Morning Box Score

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 8, 2009 3:00PM

Konerko Beats Cleveland
It was all Konerko Tuesday night at The Cell as the first basemen clobbered three home runs - including a grand slam - and knocked in seven RBIs as the Sox toppled Cleveland 10-5. Konerko's first knock was a solo shot in the second that evened the game at 1-1. Then, with the Sox down 3-1 in the fifth, Konerko connected for his grand slam to put the Sox up 5-3. Alexei Ramirez added a two-run homer in the seventh and later that inning Konerko belted his third homer of the night, a two-run shot, giving the Sox plenty of runs on the board. All-Star Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong innings, giving up three runs. Even more important for the Sox: with the win, they move into sole possession of second place, just two games back of Detroit. The second game of the series gets underway tonight at 7:11 p.m. (WCIU).

Braves Slip Past Cubs
The Cubs got a great start out of Carlos Zambrano, pitching on three days rest to fill in for the injured Ryan Dempster, but the bats couldn't help out as the Braves slipped past the Cubs 2-1 Tuesday night. Koyie Hill tied the game at 1-1 in the second, but it was all the offense the Cubs could produce. The Braves took a 2-1 lead in the third and then the pitching staffs took over. Zambrano gave up only the two runs over six innings, and the bullpen held tight, but scoring opportunities on offense were few and far between. Said Lou of Z's start, "He did a nice job on [three days'] rest, gave us six good innings of baseball, gave us a chance." The third and final game of the series starts today at 1:20 p.m. (CSN).