The Morning After: Cubs, Sox Both Fall. Again.
By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 5, 2010 3:00PM
Bucs Edge Cubs
The Cubs couldn't muster enough offense to give Ryan Dempster the birthday present he wanted - a win - and lost their series-opener to the Pirates 3-2. Dempster was effective, allowing three runs over seven innings, but a two-run homer given up to Ryan Church in the sixth proved to be the hit that sunk the Cubs. Alfonso Soriano was a bright spot for the Cubs (!) as he homered for the fourth-straight game (!!) and Geovanny Soto also homered. But both homers were solo shots and the Cubs weren't able to get any other offense going, leaving 12 men on base for the game. The Cubs and Bucs tangle again tonight when the Cubs' offense hopes to feast on Pittsburgh's Charlie Morton (0-5, 12.57 ERA) and Ted Lilly looks to pick up his second win of the season (6:05 p.m., CSN+).
Royals Topple Sox
Gavin Floyd started strong for the Sox but it all came unraveled in a bad seventh inning as the Sox fell to the Kansas City Royals 7-2. Floyd allowed two runs through his first six innings of work, escaping a few dangerous situations, and the Royals held only a slim 2-1 lead when Juan Pierre scored on a throwing error by Kansas City catcher Jason Kendall. But Floyd came undone in the seventh, allowing four runs before he was pulled and giving the Royals all the runs they would need for the win. An A.J Pierzynski homer in the bottom of the inning did little to close the gap. After the game, Floyd said, "I got into a groove a little bit, and all of a sudden, in that inning, they started getting some runs. They just happened to put them in places they needed." The Sox try to take the series in tonight's rubber game as Freddy Garcia heads to the hill in search of his first 2010 win (7:10 p.m., CSN+2).