Aramis Ramirez helps Cubs beat Braves 5-4
Carlos Marmol walked through the Cubs' clubhouse with ice wrapped around his right shoulder and flashed a smile wider than a generous strike zone.
"Yeah, we're happy today," he said to no one in particular.
For the first time in a long time at Wrigley Field, every Cub could smile.
Especially Marmol.
A day after being burned by Rick Ankiel's two-out, two-strike, 3-run triple in the ninth and suffering the loss in a crusher, Marmol nailed down his 22nd save.
He pitched a scoreless inning, securing a well-deserved win for Tom Gorzelanny, as the Cubs held off the never-say-quit Atlanta Braves 5-4 in front of 41,099 on a sunny Saturday.
"(For Marmol) to come right back and get a save, it's good for him," manager Lou Piniella said.
The win snapped an eight-game home losing streak for the Cubs, who had not won at Wrigley since Aug. 4 against Milwaukee.
"We needed that one," Marmol said. "It's nice to win. We played better today and hopefully we can do it the rest of the year."
Gorzelanny (7-7) tossed 7 innings of 1-run ball, equaling his longest outing of the season. His 9 strikeouts were 1 shy of his career best, which he set May 2 against Arizona. He walked a pair.
The Evergreen Park native wouldn't say it was the best stuff he's had all year.
"No, I wouldn't," he said. "I think I've had maybe a couple of better games. It was one of the games where I was pounding the zone and attacking hitters. It was the game plan I want to do every time out. Sometimes I don't. I'm not able to do it."
For the second straight start, Gorzelanny threw 120 pitches. Which was fine with the lefty.
"I'm one of those advocates that (believes) you go until you feel you can't go anymore," Gorzelanny said. "I'm not worried about pitch counts or how many pitches I'm throwing. I'm worried about if I'm still getting hitters out. "
After the Braves' seventh, Piniella told Gorzelanny he was done.
"He threw (120) pitches. That's plenty," Piniella said. "We've been letting our starters go a little deep into games. It's out of necessity."
Gorzelanny left with a seemingly comfortable 5-1 cushion. But wildness by Andrew Cashner (2 walks) and Sean Marshall (walk, hit batsman) helped contribute to the Braves scoring three times in the eighth.
Marmol opened the ninth by walking ex-Cub Derrek Lee on 4 pitches, but he got a flyout and back-to-back strikeouts to end the game and halt the Cubs' five-game losing streak.
Atlanta was seeking its major-league-leading 23rd final at-bat victory and second in as many days.
Aramis Ramirez helped stake the Cubs to a 5-0 lead with a pair of RBI singles.
"It's good to win a baseball game," Piniella said. "It's been too long in between."
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Cubs, 5, Braves 4</b></p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">D-Lee watch: For the second straight day, new Brave Derrek Lee went hitless against his former team. Lee was 0-for-3 with 2 walks. He flied deep to left in the first, struck out in the third, flied to center in the fifth, walked in the eighth and drew another walk in the ninth. He left five runners on base, two in scoring position.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Colvin in the field: Tyler Colvin, who might be the Cubs' future first baseman, started in left field, as manager Lou Piniella gave Alfonso Soriano the day off. Colvin went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">A-Ram's "A" game: Aramis Ramirez batted cleanup and paced the Cubs' 10-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with run-scoring singles in the first and third innings.</p>