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| Ward's timely double helps Cubs sweep D'Backs CHICAGO CUBS 6, ARIZONA 4 |
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CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Daryle Ward belted a pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth inning Sunday, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Reed Johnson and Derrek Lee homered for Chicago, which finished off a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks in a rematch of the 2007 National League Division Series. "We got some timely hitting late in the game," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "It wrapped up a real good weekend for us against a real good team." With the game tied at 4-4, Tony Pena issued an intentional walk to pinch hitter Alfonso Soriano to load the bases. Ward then drilled a pitch from Pena (0-1) into right-center field for a two-run double. "He has good stuff," Ward said. "I wanted to jump on a first-pitch fastball, if that was what he was going to give to me, and he did. He couldn't have thrown it anymore down the middle than he did. As a pinch hitter, you see a pitch down the middle and you've got to swing." Carlos Marmol (1-0) logged a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood threw a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the season. Johnson tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh by blasting a 2-1 fastball from Juan Cruz to right field for a two-run homer. "Juan has been one of our best relievers all year," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Today, he made a mistake to Johnson and he paid for it." "It was a 2-and-1 count on Johnson," Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero said. "We were trying to come inside with a fastball. (Juan) missed the spot. Johnson put a good swing on it and did some damage with the pitch." The Cubs' comeback helped disguise some questionable managing by Piniella, which helped Arizona take a 4-2 lead in the fifth. The Diamondbacks tied the game at 2-2 as Montero led off the frame with a double and scored on an RBI single from Augie Ojeda. Eric Byrnes doubled, and Piniella ordered spot starter Sean Gallagher to walk Chris Young. Chad Fox relieved Gallagher and walked Conor Jackson and Justin Upton to force in a pair of runs. The game was delayed 58 minutes due to rain, causing both teams to scratch their scheduled starters. Randy Johnson, who had a second back surgery in as many years this offseason, was held out as a precaution. Edgar Gonzalez got the start in place of Johnson and allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. "I didn't know I was going to pitch until three hours before the game started," Gonzalez said. "He (Melvin) asked me if I could go some innings. I told them to just give me the ball." Meanwhile, Gallagher took Carlos Zambrano's place and yielded four runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. "Very nice surprise," Gallagher said of his spot start. "It was probably about an hour beforehand. "I was walking around the clubhouse when (pitching coach) Larry Rothschild comes up and says, 'You're starting.' I think it was great for me. I think I got a lot better sleep last night just finding out this afternoon rather than being told a day in advance." Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jackson drilled an RBI triple to center, plating Young. Chicago answered in the second when Mark DeRosa walked, and later scored on a wild pitch. "We took an early lead today," Melvin said. "I felt good about it. They just played better than we did in the last couple of innings the last two games." Lee's 10th home run of the season gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the third. |
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