Morning Box Score

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 14, 2008 2:20PM

Cubs Spank Braves In Doubleheader Sweep
After taking game one of their doubleheader with the Braves 10-2, the Cubs came out swinging again and took game two on the strength of four first inning runs. Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome had 2 RBIs apiece in the night cap. Pitcher Rich Harden combined with the bullpen to allow only three hits all night. Harden pitched five innings of shutout ball (and lowered his ERA to 1.80), followed by an inning each from Chad Gaudin, Neal Cotts, Kerry Wood, and Sean Marshall. The Cubs look to sweep the beleaguered Braves tonight at 6 p.m. as Ted Lilly takes on Tom Glavine. Four Cubs players (Ramirez, Fukudome, Soto, and Edmonds) were responsible for the same or more runs than the Braves had all day.

Sox, Buehrle Roll Over Royals
For the second straight night, the White Sox shutout the Kansas City Royals, this time 4-0. The game featured Mark Buehrle's second straight outstanding outing, throwing seven scoreless innings and striking out five; he's only given up one run in his last two starts. And, for the second straight night, the White Sox got all the offense they needed in the first inning courtesy of a Jermaine Dye RBI double and a Junior Griffey RBI single. They added another run in the fifth and eight innings for insurance. The final game is this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. before the Pale Hose jump a flight to the West Coast for a weekend series in Oakland. The loquacious Ozzie Guillen waxed philosophical on the importance of pitching after the game:

"I keep saying it's all about pitching. If your pitching holds on and your pitching does what it's supposed to do and we make the plays, the offense is going to be there.

Everybody's offense, especially in the American League, is going to be there. I'm just being realistic. If the pitching's not there, then no matter what kind of ballclub anybody has, they're going to suffer.

"Every inning and every pitch counts. Everyone on the mound has to try to get all the zeros they can get because I want to use the least guys I can use to keep them fresh all year long."