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| DeRosa's late homer helps Cubs rally past Rockies CHICAGO CUBS 10, COLORADO 9 |
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CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Mark DeRosa and the Chicago Cubs get to spend another day on top. DeRosa belted a two-run homer in the seventh inning to cap an amazing comeback Friday as the Cubs edged the Colorado Rockies, 10-9. Kosuke Fukudome and Henry Blanco hit two-run blasts while Jim Edmonds homered and drove in three runs for Chicago, which erased an eight-run deficit by scoring three in the sixth and six in the seventh en route to its fifth straight win. "What can I say? That's the description of a come-from-behind win," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "These guys kept battling and put runs on the board. Just a heck of a come-from-behind win. "I got excited today. When DeRosa's ball went out of the ballpark, that's the loudest this place has been all year, by far. It was almost deafening." It also was the sixth consecutive home victory for the Cubs (34-21), who own the best record in the major leagues. Chicago trailed, 9-1, entering the bottom of the sixth before Fukudome belted a two-run shot and Edmonds followed with a solo homer. With a runner on first in the next inning, Blanco clubbed his first homer of the season off Colorado starter Aaron Cook, slicing Chicago's deficit to 9-6. Three batters later, Edmonds lined a two-run double off Manny Corpas (0-3) to make it 9-8. "I was really happy to see Edmonds swing the bat like he did today," Piniella said. "We really need that. That would be a big lift for this baseball team, and today, he contributed big-time." Edmonds went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, making the Cubs feel much better after he entered this contest batting a paltry .125 (3-for-24) with no runs produced in his eight previous games. "I haven't been swinging the bat very well all year," Edmonds said. "I've been working hard, but today was the first time I really felt like I used to when I played for the Cardinals." "We've been waiting for Edmonds to have a breakout game, and today was it," Piniella added. "Let's hope he follows up with a lot more of that. He's an experienced player that's played in winning situations that can help you." Chicago signed the four-time All-Star on May 14 after he was released by the San Diego Padres. Edmonds' key double set the stage for DeRosa, who drilled Corpas' sixth pitch into the left-center field seats to cap the comeback. "Unbelievable," DeRosa said of the comeback. "When Henry hit that homer, I thought we had a legitimate chance. Him coming off the bench and hitting a home run energized our bench. It speaks volumes for the character of the team and the fact that Lou's not afraid to play everyone." "With Manny, it was a 3-2 breaking ball to DeRosa," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "If he gets it in a good spot, we get a better result. But he didn't get a good spot." Scott Eyre (2-0) struck out the only batter he faced in the seventh to notch the victory. After Carlos Marmol struck out the side in the eighth, closer Kerry Wood worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to record his 13th save. The Rockies jumped to an 8-0 lead through the fourth on the strength of a three-run homer by Todd Helton and solo shots by Chris Iannetta and Ryan Spilborghs. Cubs starter Ted Lilly was rocked for seven runs - four earned - and eight hits in just three innings, the lefthander's shortest outing of the season. "Lilly was up with all his pitches," Piniella said. "He couldn't get any of his pitches down. You get that ball up in the wind, it's going to carry. It did, early for them and late for us." Omar Quintanilla, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI, added a run-scoring single in the fifth to give Colorado a 9-1 cushion. Cook surrendered seven runs, 10 hits - including three homers - and a walk in 6 1/3 frames. "The fact is, the last couple of innings, I didn't execute and got the ball up, and they took advantage of it," Cook said. "Early, the wind was blowing, but I was still getting groundball outs. But late, I just didn't execute and didn't make pitches." |
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