage</h1>
<div class="infoBoxContent">
<div class="infoArea">
<h2>Stories</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=373311">Another rough day in left as boo-birds jeer Soriano <span class="date">[4/14/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=373307">Cubs put Caridad on DL, then put Gray into action <span class="date">[4/14/10]</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>