Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Jun 20, 2009 3:30PM

Cubs Stun Tribe
The Cubs notched another glorious comeback victory on Friday, beating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings. Trailing 7-0 through the first 4.5 frames, Derrek Lee officially brought the Cubs back to square with a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth off familiar face Kerry Wood. Then with two outs in the tenth, another former teammate, Luis Vizcaino, walked Alfonso Soriano, who then moved into scoring position with a swipe of second. Ryan Theriot worked the count full and then slapped a line drive past Cleveland's Victor Martinez for the game-winning RBI. By the time starter Rich Harden made his final pitch in the fifth, the Tribe had scored seven runs on seven hits. The Cubs, with only two hits to their name, began making inroads when Reed Johnson drove the first pitch from Cliff Lee deep into the center field bleachers for Chicago's first run of the day. Derrek Lee followed suit in the sixth, adding another solo shot to the teams' total, and the Cubs then piled on four runs in the eighth to make it a game again. Kevin Gregg got his second straight win, as the Cubs 'pen allowed just one hit in four innings of relief. The Cubs and Cleveland will play round two at 12:05 this afternoon.

Reds Edge Sox
The White Sox offense was all long ball on Friday, but it wasn't enough to get past the Cincinnati Reds, who defeated the Good Guys 4-3. One of Chicago's four hits was Chris Getz' two run dinger in the top of the fourth that gave the second baseman his first career home run and his team an early lead. Cincinnati posted a score in the bottom half of the same inning, and then pulled ahead with two more runs off starter Jose Contreras in the sixth. The difference maker was Brandon Phillips' sac fly in the seventh, which granted the Reds a two-run advantage in the late goings. Paul Konerko almost hit one hard enough to count for two, but his solo shot in the ninth left the Sox a run shy of extra innings. Jose Contreras was saddled with the loss despite his third consecutive quality start, as the Sox's bats couldn't solve Cincy's Bronson Arroyo. The second game of the series is also MLB's annual Civil Rights Game, with both squads trying to honor baseball's heritage with a win this evening.