Cubs walk away with victory

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

CHICAGO – Jake Fox knew exactly what pitch to look for with a full count, two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning Friday.
Fortunately for the Cubs, Fox kept looking.

Brewers reliever Mark DiFelice (4-1) barely missed the strike zone with a slider above Fox’s belt, and the Cubs walked off as winners with a 2-1 victory over the Brewers. The Cubs trimmed Milwaukee’s lead to 1 ˝ games in the NL Central as they won for the fourth time in five games and bobbed a game above .500.

“I just went back in the video room to check it out because everybody was giving me a hard time,” Fox said with a smile. “It was a little bit up and a little bit in. I thought the umpire made a good call there. But it was a close one.”

The game would not have been so close if not for great pitching and good defense by the Cubs. Carlos

Zambrano pitched seven strong innings and drove in the game-tying run in the fifth inning, while Aaron Heilman and Kevin Gregg (3-2) combined for three scoreless innings in relief.

In the seventh inning, the Brewers looked ready to take the lead before Kosuke Fukudome charged from center field on a base hit and fired a perfect throw to nab Jeff Suppan at home plate.

Turning point
Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot singled with one out in the 10th to start the extra-inning rally. Theriot advanced to second base on a wild pitch and tagged up to third when Derrek Lee flied out deep to right.
DiFelice walked Milton Bradley and Geovany Soto to bring up Fox with the game on the line. Fox worked the count to 3-1 before fouling off three consecutive pitches and drawing ball four.

“It was tough,” Fox said. “If it ever came back down it would have been a good strike, but it never came back down. Whether you call it lucky or you call it good, either one, it got the job done.”

Lou’s take
Piniella credited Zambrano, Heilman and Gregg with quieting the Brewers, who rank third in the National League in home runs and fourth in runs scored.

“We got good pitching that kept us in the ball game,” Piniella said. “You hold that team down to one run, you’re pitching well. And we finally punched a run in there in the bottom half of the 10th.”

Fukudome’s throw to home plate proved that he has not carried his hitting slump to the field.

“Great play,” Piniella said. “Good tag by the catcher. That’s good baseball. Fielder hit that ball up the middle and Fukudome charged it, made a one-hop throw to the plate. Good baseball.”

Big stat
1.71: Kevin Gregg’s ERA in his past 20 outings.

Gregg has allowed four runs in his past 21 innings and has held opponents scoreless in 24 of his past 27 appearances. He has lowered his ERA from 6.06 to 3.62 over the past six weeks.

“I’m just getting comfortable,” Gregg said. “If you can remember the way the first part of the season went, I had some unfortunate breaks early on. A couple of balls lost in lights and things like that. The ball is starting to bounce my way, I guess.”

On deck
The Cubs will aim for three consecutive wins over the Brewers this afternoon at Wrigley. Cubs starter Rich Harden (5-4) will try to win his second game in a row after beating the Pirates on Monday.

Brewers right-hander Braden Looper (6-4) will face the Cubs. Looper allowed one earned run in five innings against the Cubs in his first start of the season on April 10.