Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 30, 2009 3:00PM
Cubs Ease Past Pirates
Ah, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the elixir for any struggling baseball team. Losers of six of their last seven, the Cubs rolled into Pittsburgh and rolled out of PNC Park with a 3-1 win to open the series. Rich Harden had one of his most effective outings in a while, striking out nine and allowing only one run while scattering nine hits in seven innings. The struggling bullpen combo of Marmol & Gregg also seemed to right the ship, both pitching scoreless innings, Marmol holding and Gregg earning his 13th save. The Cubs bats didn't exactly explode, but they pieced together enough runs to win, and at this point, that's what matters. Andres Blanco singled in a run in the second, Ryan Theriot homered (a solo shot) in the third, and Milton Bradley doubled in a run in the fourth, giving the Cubs all the offense they needed to get back in the win column. It was Harden's first win since May 12 and he was equally calm about the victory, saying, "The important thing is the team won today. I've never really got caught up in personal wins or losses. As long as I'm doing my job out there and giving the team a chance to win, then I'm happy." In spite of their struggles, the Cubs remain only 3.5 games back of the division leading Brewers with a three-game set against Milwaukee and a four game series against St. Louis all before the All-Star Break. Of course, they need to focus on Pittsburgh first; tonight's game starts at 6:05 p.m. (CSN+).
Sox Roll Past Indians
Just like the Cubs, the White Sox find themselves within striking distance of first place in their division (tied for second with Minnesota, four games back of Detroit) and in the midst of a two-week stretch of divisional games until the All-Star Break. And just like the Cubs, the White Sox started out the stretch with a big 6-3 win over Cleveland. The White Sox seemed on cruise control for most of the game as Gavin Floyd shut down the Indians, allowing only five hits and no runs over 7.2 innings pitched. The Sox bullpen, however, struggled a bit, with Matt Thornton and Octavio Dotel combining to allow three runs in the ninth, but the Sox bats had paced the team enough that the win was in hand. The Sox used batted in a run in each of the first two innings to get an early lead. They then blew the game open in the ninth when they loaded the bases and got RBIs from Pierzynski, Getz, and Beckham. There were some scary moments as Indians reliever Chris Perez - acquired in the trade that sent DeRosa to the Cards - hit Alexie Ramirez in the head and then hit Jermaine Dye. Ramirez left the game and was later reported to be okay and Dye remained in the game. With the win, the White Sox are back at .500 and take on the last place Indians once more tonight at 6:05 p.m. (CSN)