Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Apr 22, 2009 3:00PM

Cubs Rout Reds
In a game that featured a pair of incidents that surely gave veteran Cubs fans unwanted flashbacks - a cat on the field and a foul ball caught very, very near the Bartman seat - the Chicago Cubs took the first of three games against the Cincinnati Reds yesterday in commanding fashion, winning 7-2. Rich Harden was key to the Cubs' success, allowing only three hits and two runs through six innings, while recording eight K's. At the plate, Micah Hoffpauir provided a spark when he led off the second inning with a solo shot to right. Hoffpauir then broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth, plating Alfonso Soriano on a sacrifice fly. Also swinging a hot bat for Chicago was Aramis Ramirez, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs, including a two-run single in the sixth to give the Cubs some breathing room. Ramirez has amassed 14 RBIs so far this season, tying him for fourth best in the N.L. Ted Lilly takes the hill tonight at Wrigley Field, with a 7:05 first pitch.

Orioles Stop Sox
The Chicago White Sox stumbled in Baltimore on Tuesday night, falling to the Orioles 10-3. The Sox came into the contest having won four of six on their recent road trip, and were hoping to take advantage of a Baltimore team that had dropped five straight. The Good Guys clung to a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the fifth, but it was deuces wild for Baltimore, who scored a pair of runs in each of the next four frames. Starter Jose Contreras was chased in the sixth inning after surrendering his fifth run of the ballgame, with his sixth left standing on third base. Clayton Richard and Jack Egbert didn't have much better luck in relief, as each pitcher was saddled with two earned runs. Aubrey Huff provided the muscle for the Orioles, hitting a two-run homer in the third and another in the eighth. The Sox will look to rebound this evening behind John Danks with a 6:05 start time in Baltimore.