Soto’s home run leads Cubs to win

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CHICAGO – Crazy games have become the norm whenever the Cubs play the White Sox.

Friday was no exception. After Cubs manager Lou Piniella told Milton Bradley to leave the stadium in the sixth inning, Geovany Soto belted a three-run home run to lift his team to a 5-4 win over the Sox.

Cubs starter Randy Wells (2-3) earned his second consecutive victory by limiting the Sox to a pair of solo home runs by Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome. Sox starter Jose Contreras (2-7) pitched into the eighth inning, but Soto’s three-run blast in the seventh inning proved to be the difference.

The Sox rallied for two runs in the eighth against erratic reliever Carlos Marmol. With the bases loaded and one out, Sean Marshall induced an inning-ending, game-saving double play by Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

“I hit it three feet to the left or three feet to the right, and we are shaking hands right now,” Pierzynski said.

Once again, Bradley’s off-field antics dominated clubhouse chatter after the game.

After Bradley flied out to left field in the sixth, he threw his helmet and smashed a cooler in the Cubs dugout. Piniella finally lashed out against his short-tempered outfielder who has made headlines for all of the wrong reasons since he signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Cubs this winter.

“I just told him to take his uniform off and go home,” Piniella said. “I followed him up into the clubhouse and we exchanged some words. I don’t like those things to happen, but I’m just tired of watching all that.”

Turning point
The game was tied, 2-2, in the seventh inning when Jake Fox singled and Mike Fontenot reached base on the first error by Sox first baseman Paul Konerko in 118 games. Contreras then left a 0-1 pitch over the plate for Soto, who smashed it 402 feet over the left-center field wall to break the tie.

All of the Cubs runs on Friday came from home runs. Fox also hit a two-run shot in the fourth.

“You score runs in a hurry that way,” Piniella said. “Soto is starting to come around. He’s hitting the ball with some power and he’s throwing much better. Good to see.”

Konerko said Fontenot’s tricky broken-bat ground ball forced him to react quickly.

“You aggressively go after it, and you know it’s kind of a do or die, and I died there,” he said.

Lou’s take
Piniella was happy with the win but clearly bothered by Bradley’s latest meltdown.

“This has been a common occurrence and I’ve looked the other way a lot, and I’m done with it,” he said.
Piniella did not say whether Bradley was apologetic for his tantrum. Bradley would start today against Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle, Piniella said.

“Look, I’m not into discipline,” he said. “I’m really not. I’m going to put his name in the lineup [today], and

that’s it. … We’ll talk about it more [today].”

Ozzie’s take
Guillen was more unhappy after Thursday’s win against the Dodgers than he was after Friday’s loss against the Cubs, which took place in front of a sell-out crowd of 39,015 fans at U.S. Cellular Field.

“I love it,” Guillen said. “There are a lot of strategies, a lot of things going on the field. … It was a great ball game. We just come up short offensively once again. They got a big hit.”

Jose Contreras battled back spasms in the sixth inning before regaining his composure, Guillen said.

“Just for a couple seconds,” Guillen said. “After that, he continued to throw the ball very well. Another good outing. He just made one bad pitch. It cost us the game. But he threw very well.”

Big stat
.395: Jake Fox’s batting average through his first 17 games with the Cubs.

Fox has carried the Cubs offense with two doubles, two home runs and five RBIs in his past two games. He also has played good defense at third base, providing long-lost offense at the position since Aramis Ramirez went on the disabled list with a separated shoulder.

“How can you not put his name in the lineup every time that you have a chance?” Piniella said. “He’s earned it.”

On deck
A pair of popular veterans will square off when the Sox and Cubs meet this afternoon.

Buehrle (7-2) will make his 11th career appearance against the Cubs. He is 4-4 with a 4.57 ERA in 10 starts against the North Siders, including a 2-2 mark with a 3.14 ERA in four starts at U.S. Cellular Field.
Ryan Dempster (4-5) will start for the Cubs. He is 1-3 with a 5.79 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Sox, including a loss in the first game of a rain-shortened series last week.