Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Apr 29, 2009 3:20PM

Cubs Whoop Diamondbacks
The recuperating Chicago Cubs had no trouble with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, winning by a score of 11-3. Cubs starter and slugger Carlos Zambrano got the job done both on the rubber and at the plate, scattering eight hits over seven innings and falling only a triple short of the cycle. Big Z capped his banner day with a leadoff shot in the seventh, adding an exclamation mark to his 3-for-4, two RBI performance. Other offensive contributors included Alfonso Soriano and Mike Fontenot, who both went yard against the Dbacks’ Yusmeiro Petit. Soriano would finish 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a walk, his three-run dinger being his seventh home run of the season. Milton Bradley got the ball rolling again in his return to right field, reaching base three times on a walk and two singles. Chicago will possibly reintroduce Derrek Lee to their lineup this afternoon, as they look to take the series from Arizona.

Sox Beat Mariners, Mariners Beat Sox
The Chicago White Sox split a doubleheader with the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, prevailing 2-1 in the opener and losing the nightcap 9-1. In game one, the Sox were a model of efficiency behind starter Bartolo Colon, scoring their two runs on just two hits and a walk. Chicago’s offense arrived in the fourth, when Paul Konerko doubled home Josh Fields and Carlos Quentin. That was all the Sox would get off Seattle’s Chris Jakubauskas, who pitched seven 1-2-3 innings en route to a complete game. Colon kept the Mariners in check at the plate, however, allowing only four hits and one unearned run over seven strong innings. The unearned came in the seventh, when Seattle’s Russell Branyan moved to second on a Brent Lillibridge error, and Rob Johnson subsequently doubled on a liner to center. Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks would take care of business in the eighth and ninth, preserving the one run lead and securing the win for Chicago.

Game two was of a different variety, as the Mariners found their stride against the Sox’s John Danks. Danks, who seemed virtually untouchable in his first three appearances, coughed up five runs and eight hits over four innings, including a three-run shot to Yunlesky Betancourt in the second. Betancourt went 4-for-5 on the night with five RBIs, as Seattle posted 19 hits against the Chicago pitching staff. D.J. Carrasco and Lance Broadway were each responsible for two runs in relief, as Seattle marched to victory. Paul Konerko again plated all of the Sox’s runs, but his lone RBI in the bottom of the ninth was of little consequence. No rest for the weary, as the two teams wrap up the compacted series today at 1:05.

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin