Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Aug 15, 2009 3:30PM

Cubs Destroy Pirates
The Cubs welcomed the Pirates to town with a 17-2 beat-down on Friday afternoon. The four-run first inning featured a homer by Kosuke Fukudome, and in the second Chicago sent 15 batters to the plate, tacking on 10 runs to their already ample lead. One name that stood out from the prolific offense was Derrek Lee, who went 3-for-3 with a walk and seven RBI. Randy Wells was the beneficiary of the all those runs, but he did not take his duties lightly, turning in a quality start for the Cubbies. Charlie Morton and Chris Bootcheck were the Pirates’ whipping boys, combining for 3.1 disastrous innings on the hill. The Cubs will look to build upon their success at 12:05 this afternoon.

Sox Best A’s in Extras
Alexei Ramirez played hero once again for the White Sox on Friday, as his 10th inning homer gave Chicago an 8-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Jose Contreras continued to be plagued by his August woes, surrendering seven runs (six earned) in just 4.1 innings on the mound. Thankfully for the Sox, the ‘pen was ready for action, as D.J. Carrasco, Matt Thornton, Octavio Dotel and Bobby Jenks combined for 4.2 scoreless innings in which only four Oakland batters reached base. In addition to Ramirez’s jack, Ramon Castro contributed a two-run dinger and Jermaine Dye picked up three runs to lead the Sox. Unfortunately, the win was tempered by some discouraging news, as Chris Getz made his way to the 15-day D.L. with a strained oblique. The Sox can claim the series at 3:05 this afternoon.