Instant success for Gorzelanny in Cubs' 6-3 win
John Grabow was the man the Cubs wanted in last week's trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But on Tuesday night, Tom Gorzelanny was the man they needed.
Gorzelanny made his Cubs debut a memorable one as he pitched 7⅓ innings to help the Cubs to a 6-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ball Park.
With the Cubs' bullpen running on fumes, Gorzelanny took the ball and ran with it, giving up only 3 hits and 1 run.
The victory kept the Cubs (57-48) in a virtual tie with the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.
"What a nice game Gorzelanny pitched," Cubs manager Lou Piniella told reporters. "A great way to break in here. That was just what we needed."
Gorzelanny, a 27-year-old lefty from South suburban Evergreen Park, ran his overall record to 4-1 in his first start since Sept. 10. When he came out in the eighth inning, the many Cubs fans in the crowd of 17,992 gave him a warm ovation.
"It shows how big this team is, having more fans here than the home team," said Gorzelanny, who tipped his cap to the fans. "It's definitely a different feeling coming from where I came from. It was nice. It was definitely something I'll remember for a while."
Gorzelanny kept the ball down all night and threw only 98 pitches. He allowed a one-out triple to Adam Rosales in the first but struck out Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips.
Willy Taveras hit a harmless single in the third, and Gorzelanny cruised from there, coming out only after he hit pinch hitter Chris Tatum with a pitch with one out in the eighth and then giving up a single to Taveras.
Sean Marshall allowed 1 run to score before Angel Guzman got the final out before giving up 2 in the ninth.
The Cubs gave Gorzelanny plenty of support, breaking open the game with 4 runs in the sixth, when they batted around.
The game began with Kosuke Fukudome hitting his eighth homer of the season. Koyie Hill hit a 2-run double in the big sixth inning before Gorzelanny helped himself with an RBI single. Fukudome closed the scoring with a run-scoring single to right.
As for Gorzelanny, he will continue to start at least until top lefty Ted Lilly comes off the disabled list later this month.
"Ted is going be back soon," Gorzelanny said. "I just want to do my job until then, and I can go to the bullpen and go from there."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p> <p class="News"><b>Welcome to the club:</b> In his Cubs debut, Tom Gorzelanny turned in a quality start, working 7⅓ innings, giving up 3 hits and 1 run. Since July 1, the Cubs have 19 quality starts, with the team 19-2 in that span.</p> <p class="News"><b>Leading man:</b> Kosuke Fukudome homered to begin the game. It was his first career leadoff homer. In 20 games as a leadoff man this year, Fukudome is 25-for-74 (.338).</p> <p class="News"><b>Iron man:</b> In his 25th straight start behind the plate, Koyie Hill hit a pair of doubles. His sixth-inning double drove in 2. The last Cubs catcher with 25 straight starts was Damon Berryhill, in 1989.</p>