Chicago completes sweep
Published Thursday August 28th, 2008
PITTSBURGH - Two bunts, one double and nine well-pitched innings. The Chicago Cubs proved on a Wrigley Field-like day they can win when their bats aren't booming, and their by-the-textbook victory came before they begin what may be their toughest stretch all season.
Jason Marquis shut down Pittsburgh's batters on a cool, windy day that must have made the Cubs feel at home, and Chicago turned two well-placed bunts into two runs in the seventh inning to sweep yet another three-game series from the Pirates with a 2-0 victory Wednesday.
"That's the sign of a good team, one that can win in different ways," Reed Johnson said. "We've been able to win the last couple of weeks by sitting back and swinging the bat. Today we weren't swinging the bats very well, so we were able to play a little bit different game and it ended up working out for us."
After scoring 26 runs - 12 on Monday, 14 on Tuesday - in the first two games, the Cubs turned to pitching and defence for their third three-game sweep this season of the NL Central rival Pirates. The Cubs won the season series 14-4, the most victories they've have against Pittsburgh since going 15-7 in 1954 - and their most against any opponent since beating St. Louis 15 times in 1978.
Chicago, a major league-best 83-50, won its fifth in a row and 13th in 16 games. The Cubs are 33 games over .500 for the first time since they were 98-56 at the end of the 1945 season.
The Cubs went 7-2 in a nine-game stretch against NL weaklings Cincinnati, Washington and Pittsburgh. It gets tougher starting tonight against the Phillies as they play 27 of their final 29 against teams that are .500 or above.
"You've got to make sure to take same approach every pitch, every at-bat, every game and not let the mental errors and mental mistakes get to you," Marquis said.
"That says a lot for this team, how good we feel we're going and how good we can be - and how we're not going to let up until the season is over."
As if their schedule would let them do that.
The Pirates lost their season-high seventh in a row and 11th in 13 games despite one of Zach Duke's few effective starts since the All-Star break. Pittsburgh is 7-18 since trading leading run producer Jason Bay of Trail, B.C., to Boston on July 31.
Asked if the Pirates are glad they won't see the Cubs until next season, manager John Russell needed only a one-word answer: "Yeah."
Duke (4-13), who lost his ninth consecutive decision, took a shutout into the seventh before Johnson beat out a bunt single to third. Mark DeRosa, batting .441 (15-for-34) during a nine-game hitting streak, doubled down the left-field line to put runners on second and third.
Twins 6 Mariners 5
In Seattle, Denard Span his part to keep Minnesota from falling further behind in their playoff chase.
Span drove in two runs early and then threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Twins beat AL-worst Seattle, snapping Minnesota's ill-timed losing streak at four.
Facing the possibility of falling even further behind in the playoff chase, the Twins put together a clutch inning of hitting in the top of the eighth, scoring three runs to take the lead. Span then helped preserve the advantage a few minutes later when Minnesota's bullpen did its best to give up the lead.
Padres 5 D'Backs 4
In San Diego, Jody Gerut singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and San Diego denied Randy Johnson his 295th career win with a victory over Arizona.
Gerut, who had three hits in the game also hit a two-run game-winning homer on Monday, singled off Chad Qualls (2-8) and drove in Chase Headley from second base to give the Padres a sweep of the three-game series against the NL West leaders.
Arizona has lost four straight and five of six.
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