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Cubs Comeback Again
Cubs beat Indians 8-7
The baseball gods -- and opponents' bullpens -- are smiling on the Cubs.
And the Cubs are smiling all the way to the baseball bank, stashing away some very important victories right when they need them most.
For the second straight afternoon, the Cubs scored four runs in the eighth inning and one in the ninth, although it took them 10 innings Friday finally to beatthe Indians 8-7.
And you want to know how they won?
--With the loss going to Luis Vizcaino, whom the Cubs released in April.
--With the blown save going to former Cubs hero Kerry Wood because of a home run to maybe-ex-good friend Derrek Lee.
--With the victory going to Cubs' closer Kevin Gregg, who was brought in to replace Wood.
--And with a two-out base hit -- a squibber that eluded first baseman Victor Martinez and rolled into shallow right field -- from Ryan Theriot to score Alfonso Soriano.
Did Theriot even suspect the wiggler would turn into a hit?
"No. Yes and no," he said. "It was a pitch I was looking for. It was a little slower than what I thought.
"Hey, man it worked out, the baseball gods were smiling on me and we got the win."
Oh, those baseball gods play strange games on the North Side.
This was the Cubs' third walk-off victory of the week, with Theriot also singling against the Twins on Sunday and Soriano singling the winner home Thursdayagainst the White Sox.
But perhaps the most dramatic moment of this stretch came in the ninth inning, with the Indians ahead a run and Wood staring down from the mound at Lee.
Lee smacked a fastball into the left-field bleachers as his second homer of the day sent the game into extra innings.
"It was fun, having played with Woody for so long," said Lee, who has hit three homers in two days. "He made a good pitch, jammed me, but it gotup in the wind."
Much to the delight of 40,155 fans, who endured an 86-minute rain delay before first pitch and then 3 hours and 38 minutes that turned into high drama.
Wood threw Lee a curveball then shook off catcher Kelly Shoppach three times before deciding on a fastball.
"Derrek, he played behind me all those years, it's like he knew what was coming," Wood said. "He was smiling after he hit it."
The Cubs scored four runs in the eighth with the help of an error, a two-run double from Andres Blanco and another base hit from Soriano.
Soriano walked off Vizcaino with two outs in the 10th, then stole second.
"I don't remember the last time I was trying to steal, but I went for it and I got it," he said.
"It started with a walk, remember," manager Lou Piniella said of the winning rally. "We've talkedabout [lack of walks] for the last few months."
Friday's ending was so different from the beginning, when Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee was staked to a 7-0 leadafter three innings because Rich Harden allowed three-run homers in the second and third innings.
"It was ugly," Harden said.
In the end, it was a thing of beauty for Cubs fans, thanks to a second straight day of late heroics.
"[Now] we'll see what this team is capable of doing when we swing the bats a little more consistently," Derrek Lee said.
