The Morning After: Soriano Powers Cubs, Sox Hold Off KC
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 30, 2010 3:00PM
Cubs Beat Pirates! Cubs Beat Pirates!
We should never be this excited about a Cubs victory over the Pirates but given the way this season has gone, we'll take what we can get, including last night's 3-1 win over Pittsburgh. Starlin Castro got an RBI on a sac fly in the second and Alfonso Soriano belted a pair of solo homers to provide the Cubs' offense. More importantly, Ted Lilly had another strong outing - and this time got the run support for the win. Lilly allowed only one run, a solo homer to Ryan Doumit, as he struck out five over seven innings of work. Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol combined for a rare no-drama finish. Sparking the offense needed for a win will make you everyone's favorite player and Lilly had nothing but praise for Soriano after the game: "We all enjoy watching him have fun, because he's such a vibrant, energetic player. He's the type of guy the other guys feed off of. This is a guy who's capable of doing this type of damage." The Cubs hope it was a sign of things to come as they send Tom Gorzelanny to the mound this afternoon in hopes of taking the series (1:20 p.m., WGN).
Sox Hold Off Kansas City
Manager Ozzie Guillen might not have been around to see it, but the Sox snapped a two-game skid as they edged the Royals 4-3. The Sox batted around in the second inning with A.J. Pierzynski, Gordon Beckham, and Juan Pierre all responsible for knocking in a run. The lead was extended to 4-0 in the fourth thanks to an Alexi Ramirez RBI single but not before Ozzie got himself tossed a few batters earlier as he argued balls and strikes with home plate ump Tim Timmons. Starting pitcher Gavin Floyd pitched well enough to win despite a rough fifth inning in which the Royals rallied for three runs. But Matt Thornton and J.J. Putz held up their end of the deal, pitching shutout relief and helping the White Sox get back in the win column, their 18th win in the month of June. The Sox wrap up the series in KC tonight as Jake Peavy seeks his fourth straight win (7:10 p.m., CSN).
Fire Fall To Charleston
The Charleston Battery of the USL Second Division upset the Fire 0-0/(3-0) on penalty kicks last night, knocking the Fire out of the U.S. Open Cup. Just two days after beating New England, the Fire used a much different lineup to get fresh legs out there but couldn't muster any scoring. The Fire looked a bit flat and couldn't register many opportunities against the Battery. After 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time yielded a 0-0 tie, the Battery ultimately took the match on penalty kicks. The Fire try to refocus as they travel to Columbus to face the Crew on Saturday.