On a rainy day at Wrigley, the Cubs put together another ninth inning rally to help boost them over the Cincinnati Reds 3-2.
The game was tight for much of the afternoon, as Casey Coleman, despite getting into trouble a few times, managed to turn in a decent start. He pitched six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks. He also struck out six. Much of the Cubs’ victory can be traced to the work of the bullpen, as Kerry Wood, James Russell, and Marcos Mateo combined to throw three scoreless frames.
Still, until the ninth inning, it seemed that the Cubs were destined for another close loss, as they managed to get only one run off of Bronson Arroyo over his 7.1 innings of work. Francisco Cordero would blow the save in the ninth, however, as Carlos Pena led off the inning with his third home run of the season. Kosuke Fukudome would later hit a game-winning RBI single to center field, one out after the Cubs thought they had won the game on a Jeff Baker hit that ultimately turned into a ground rule double after it bounced on the warning track into the stands. Because of the ground rule, Blake DeWitt, who had been on first, had to retreat back to third base instead of scoring.
The Cubs and Reds will play the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 1:20 P.M., CDT.