Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Aug 2, 2009 3:30PM

Cubs Beat Fish in 10
The Cubs had a tough time landing the Florida Marlins Saturday night, but eventually earned an 10-inning, 9-8 victory. Chicago poured it on early, tagging Marlin's starter Burke Badenhop for six runs in the first two frames. The big lead appeared safe in the hands of big Z, but Carlos Zambrano was forced to exit the game due to a stiff back after just three innings. Enter Jeff Samardzija, who gave a trio of runs back to Florida in 1.2 substitute innings, making it a ballgame again at 6-5. Ryan Theriot's ninth-inning triple added two to the Cubs' lead, but the Marlins rallied against Kevin Gregg with two outs in the ninth to tie the game. Derrek Lee led off the bonus inning with solo shot to deep left, which would go into the books as the game winner. Lee and Aramis Ramirez each had three RBI for Chicago on the night, and Aaron Heilman picked up the save in the tenth. The Cubs will look to take the rubber game at 4:05 this afternoon.

Sox Rout Yankees
The White Sox continued their assault on the New York Yankees, winning the third game of the series 14-4. A huge six-run second inning gave Chicago all the offense it would need, as seven straight Sox batters reached base safely. The Sox would then explode for six more in the eighth, extending an already roomy four-run lead to an insurmountable 10. Scott Podsednik and Gordon Beckham each amassed four RBI in the contest, as the White Sox accomplished their offensive feat on 17 hits and no home runs. John Danks picked up the win for Chicago allowing four runs on seven hits through six innings. The White Sox will attempt the four-game sweep as the pit Mr. Perfect against C.C. Sabathia at 1:05 this afternoon.

Fire Blank Salt Lake
The Fire only got one goal last night but it was enough to edge Real Salt Lake 1-0 at Toyota Park. The Fire shuffled the line-up a bit to rest William Conde and Blanco - and seemingly in preparation for Wednesday's SuperLiga final - and managed to scratch out several scoring chances. Overall, the Fire had 13 shots, five on goal, while they allowed 16 shots, five on goal, to Salt Lake. Thankfully, keeper Jon Busch was on and saved all five shots he faced. The only shot that matter came in the 76th minute as Patrick Nyarko headed a pass from Tim Ward past RSL keeper Nick Rimando for the game's only goal. Next up for the Fire, as we said, is this Wednesday's SuperLiga Final against Tigres UANL. The team then spends the next few weeks on the road - at Houston next Sunday (Aug 9th) and then at Kansas City (Aug 16th) - before returning home on Wednesday, August 19th to face Beckham, Donovan, and the rest of the LA Galaxy.