Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Jun 21, 2009 3:30PM

Cubs Best Indians, Wood
The Cubs walked off with another win versus the Cleveland Indians and Kerry Wood yesterday, triumphing 6-5 in 13 innings. Cleveland broke a 4-4 deadlock in the top of the 13th when Luis Valbuena hit his second solo shot of the contest, putting the pressure on a Cubs’ offense that had been held scoreless since the sixth. Kosuke Fukudome started the bottom half with his fourth hit of the game, singling to right. He then made a break for second on the third strike to Koyie Hill and advanced all the way to third on an errant throw by Indian’s catcher Kelly Shoppach. A subsequent single by pinch-hitter Andres Blanco plated Fukudome to tie the game, and Aaron Miles’ base knock moved Blanco to within 90 feet of a Cubs’ victory. The game came to an abrupt end when Wood uncorked a wild 1-1 fastball that bounced to the backstop, allowing Blanco to come home with ease for the winning run. Derrek Lee and Micah Hoffpauir provided the Cubs’ early offense, both hitting two-run homers in the middle innings to keep their club in the mix. Starter Ted Lilly turned in six quality innings and seven pitchers later David Patton notched the win. The Cubs will go for the sweep at 1:20 this afternoon.

Sox Storm Cincy
An early five-run deficit didn’t deter the White Sox in Saturday's Civil Rights Game, as they rode the long ball to a 10-8 victory. Gordon Beckham’s first Big League bomb was the catalyst, giving the Sox three runs in the fourth inning and cutting their deficit to two. Scott Podsednik and A.J. Pierzynski tacked on solo jobs in the fifth to tie the score, and Alexei Ramirez added three more to the Sox’s total in the sixth with a drive over the fence in left field. Cincy rallied to score a pair of runs off Octavio Dotel in the seventh, but Podsednik and Ramirez each picked up another RBI in the eighth to re-establish command. The duo reached base a total of eight times in the contest. Starter Clayton Richard gave Chicago only three innings on the hill, but the bullpen picked up the slack, with D.J. Carrasco, Matt Thornton and Scott Linebrink combining for four scoreless frames. The Sox and the Reds will play the rubber game this afternoon and 12:10.

Fire Open SuperLiga with Win
It wasn't an MLS win, but the Chicago Fire opened their 2009 SuperLiga tournament with a 1-0 victory over Real San Luis last night at Toyota Park. Both teams had plenty of shots, but it was a Brian McBride off a Blanco assist that gave the Fire the first and only goal of the game in the 69th minute. Jon Busch played well in goal for the fire, saving all eight shots on goal from Real San Luis. Next up for the Fire is a match Tuesday at Toyota Park against Chivas USA, the next match in the 2009 SuperLiga.