The Morning After: Sox, Cubs Roll
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 6, 2010 3:05PM
Sox Cruise Past Angels
The Sox broke a close game wide open in the later innings, riding the offensive wave to a 9-2 win over the Angels. The win helped the Sox keep pace with Detroit who surpassed Minnesota for first place in the AL Central. Alexei Ramirez opened the scoring with a homer in the first and the Sox held a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth when the Sox cracked it open. Carlos Quentin and Dayan Viciedo both homered that inning and both would add more runs later in the eighth (Quentin with his second homer of the night). Gavin Floyd allowed one run over seven innings pitched to get the win, his fourth of the year, while the bullpen allowed one run over the final two frames. Quentin also flashed the leather with a stellar first-inning catch that robbed Torii Hunter of an extra-base hit, setting a tone for the Sox right away. Ozzie said of the catch, "He gave us a pump, fire in the dugout. I'm not going to say it was the best thing I ever saw, but that was tough out there." The Sox send Jake Peavy to the mound tonight as they seek their third straight win and fourth in five games (7:10 p.m., WCIU).
Cubs Wallop D-Backs
Of course. Hours after I throw a hissy fit about the Cubs' awful performance over the weekend and general malaise this season, they come out with their biggest offensive output in three weeks in a 9-4 win over Arizona. Kosuke Fukudome led off the game with a solo home run. Starlin Castro and Geovany Soto followed up with RBI in the second and the Cubs were off. Alfonso Soriano homered in a pitch-hitting situation in the ninth inning. There was still reason for concern. Tom Gorzelanny got the win though he did so throwing only five innings and putting more work on the bullpen. Andrew Cashner gave up an earned run for the fifth time in six appearances (and allowed a run for the sixth straight time). Still, the offense was 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position, a stark turn-around from the offensive struggles of the past week. The team will try to do something else they haven't done in three weeks - win two games in a row - tonight when Carlos Silva takes the moung (8:40 p.m., CSN).