Morning Box Score

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Cubs Throw Together Another Win
The Quade Era is off to an auspicious start as the the interim manager remains undefeated (er, 2-0) after last night's 5-4 Cubs win over the Nationals. Alfonso Soriano went deep against his old team with a three-run shot in the second to give the Cubs an early edge. Tyler Colvin followed suit in the fourth with a two-run shot of his own, giving the Cubs a 5-1 lead. Starter Carlos Zambrano cruised, allowing just a single run and striking out eight over 7.1 innings. After Sean Marshall loaded the bases in the eighth, Carlos Marmol came in to end the inning but then Marmol had, as usual, a far too dramatic ninth inning. After loading the bases, Marmol gave up a bases clearing double to the Nats' Adam Kennedy, putting the tying run in scoring position. Marmol, though, battled through and got the final out, giving the Cubs their second straight win. Ryan Dempster gets the start tonight as the Cubs go for the series sweep (6:05 p.m., CSN).

Sox Hold Off O's
The Cubs weren't the only ones staving off some last inning dramatics by opponents. The Sox had some late-inning "fun" of their own in holding off a late Orioles' rally to preserve a 7-5 win last night at The Cell. Down 2-0, the Sox chipped away at the O's and tied the game in the fifth. With the score still tied at 2-2 in the seventh, the Sox jumped out to a lead courtesy of a clutch three-run homer from Gordon Beckham, his eighth on the year, and added anoter run courtesy of Paul Konerko. After tacking on an extra run in the eighth, the Sox headed into the ninth with a comfortable 7-2 lead. But the O's knocked around reliever Sergio Santos who gave up two runs before being yanked in favor of JJ Putz. Putz's appearance was brief - just three pitches before being pulled for right knee pain. With no outs and runners on first and third, the Sox turned to Bobby Jenks. Jenks gave up a run but he did so by getting Ty Wigginton to ground into a double play. After that, Jenks recorded the final out for his 24th save on the year. With the win, the Sox have now climbed to within 3.5 games of the division-leading Twins. Said Ozzie: "A win is a win. I don't care how it comes. Especially how we played last week, I will take that one." The Sox hope game two of their series against Baltimore is far less dramatic (7:10 p.m., WCIU).