Chi Cubs (29-19) at Pittsburgh (22-26)

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chc

Piniella sure to keep regulars well-rested

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Cubs skipper Lou Piniella has given his regulars needed breathers, including Kosuke Fukudome, who will return after two days off Saturday vs. the Bucs.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Jason Marquis

  • RHP
  • (2-3) 4.96 ERA
Cubs: Marquis loves facing the Pirates. Both of his wins this season have come against them. In his last start, he held Pittsburgh to two earned runs in six innings to snap a three-game losing streak and drop his ERA below five as the Cubs closed out an 8-2 homestand. He registered a season-high seven strikeouts in an earlier six-inning, one-run win against the division foe in April. If the Cubs can get Marquis on a roll, they could have one of the finest top-to-bottom rotations in baseball.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 70-64 4.57 1147.1 445 688 .269
Season 2-3 4.96 45.1 17 27 .311
May 1-2 5.82 17.0 7 10 .294
Vs. Pittsburgh 2-0 2.25 12.0 2 10 .222

Series at a Glance

Standings - 05/24/2008 W L PCT GB Home Away
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 29 19 .604 - 19-8 10-11
Pittsburgh Pirates (NL Central) 22 26 .458 7.0 13-11 9-15
Stats - 05/24/2008 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
CHC .287 279 53 263 30 322 3.72 435.2 393 158 350
PIT .251 233 46 219 15 325 5.05 433.1 503 197 269
pit

Middle of the lineup key for the Pirates

Todd Krise / MLB.com
The Pirates are hoping Adam LaRoche, Jason Bay and Xavier Nady will lead an offensive surge when they take on the Cubs on Saturday night at PNC Park.
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Pirates probable pitcher

Phil Dumatrait

  • LHP
  • (1-2) 4.39 ERA
Pirates: Simply put, Dumatrait didn't have any command his last time out. He walked seven Chicago hitters in 4 2/3 innings and threw more balls (53) than strikes (52) before being pulled. Both he and his manager were unable to pinpoint any particular mechanical problem, saying bluntly that Dumatrait's location was just off. On an encouraging note, though, the lefty extended himself to the 100-pitch mark for the first time this season and said afterward that he didn't fatigue.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 1-6 7.63 59.0 37 37 .325
Season 1-2 4.39 41.0 25 28 .255
May 1-1 4.87 20.1 12 15 .233
Vs. Chi Cubs 0-2 5.27 13.2 16 8 .250

Cubs hitters vs Phil Dumatrait

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff - - - - - - - -
Blanco, Andres - - - - - - - -
Bradley, Milton - - - - - - - -
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - - - - -
Fontenot, Mike - - - - - - - -
Fox, Jake - - - - 1.000 1 0 0
Fukudome, Kosuke .333 3 0 1 .400 5 0 1
Fuld, Sam - - - - - - - -
Hill, Koyie - - - - - - - -
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - .000 1 0 0
Lee, Derrek .000 5 0 0 .250 8 0 0
Miles, Aaron .000 1 0 0 .000 1 0 0
Ramirez, Aramis .500 6 1 2 .300 10 1 2
Soriano, Alfonso .500 4 0 1 .286 7 0 1
Soto, Geovany .250 4 0 0 .429 7 0 1
Theriot, Ryan .250 4 0 0 .091 11 0 0

Pirates hitters vs Jason Marquis

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Alvarez, Pedro - - - - - - - -
Bixler, Brian .250 4 0 0 .250 4 0 0
Cedeno, Ronny - - - - .500 8 0 1
Clement, Jeff - - - - - - - -
Cruz, Luis - - - - - - - -
Diaz, Argenis - - - - - - - -
Doumit, Ryan .000 3 0 0 .294 17 1 2
Hernandez, Gorkys - - - - - - - -
Iwamura, Akinori - - - - - - - -
Jaramillo, Jason - - - - - - - -
Jones, Garrett - - - - - - - -
LaRoche, Andy - - - - .111 9 0 0
McCutchen, Andrew - - - - - - - -
Milledge, Lastings - - - - .750 4 0 1
Moss, Brandon - - - - .000 5 0 0
Pearce, Steve - - - - - - - -
Tabata, Jose - - - - - - - -
Vazquez, Ramon - - - - .333 3 0 1
Walker, Neil - - - - - - - -
Young, Delwyn - - - - .000 1 0 0

Bay saves the day (29-20) (23-26)

Pirates 5, Cubs 4 (14)

Long night for 'pen

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
The Cubs rallied for three runs in the eighth inning, but closer Kerry Wood was tagged with his fourth blown save an inning later. After the bats fell silent in extra innings, Michael Wuertz surrendered the winning run in the 14th.

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Series at a Glance

 

Worth the wait

Chris Adamski / Special to MLB.com
After dropping nine of their previous 10 meetings with the Cubs, the Pirates didn't mind playing a few extra innings to notch their second win, which came on Jason Bay's fourth hit -- a walk-off single in the 14th inning.
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Pirates 5, Cubs 4

Chi CubsABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Soriano, LF7010012.278
Theriot, SS6110101.315
Lee, 1B5220101.299
  Wuertz, P1000010.000
Ramirez, A, 3B6112023.292
Soto, C5021121.309
Fukudome, RF4021201.310
DeRosa, 2B3010014.312
  Howry, P0000000.000
  b-Hoffpauir, PH1000011.375
  Marmol, P0000000.000
  Wood, P0000000.000
  c-Edmonds, PH1000000.170
  Lieber, P0000000.000
  Eyre, P0000000.000
  Blanco, H, 1B1000002.296
Johnson, R, CF5000114.259
Marquis, P1000100.167
  Fontenot, 2B0000000.254
  a-Cedeno, PH-2B4010004.325
Totals5041147924 

a-Flied out for Fontenot in the 7th. b-Struck out for Howry in the 8th. c-Flied out for Wood in the 11th.

BATTING
2B: Lee (14, Dumatrait), Soto (16, Dumatrait), Ramirez, A (13, Yates), Soriano (9, Capps).
TB: Soriano 2; Theriot; Lee 3; Ramirez, A 2; Soto 3; Fukudome 2; DeRosa; Cedeno.
RBI: Soto (35), Ramirez, A 2 (33), Fukudome (18).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Johnson, R; DeRosa 3; Cedeno 2.
GIDP: Theriot.
Team LOB: 11.

BASERUNNING
CS: Theriot (8, 2nd base by Grabow/Paulino).
PO: Soriano (2nd base by Chavez, R).

FIELDING
E: Theriot (4, throw).
DP: 3 (Theriot-DeRosa-Lee, DeRosa-Theriot-Lee, Ramirez, A-Fontenot-Lee).
 
PittsburghABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Sanchez, F, 2B6110011.250
Rivas, L, SS-3B-SS6011002.208
McLouth, CF4110302.316
Bay, LF6243102.287
LaRoche, Ad, 1B6020023.224
Michaels, RF5021123.232
Bautista, J, 3B3000115.212
  Capps, P1000010.000
  Grabow, P1000000.000
Chavez, R, C3000002.222
  b-Mientkiewicz, PH-3B2100010.207
Dumatrait, P2000020.000
  Osoria, P0000000.500
  Marte, P0000000.000
  a-Gomez, PH1010000.325
  Yates, P0000000.000
  Bixler, SS0000000.175
  c-Nady, PH1010000.320
  Paulino, C2000010.207
Totals49513561120 

a-Singled for Marte in the 7th. b-Hit by pitch for Chavez, R in the 9th. c-Singled for Bixler in the 9th.

BATTING
HR: Bay (12, 4th inning off Marquis, 1 on, 1 out).
TB: Sanchez, F; Rivas, L; McLouth; Bay 7; LaRoche, Ad 2; Michaels 2; Gomez; Nady.
RBI: Bay 3 (25), Michaels (12), Rivas, L (5).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Chavez, R; McLouth; Bautista, J; Bay; Michaels.
S: Sanchez, F.
SF: Rivas, L.
GIDP: Rivas, L; Bautista, J 2.
Team LOB: 13.

BASERUNNING
SB: Bay (5, 2nd base off Marmol/Soto).

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Rivas, L-Sanchez, F-LaRoche, Ad, Paulino-Sanchez, F).
Pickoffs: Chavez, R (Soriano at 2nd base).
 
Chi CubsIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Marquis 5.17333214.97
Howry 1.22000105.33
Marmol (H, 13)1.00001301.50
Wood (BS, 4)2.01111203.51
Lieber 1.12000103.08
Eyre 0.10000100.00
Wuertz (L, 0-1)1.21101102.92
 
PittsburghIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Dumatrait 5.25113204.05
Osoria (H, 2)0.10000104.68
Marte (H, 9)1.00000104.18
Yates (BS, 3)1.03332103.97
Capps 3.02000202.28
Grabow (W, 4-1)3.01002201.48

WP: Marquis, Wuertz.
IBB: McLouth (by Wood), McLouth (by Wuertz).
HBP: Mientkiewicz (by Wood).
Pitches-strikes: Marquis 85-54, Howry 14-13, Marmol 17-9, Wood 34-22, Lieber 27-17, Eyre 6-3, Wuertz 33-20, Dumatrait 104-59, Osoria 3-3, Marte 13-9, Yates 27-15, Capps 32-23, Grabow 46-27.
Groundouts-flyouts: Marquis 9-5, Howry 3-1, Marmol 0-0, Wood 2-2, Lieber 2-1, Eyre 0-0, Wuertz 4-0, Dumatrait 5-10, Osoria 0-0, Marte 1-1, Yates 1-1, Capps 2-4, Grabow 4-2.
Batters faced: Marquis 24, Howry 6, Marmol 4, Wood 9, Lieber 6, Eyre 1, Wuertz 8, Dumatrait 24, Osoria 1, Marte 3, Yates 8, Capps 10, Grabow 11.
Inherited runners-scored: Howry 2-0, Eyre 2-0, Wuertz 2-0, Osoria 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Wally Bell. 1B: Mike Winters. 2B: Paul Schrieber. 3B: Laz Diaz.
Weather: 66 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 10 mph, Out to RF.
T: 4:21.
Att: 29,929.
May 24, 2008

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner