Putting on their rally caps
Ramirez's two-run triple, DeRosa's RBI infield single fuel 9th-inning fun
The Cubs weren't a good team Monday, but they might have become a championship team.
Trailing by two runs in the ninth inning with their one-game lead in the National League Central about to disappear, the Cubs rallied for three runs to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in the opener of their final homestand at Wrigley Field.
Trailing by two runs in the ninth inning with their one-game lead in the National League Central about to disappear, the Cubs rallied for three runs to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in the opener of their final homestand at Wrigley Field.
''This was huge,'' said second baseman Mark DeRosa, whose fifth hit of the night -- a line-drive single off the glove of Reds closer David Weathers with an extra fielder in the infield -- drove home pinch runner Sam Fuld from third base for the game-winner.
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
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Cubs vs. Reds
''This was huge,'' said second baseman Mark DeRosa, whose fifth hit of the night -- a line-drive single off the glove of Reds closer David Weathers with an extra fielder in the infield -- drove home pinch runner Sam Fuld from third base for the game-winner.
''There was never a doubt, though. We had the top of the lineup coming up in the ninth. We have a lot of respect for David Weathers; he's an accomplished pitcher. But we look up at that scoreboard, too, and see 6-0, Milwaukee [the score of the Brewers' victory against the Houston Astros], and you can't quit in that situation.''
''I don't know about 'no doubt,''' said first baseman Derrek Lee, whose single after Ryan Theriot's leadoff walk set the stage for Aramis Ramirez's two-run triple past diving center fielder Norris Hopper. ''But [DeRosa] is right. Our confidence is real high right now. We feel we can win those ballgames.''
What made the Cubs' sixth victory in their last seven games especially significant was that they won despite playing poorly for most of the game. They won despite leaving nine men on base through eight innings by going 1-for-8 with men in scoring position, despite starter Rich Hill blowing a 3-1 lead by fading in the fifth inning, despite a handful of sloppy plays in the field and despite Alfonso Soriano running them out of an inning by trying to go from second to third on a one-out grounder to short in the sixth.
''We didn't play a real good ballgame, and we were able to win it,'' manager Lou Piniella said.
But don't try to tell him it had anything to do with luck, not after the heart of the order put together a run of consecutive good at-bats.
''I don't think that's luck; I think that's good hitting,'' Piniella said.
And there was nothing lucky about Kevin Hart and Will Ohman combining for three innings of scoreless relief to keep the Reds in sight.
''It's a big win,'' Piniella said. ''I mean, it's a huge win. And we went out and snatched it. [The Reds] didn't give us anything. They played hard. ... We won this thing because we stayed after it for 27 outs.''
If the Cubs hold on to their division lead through the final 11 games, this 6-1 run might prove to be the defining -- if not redefining -- stretch of games for a team that had spent the previous month of the race dancing with disaster.
But when closer Ryan Dempster survived that tightrope ninth inning last week against the Astros to start this seven-game run, Piniella said, ''You have to think the worm has turned.''
Five days later, the Cubs celebrated as though they already had clinched a spot in October.
''Sometimes these are the type of games you have to win,'' said Lee, who won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003.
Sometimes they're the type of games you have to know you'll win.
''We just knew we could do it,'' Ramirez said. ''We've been there before, and we had the right guys up there. ... Never give up. That's a sign of a good team.''
CUBS 7, REDS 6