The Morning After: A Win-Win!
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 16, 2010 3:00PM
Sox Keep Rolling
The Sox shook off any rust that might have accumulated over the three-day All-Star Break and opened up the second half of the season with an 8-7 win over the Twins, their ninth straight W. Not that it was an easy win. The Sox jumped to a 4-0 lead thanks to Alex Rios' pair of RBI, a Carlos Quentin sac RBI, and Gordon Backham's homer. But the Twins teed off on John Danks for six runs in the second inning. Still, the Sox proved resilient: Danks hung in after the terrible inning and the Sox rallied for four more runs with A.J. Pierzynksi's RBI double in the fifth putting the Sox ahead again. Up 8-6, closer Bobby Jenks made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, allowing a run and the tying run to reach base but fended off the rally and held on for the save. Said Beckham of the Sox' comeback: "It was good to get some runs early. We kind of gave it up, but to battle back and get the win after being up four runs and being down two is pretty big." The two teams square off again tonight with Gavin Floyd on the hill for the Sox (7:10 p.m., CSN).
Cubs-Phillies after the jump.
Cubs Out-Slug Phillies
It seems the rest over the break did the Cubs some good as the offense clicked for a 12-6 win over the Phillies. After Ryan Dempster gave up two runs on a Ryan Howard in the top of the first, the Cubs scored six of their own, which included a two-run Aramis Ramirez double, Starlin Castro stealing home, and homers from Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano. Ramirez and Soriano knocked in 4 and 3 runs, respectively, as the Cubs put up a five-spot in the seventh to extend the lead and Geovany Soto added a homer. Of course, there was still a bump on the way to victory: reliever Bob Howry was in his own mid-season form, allowing four runs in the ninth before Andrew Cashner was brought in to shut the game down. Here's hoping it was a temporary meltdown; there's no reason to undermine one of the Cubs' best offensive outings of the year. Not to Lou: next time you're thinking of bringing in Howry, no matter how many runs you're up, don't. The Cubs try to string together two wins this afternoon as they send Ted Lilly, the subject of many trader rumors, to the mound (1:20 p.m., CSN).