Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 16, 2009 3:00PM
Cubs Out-slug Brewers
The Cubs got the offense rolling and stormed past the Brewers by a 13-7 final more appropriate for a Bears-Packers match-up. The Cubs' bats drove them to an early 4-0 lead only to see the Brewers jump all over Zamabrano in the fifth, scoring five runs and taking a 5-4 lead. A solo homer from Geovany Soto in the bottom of the fifth tied the game at 5-5. And that's when the Cubs finally broke out the whooping sticks, scoring five of their own in the sixth and adding two more in the seventh and one more in the eighth. Derek Lee and Soto were the offensive leaders of the night, each getting a pair of hits and three RBIs. The Cubs bullpen got a scoreless inning from Aaron Heilman (!), Kevin Gregg (!!), and John Grabow; Jeff Samardzija closed out the ninth but allowed two runs before ending the game. While the Cubs are still 8.5 out in the NL Central, they suddenly find themselves only 5.5 games out of the wild card, though three other teams are between them and the wild card-leading Rockies. The Cubs and Brewers play it again at 7:05 p.m. (WCIU).
Sox Rally Past Mariners
Finding themselves in an early 3-0 hole, the White Sox rallied past the Seattle Mariners, scoring six unanswered runs on their way to a 6-3 victory. A Mark Kotsay double in the fourth cut the lead to 3-2 and a Pierzynski hit in the seventh plated two more runs, putting the Sox up for good at 4-3. Paul Konerko would knock in Pierzynski in the seventh and Podsednik would knock in a run in the eighth to put the Sox up 6-3. Freddy Garcia settled down after the shaky second and third innings, giving up all three Mariners runs over six innings but pitching well enough to earn the win; Dotel and Thornton held the lead and Bobby Janks notched his 29th save of the year. With the win and a Detroit loss, the Sox, like their north-side counterparts, find themselves only 5.5 games out of the playoffs, behind the division-leading Tigers. But unlike the Cubs, the Sox have a better shot at making a run to the playoffs courtesy of six remaining games against the Tigers. But first, they continue their series in Seattle tonight at 9:10 p.m. (CSN).