Stubbs lifts Reds over Cubs with tie-breaking homer in eighth inning
Cubs pitcher Randy Wells came into Saturday's game with an undefeated record against the Cincinnati Reds.
Reds center fielder Drew Stubbs came into the same game mired in a 1-for-37 slump that lately had him grabbing some serious bench time.
Something had to give.
It did.
Stubbs continued to make Wrigley Field his personal playground this season, bashing 3 hits - including the tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning - scoring twice and knocking in a pair of runs to lead the Reds to a 4-3 victory.
The scrappy Cubs made it interesting in the ninth before dropping their ninth game in the last 10 in front of 41,227 on the North Side.
"He hit a pretty good pitch," said Wells (5-10), who admitted he was more upset about Stubbs' double in the third inning than his dinger in the eighth. "He got up, got around it, got it up in the air.
"Stubbs is a good hitter. He's a tough out."
Remember, it was Stubbs who put together a 3-home run effort at Wrigley on July 4.
The Friendly Confines, indeed.
"I don't know if that's coincidence or not, but I'm just happy to help the team's success," said Stubbs, whose ninth-inning RBI single also proved crucial.
"It's a great place to play, a great atmosphere. I enjoy it - but I like where we're at now."
That would be in first place in the NL Central.
And after a performance like his Saturday, Stubbs likes the place he's at mentally after being benched the previous five games.
"I just used the past few days to take a step back from everything and clean the slate up top," said Stubbs, who is batting .318 against the Cubs this season. "I had a lot of things going on in my head, and I stepped back to get back to where I was earlier, tweaked a few things, worked just to make sure my timing at the plate was good and made some good swings on balls today."
Stubbs' heroics spoiled a solid effort from Wells, who had retired 10 straight before Stubbs' home run. Wells worked 7-plus innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits.
"I felt good today," Wells said. "It was a pretty good day on the mound."
But again it wasn't a good day for the Cubs' bats. And once again one of the main culprits was Derrek Lee, who came up in the ninth with the bases loaded and one out and struck out swinging.
"It leaves such a bad taste in your mouth when you play like this; you want to play good baseball," Lee said. "I didn't have a good at-bat. Bases loaded, one out, I'm expected to hit something in the gap, but instead you strike out. That's the disappointing part."
The Cubs' comeback bid ended when Marlon Byrd struck out with the bags still packed.
"It's hard," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "It's frustrating - that's what it is."
<p class="News"><b>Mike Spellman's game tracker</b></p>
<p class="News">Reds 4, Cubs 3</p>
<p class="News">Leather Nix: Reds left fielder Laynce Nix turned in the web gem of the day with a diving catch of Koyie Hill's liner in the second inning that turned into a double play when Marlon Byrd strayed too far off second base.</p>
<p class="News">Vuja de: Not to be outdone, Kosuke Fukudome turned in a similar beauty the next inning, diving to his left and doubling off Ramon Hernandez at first.</p>
<p class="News">What's my line(r): Through the first four innings, Cubs starter Randy Wells allowed a plethora of line drives. Three of them were right at the head of shortstop Starlin Castro, and two of those nearly knocked the rookie to the ground.</p>
<p class="News">Just DeWitt: While he was credited with an error Saturday, Blake DeWitt is doing it all on offense since arriving from L.A. He is 8-for-22 (.364) with 3 runs, a double, a home run and 5 RBI.</p>