Morning Box Score: Cubs Rout Nats

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 24, 2010 1:00PM

Oh, sure. Now you start winning, Cubs. The moment Lou is out the door and you put together one of your better offensive efforts this month and win for only the sixth time in August, routing the Washington Nationals 9-1. Blake DeWitt opened the scoring in the third with a solo homer that was followed by a two-run single by Tyler Colvin and later a two-run triple by Alfonso Soriano as the Cubs scored five times in the inning. The Cubs pieced together a few more runs, including an RBI from pitcher Casey Coleman, helping his own cause. Coleman only gave up one run on three hits over 6.1 innings to notch his first major league win; youngsters Andrew Cashner and Thomas Diamond pitched perfect relief to help secure the win in the debut of interim manager Mike Quade. Said Quade afterward, "It was a stress-free night, and it was fun to watch." Yeah, don't get used to that, you're only playing the Nationals right now. The Reds, Mets, and Cardinals still loom. But first, game two of the series against the Nats is tonight with Zambrano taking the hill (6:05 p.m., WGN).

The White Sox were off but kick off a three-game series at home against Baltimore tonight (7:10 p.m., CSN).