Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Jul 28, 2009 3:00PM

Grand Win for Cubs
Alfonso Soriano's walk-off grand slam in the 13th inning of Monday's ballgame gave the Cubs a 5-1 victory over the Houston Astros. Soriano, who was in jeopardy of ending a nine-game hitting streak, rocketed a 1-0 changeup from Chris Sampson deep to center field for a dramatic finish to the extra-inning affair. The Cubs' only other run came way back in the fourth, when Derrek Lee hit a leadoff homer to tie the game at one apiece. Credit starter Carlos Zambrano with seven three-hit innings on the hill and the Cubs' bullpen for five scoreless innings of relief. Monday's win went to Jeff Samardzija after two effective frames, his first W of 2009. The Cubs will look to extend their hot streak in game two, tonight at 7:05.

Twins Top Sox
Monday night was an ugly one for the White Sox, who dropped the first game of their series with the Minnesota Twins 4-3. After jumping in front 1-0 on Gordon Beckham's solo shot in the second inning, the Sox gave up two unearned runs in the bottom half to relinquish their early lead. The first unearned was triggered by Carlos Gomez's hard slide into second, resulting in an errant throw from Jayson Nix to first basemen Paul Konkero on the double-play attempt. Konerko committed an error of his own on the next play as he couldn't corral a throw from John Danks, allowing the second run to come across. The mistakes then hit fever pitch when Alexei Ramirez failed to catch A.J. Pierzynski's throw to second on a subsequent steal attempt, leading to a scuffle between the two players in the dugout. Despite all of the miscues, the Sox reclaimed the lead on a two-run homer by Konerko in the third, only to give it back on Michael Cuddyer's two-run homer in the sixth. The Sox will try to shake off their recent slump when they step to the plate at 7:10 this evening.