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Casey Coleman’s first Major League start is a loss.

The 23-year-old right-hander pitched in Thursday’s matinee match in Wrigley Field.  The Chicago Cubs lost 5-1 to the San Diego Padres for their third defeat in a row.

Coleman (0-1) only gave the Cubs 4.1 innings in which he was tagged with three earned runs and six hits, striking out one and walking three.  He did not receive any run support from his teammates.  The Cubs only scored one run in their last 19 innings.

Coleman gave up two runs in the first.  Will Venable led off the inning with a single to shortstop but was caught stealing at second.  Then, Coleman walked Jerry Hairston Jr. and Adrian Gonzalez and hit Chase Headley to load the bases. 

Matt Stairs, the next batter, missed a grand slam by a foot or two, but his double off the left field wall scored Hairston and Gonzalez.

The Padres’ All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit his home run No. 23 of the year in the third inning.  He ended the afternoon by hitting 2-for-2 with three runs and three walks.

The visitors added one run in the eighth and one in the ninth for their 72nd victory of the season. 

Cubs reliever Andrew Cashner’s wild pitch in the eighth let Gonzalez cross the plate from third in a bases-loaded situation.

In the ninth, Headley hit a sacrifice fly off Marcos Mateo to score Venable. 

Padres’ starter Clayton Richard (11-5) scattered seven hits in seven innings.  He did not give up more than one hit in an inning except the second in which the Cubs scored their only run of the game.

With one out in the second inning, Alfonso Soriano doubled off Richard and scored on Jeff Baker’s double.

The Cubs will try to avoid being swept by the Padres tomorrow in the series finale of this four-game set.  Carlos Zambrano (4-6, 5.27) will start for the Cubs pitching against Mat Latos (12-5, 2.32).

NOTE: First baseman Derrek Lee was acquired by the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.  The Cubs will receive three minor leaguer pitchers in return…Third baseman Jeff Baker has a new defensive position on Wednesday.  He started the game as right-fielder… Padres’ right fielder Tony Gwynn left the game after spraining his wrist during his at-bat in the sixth inning.  Scott Hairston pinch-hit for him.

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Randy Wells is wondering what he needs to do to win a ball game.

Chase Headley’s first-inning groundout-RBI produced the only run in the game as the Chicago Cubs lost 1-0 to the San Diego Padres Tuesday night.

Wells (5-11), who was only tagged with one run in seven innings, had his best performance in recent outings. 

In the month of August, he has conceded three runs in seven innings to the Cincinnati Reds.  He gave up six earned runs each in two different outings.  The right-hander has not won a game since July 23 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Padres starter Jon Garland (12-8) outpitched Wells by tossing seven shutout innings for the win.  He was responsible for four hits and three walks.  But after giving up Xavier Nady’s lead-off double in the fourth inning, he retired 12 batters in a row before leaving the game.    

Wells only scattered three hits—two singles and one double, but that was enough for the Padres to score their winning run in the first.

The inning started with a single by Jerry Hairston, Jr. to left field, and Miguel Tejada followed with a walk.  Wells retired Adrian Gonzalez on a fly that advanced Hairston to third base.  He hit Ryan Ludwick to load the bases.  Headley hit a ground ball toward first base to score Hairston.

It’s awfully difficult to win if a team can’t score.  

The Cubs sent 34 batters to the plate in nine innings but failed to erase a 1-0 deficit.  The Chances were there, but they stranded runners at third base three times.

With two outs and Nady at third, Koyie Hill struck out swinging to end the second inning. 

Nady led off the fourth inning with a double and moved to third on Alfonso Soriano’s groundout.  Blake DeWitt hit a shallow fly ball to left field, but Will Venable made a spectacular diving catch to erase his potential RBI-single.  Hill struck out for the second time for the third out.

In the eighth, with Kosuke Fukudome and Starlin Castro at the corners, Marlon Byrd grounded into a routine double-play to end the threat.

The Cubs’ last chance was in the bottom of the ninth.  With two out and Darwin Barney at third, DeWitt lifted a fly ball to right field that missed the basket by a foot.  Ludwick hopped and caught it against the ivied wall

Game over and Heath Bell got his 36th save of the year.

Note: Derrek Lee missed the last two Cubs’ games after removing himself from Sunday’s contest in St. Louis.  His stiff back still troubles him…Starlin Castro initiated another hitting streak Tuesday night.  He went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.  His six-game hitting streak ended on Sunday going 0-for-5.

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Tonight, it was one of those wild nights when each team’s bullpen collapsed.

Nine relievers were called in to work when nine out of 14 runs of the game were conceded by the bullpen of either team.

The game took three hours and 26 minutes to end and Chicago Cubs lost the battle at home.  They were defeated by the San Diego Padres 9-5 in the first game of the four-game series.

Cubs starter Tom Gorzelanny (6-7) took the loss and the first five runs of the Padres.  But it was up to the bullpen to decide the winner of the contest.

Gorzelanny allowed only two hits and a walk in the first four innings.  But the Padres offense woke up when they faced him for the third time. 

They scored one run each in the fifth and the sixth innings to make it 2-0.

And in the seventh, Gorzelanny ran out of gas and lost control. 

He gave up a bunt single to lead-off pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn.  Jerry Hairston Jr. was retired on a fly behind the home plate.  Miguel Tejada doubled to deep left field to score Gwynn.  Adrian Gonzalez followed with an RBI-single to bring home Tejada. 

Gorzelanny grounded out Ryan Ludwick but walked Yorvit Torrealba to set up the table for Chase Headley, whose single scored Gonzalez from second.  It was 5-0 for the visitors.

Both starters were pulled out of the game after six and a half innings.  That was when the bullpen battle began.

The Cubs were the first to hit on Luke Gregerson, the first Padres reliever.  They got two runs off him at the bottom of the seventh.

Alfonso Soriano was struck out to lead off.  Blake DeWitt singled to center field.  One out later, Tyler Covlin, who pinch-hit for Justin Berg, drew a walk.  Fukudome doubled to deep right field to tally both runners. 

Left-handed Joe Thatcher came in to pitch one-third of an inning and bailed out Gregerson.

But in the top of the eighth, Cubs reliever Andrew Cashner returned the favor by giving back two runs to the Padres.

He allowed back-to-back hits to start the inning, singles to Chris Denofia and Gwynn.  After one out, he faced Tejada and threw a wild pitch to score Denofia from third.  Then he gave up a RBI-single to Tejada, his fourth hit of the night, to drive in Gwynn. 

Ernesto Frieri replaced Thatcher in the eighth to concede the Cubs’ last three runs. 

Frieri easily retired the first two batters he faced.  Then, Xavier Nady singled and scored on Soriano’s double.  DeWitt gave hope for the Cubs to rally by blasting one out to the right-field stands for his third home run of the year.  They cut the Padres lead to 7-5.

When the Cubs seemed to have a chance to come back in a two-run game, the Padres added two more insurance runs off James Russell in the ninth.

Denorfia tripled when Headley and Matt Stairs were on second and first respectively.  Both runners scored. That would wrap the Padres’ scoring on the day.

Heath Bell pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Padres in a non-save situation to close the door.

The Cubs used three different relievers while the Padres needed five to save the game.

If Chicago could cash in early in the game against starter Kevin Correia (10-7), the game could have different outcome.  They did have their chances; however, stranding five of the six runners in the first two innings did not help.

Fukudome led off the first inning with a single and Darwin Barney followed with a double, his first major leauge hit.  Correia retired the next two batters but walked Xavier Nady.  In a bases-loaded situation, Soriano flied out to right field for the third out.

In the second, Correira retired DeWitt and Koyie Hill before giving up back-to-back singles to Gorzelanny and Fukudome.  But rookie Darwin Barney hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Correira did not give up runs and struck out five in six innings.

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The Chicago Cubs ended their road trip on a positive note. 

They may have been out of contention for a while, but playing the spoiler rule is still fun, especially with six more weeks of baseball left in the regular season. 

They lost to the San Francisco Giants three games out of four earlier this week.  But against the Cardinals, their biggest rival, they made sure to get the spoiler job done.

In today’s rubber game, they beat the Cardinals 9-7 to take the three-game series.  With the loss, the Cardinals slide down to second position in the NL Central standings, with a game behind the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cubs got help from both their offense and starting pitcher.  They had a six-run fourth inning and Derrek Lee hit a pair of home runs.  Ryan Dempster, the starter of the day, limited the Cardinals to minimal damage.

Dempster (11-8) had a strong performance today.  He conceded only two runs to the Cardinals.  One of them was Albert Pujols’s 30th home run of the year in the first inning.

In 6.2 innings pitched, he has not allowed more than one runner in an inning, except the fifth in which he gave up the Cardinals’ second run.  He retired six Cardinals by strikeouts, the most in his last seven outings, and only issued two walks. 

He is on a three-game winning streak and gave up only three earned runs in 19.1 innings pitched.

The Cubs scored the first run of the game.  In the first frame, facing Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse (1-5), Lee had a solo shot to center field for his 15th home run of the season.

His 16th of the year came two innings later.  With two outs, he sent Lohse’s pitch to center field again.  Lee finished this series with four home runs.  But he left the game in the fifth inning; reports said that he has hurt his back.

The Cubs’ six-run fourth inning has knocked down Lohse.  The frame started with back-to-back singles from Marlon Byrd and Xavier Nady.  Blake DeWitt then walked on five pitches.  Koyie Hill hit a ground-rule double to right-center field to bring home Byrd and Nady.    

Dempster helped himself with a single that drove in DeWitt for the Cubs’ third run of the inning.  Lohse was replaced by Mike MacDougal who gave up a double to Kosuke Fukudome to score Hill.  His wild pitch to Starlin Castro allowed Dempster to come in from third.  Fukudome scored on Byrd’s single to complete a six-run fourth inning. 

The Cubs batted around with 11 batters presented at the plate to take a 8-1 lead.

They added their ninth run in the eighth.  Tyler Colvin doubled off Dennys Reyes and scored on Aramis Ramirez’s RBI single.

The Cardinals rallied but fell short at the end.  However, they still put seven runs on the scoreboard in the final inning.

Rookie Steven Hill had his first major league home run off Marcos Mateo.  Nick Stavinoha and Aaron Miles followed with back-to-back singles. Brendan Ryan walked to load the bases. 

Mateo was replaced by James Russell who managed to strike out Skip Schumaker but gave up a walk to Jon Jay for the Cardinals’ second run of the inning.

In a save situation, closer Carlos Marmol came in to face Felipe Lopez whose pinch-hit single drove in the Cardinals’ third and fourth runs of the inning.  He walked Randy Winn and also allowed Jay to score on Allen Craig’s groundout. 

But he finally retired Hill, the 10th batter of the inning, to get his 21st save of the year.

The Cubs finished the seven-game road trip with three wins.  They will come home to face another team in pennant race, the San Diego Padres, starting Monday.

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The long wait is over.

The Cubs fans have been wondering when Opening Day starter Carlos Zambrano could restore his Big Z-type performance.  They got the answer today.  In front of the national television audience and a crowd of 46,313 in Busch Stadium, Zambrano finally got his first win as a starter in his third return to the Cubs rotation.

He limited the Cardinals to two runs in 5.2 innings.  Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez hit solo home runs in the contest to help the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2.

It was nearly two months ago when Zambrano (4-6) won a game as the Cubs starting pitcher.  His last victory was on June 20 in Wrigley Field against the Los Angeles Angels in interleague play.

Zambrano finished the day throwing 96 pitches and allowing two runs, six hits, and a walk in 5.2 innings.

He gave up the first run in the first inning.  After Felipe Lopez grounded out, Jon Jay singled and moved to third on a double by Albert Pujols.  He then scored on Matt Holliday’s sacrifice fly to right-fielder Kosuke Fukudome.

His only trouble was in the fifth inning.  With two out, he walked Lopez and gave up back-to-back singles to Jon Jay and Pujols to load the bases.  But he forced Holliday to hit a groundball to third to end the Cardinals’ threat.

The Cardinals scored their second and last run of the ball game in the sixth.  Zambrano retired Colby Rasmus by strikeout and Yadier Molina grounded out to shortstop.  Big Z gave up a single to Skip Schumaker and threw a wild pitcher which moved the runner to second.  Pinch-hitter Randy Winn singled to score Schumaker. 

Manager Lou Piniella pulled out Zambrano after that run and handed the ball to his bullpen.

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter (13-4), in search of his 14th win of the season has to wait another five days.  He gave up two solo home runs in the second and third inning to bow to the Cubs today.

Down 1-0, Aramis Ramirez, who missed the last three Cubs games, led off in the second inning with his 17th home run of the year. 

The Cubs added another run to take a 2-1 lead in the same inning.  With one out, Marlon Byrd doubled to right field.  After Blake DeWitt’s groundout, Koyie Hill hit a double to the opposite field to tally Byrd from third.

Derrek Lee’s home run was the game-winning run.  In the third inning, he blasted a full-count pitch for his 14th of the season, which went into the Cardinals bullpen in right field to give the Cubs a two-run cushion.  He had two home runs in as many days in this series.

The Cubs only had two more hits off Cardinals pitchers, but relievers Marcos Mateo, Sean Marshall, and Carlos Marmol combined to shut out the Cardinals for the rest of the day, allowing only two hits in 3.1 innings of relief work.  Marmol earned his 20th save of the year.

Chicago can take this three-game series if they win the rubber game tomorrow afternoon.  Ryan Dempster (10-8, 3.66) will pitch for the Cubs and Kyle Lohse (1-4, 5.89) for the Cardinals.

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The Cubs starter Thomas Diamond suffered another short outing in St. Louis tonight.  He only lasted four innings yielding four runs and six hits.  In his previous match against Cincinnati, he was pulled after three frames. 

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols had three hits, including a home run to lift the Cardinals past the Cubs 6-3 in the opener of the three-game series.

The Cubs attacked Jake Westbrook in the first inning and took a 2-0 lead. 

With one out, Starlin Castro singled to center field and Derrek Lee had a double in the next at-bat.  Marlon Byrd singled to shallow left to send both runners home.

Pitching through six innings, Westbrook (7-7) earned his first victory in Cardinals uniform.  He allowed only two hits and one walk and fanned three Cubs.

At the bottom of first, Diamond (0-3) retired the first two Cardinals but gave up a solo home run to Albert Pujols, who he hit the ball out of center field for this 29th home run of the year.

The Cardinals added a pair of runs in the third.  Diamond issued a lead-off walk to Felipe Lopez.  With one out, Pujols singled and Matt Holliday followed with a RBI-double to center field to drive in Lopez.  Colby Ramsus walked intentionally to face Yadier Molina who scored Pujols from third on a sacrifice fly.

Diamond conceded one more run in the fourth, his last inning of the night.  Westbrook helped himself by hitting a double to lead off the inning and moved to third on Brendan Ryan’s sacrifice.  After the second out, Jon Jay singled to score easily Westbrook from third.

The Cardinals’ last two runs came in the seventh.  Justin Berg gave up back-to-back hits, a single to Pujols and a double to Holliday. 

On a 3-2 count to Rasmus, he threw a wild pitch which hopped past catcher Koyie Hill’s mitt to score Pujols from third.  Holliday also advanced 90 feet and Rasmus walked on the same play.  Rasmus finished the night with four walks in four plate appearances. 

Molina’s second RBI came when he hit his second sacrifice fly of the night to bring Holliday home.

The Cubs did not add any more run since the first inning.  In the eighth, Derrek Lee, who was on the bereavement list for the last four days, led off to homer off reliever Fernando Salas over the left-field wall.  His 13th of the year is only his first in his last eight games.

The 6-3 score gave Cardinals pitcher Ryan Franklin a chance to close the game in the ninth.  He only needed minimal nine pitches to retire the Cubs in order for his 21st save of the year. 

Castro keeps his hitting streak alive with the lead-off single in the first.  He now hits in his last five games. 

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez was not in the lineup tonight.  He has not played in the Cubs’ last three games with a sore left rib cage.  Blake DeWitt played third base tonight and committed two errors.

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8:05pm ET, Friday, 8/13 TV: CSN, FSMW

Probable pitchers: Thomas Diamond (0-2, 8.00) vs. Jake Westbrook (6-7, 4.54)

4:10pm ET, Saturday, 8/14 TV: FOX

Probable pitchers: Carlos Zambrano (3-6, 5.46) vs. Chris Carpenter (13-3, 2.89)

2:15 pm ET, Sunday, 8/15 TV: WGN, KSDK

Probable pitchers: Ryan Dempster (10-8, 3.66) vs. Jamie Garcia (10-5, 2.71)

2010 season matchups

The Cubs are even with the Cardinals in six matches so far this season (3-3).

They first met in a three-game series in Busch Stadium in the last weekend of May. The Cardinals had two convincing 7-1 and 9-1 victories sandwiched by a 5-0 shutout defeat.

The second time was also a three-game set in Wrigley Field. Chicago won the first two games with the scores of 5-0 and 6-5, but failed to sweep the Cardinals, losing 4-3 in 11 innings in the series finale.

After this weekend’s series, they will meet six more times, three in St .Louis (September 13-15) and three in Chicago (September 24-26).

Chicago Cubs (48-67)

Notes

The Cubs were in San Francisco, playing a four-game series, three games of which they lost against the Giants. All three defeats were one-run games including two walk-off losses.

They have lost five series in a row and had two victories out of 11 games in the month of August. The last series they won was, coincidentally, against the same St. Louis Cardinals in Wrigley Field.

They slide down to fifth position in the NL Central Standings, trailing the Houston Astros by one game and 17 games behind their weekend opponents.

Rookies catcher Welington Castillo and second baseman Darwin Barney have been called up from Class Triple-A Iowa to fill in some vacant spots in the Cubs’ roster this week.

Catcher Geovany Soto was placed on the 15-disabled list because of a sprained right shoulder injury. First baseman Derrek Lee was on the bereavement list. Second baseman Mike Fontenot was acquired by the Giants on Wednesday, when the Cubs were in San Francisco.

Offense

The hottest hitter on the roster is Starlin Castro. The rookie shortstop had four multi-hit games including a four-for-five performance on Thursday and a three-RBI night on Tuesday. His batting average jumps 12 points higher to .320 (.308 through last Sunday).

There are other Cubs who are having hitting streaks: Koyie Hill, Blake DeWitt, and Tyler Colvin have hits in their last four games. Xavier Nady, Marlon Byrd, and Kosuke Fukudome also hit safely in their previous three.

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez missed the last two games due to a sore left rib cage. But he should be available to start Friday. His career record against the Cardinals proves he can do some damages this weekend, as he hits .296 with 24 home runs in 142 games.

First baseman Derrek Lee will rejoin the team on Friday in St. Louis. He was on the bereavement list for family issues and missed the whole series in San Francisco. He was hitting .143 (three-for-21) in last seven games.

Pitching

Starter Thomas Diamond, who will be given the ball on Friday, had a tough time in his second major league start. Not only did he take the loss, it was a short five-run three-inning outing which resulted in a 11-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on August 8.

Carlos Zambrano’s return to the rotation on Monday could not lead the Cubs to a victory. The Saturday starter had a no-decision against the Giants. The Big Z yielded only two runs, but his seven walks to the Giants were excessive. He claimed his fastball had too much movement in that game.

He is 10-6 life-time against the Cardinals with an ERA of 3.50, but he has only faced them in 1.2 innings of work out of the bullpen this year.

Ryan Dempster, who will pitch in the series finale, is the Cubs’ most reliable starter at this moment. He won two in his last two starts (against the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Francisco Giants), and both were quality outings with an excellent ERA of 1.40.

However, his record against St. Louis this year is 0-1 with an ERA of 5.93. The loss came on May 30 in Wrigley Field, when he conceded six runs in 6.2 innings.

St. Louis Cardinals (64-49)

Notes

The Cardinals regain the leading spot in the NL Central division after sweeping the Reds this week in Cincinnati. They are currently one game ahead of the Reds in the standings. Since the pennant is so airtight, winning any game is important for them.

They had Thursday off after the road trip, as the players should be recharged and ready to face the Cubs. Before the series in Cincinnati, they played against the Florida Marlins last weekend. The three-game series was shortened because Sunday contest was postponed due to bad weather. The Cardinals split that series 1-1.

After the series with Cubs, St. Louis will have another day off before a two-game set playing the Milwaukee Brewers at home.

Offense

Any team with someone called Pujols in the lineup is extremely dangerous. Albert is in a little slump in term of hitting home runs. He has not hit the ball out of the park in his last four games. But he maintains the batting average of .400 in his last 20 at-bats.

The Cubs cannot ignore him as he is the team leader in batting average (.310), home runs (28), and RBI (84). He hit a home run off Ryan Dempster in the last Cubs-Cardinals game in Wrigley Field.

Matt Holliday follows him, having the second-best batting average at .307. The left-fielder has a seven-game hitting streak. He also produced runs in eight of his last ten games.

Center-fielder Colby Rasmus had a grand slam home run on Wednesday in Cincinnati and scored four runs in that series.

Manager Tony LaRussa will not be giving out commands from the dugout in the first two games this weekend. He received a suspension from Major League Baseball after the benches-clearing melee on Tuesday in Cincinnati.

Pitching

Friday will be the first time for starter Jake Westbrook to face the Chicago Cubs in his career. The former Cleveland Indians pitcher was acquired by St. Louis before the non-waiver trade deadline.

He pitched two games for the Cardinals, in which St. Louis lost to the Houston Astros and the Florida Marlins. But he received no-decisions in both games.

He does not have a habit of walking batters. This year, he gave up only 45 bases-on-ball in 140.2 innings, including only one walk in 13 innings with the Cardinals.

Number one ace Chris Carpenter has not lost a game since July 8. He has a four-game winning streak and pitched at least seven frames in his last six outings, including a no-decision against the Cubs on July 25.

His last victory was on Monday in Cincinnati. He threw seven strong innings, giving up two runs and five hits.

He carries a 10-3 record against the Cubs in his career into Saturday game with an ERA of 2.79 and a WHIP of 1.18.

Left-hander Jamie Garcia will start on Sunday. The rookie is sensational this year. With a double-digit win record (10), he has established himself in the Cardinals’ rotation. Coming back from injury, Garcia did not pitch an inning in major league last year.

He beat the Reds in his last start Tuesday allowing four earned runs in 5.1 innings.

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It’s déjà vu for the Cubs.

The one-run game has haunted the Chicago Cubs as they lost another, 8-7 to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday afternoon.  They have been defeated 30 times out of their 42 one-run games this season.

Young reliever Andrew Cashner gave up the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.  They left San Francisco on a getaway day having lost 13 of their 16 games and five straight series.

The Chicago Cubs jumped on Giants starter Matt Cain in the first inning.  Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro started the game with back-to-back singles.  Two outs later, Xavier Nady doubled to drive in both base runners.  The Cubs led 2-0.

The Giants cut the lead into half in the second inning.  Pat Burrell grounded out but Pablo Sandoval tripled to center field.  Juan Uribe, the following batter, brought Sandoval home with a line-drive single.

Randy Wells, the Cubs starter, helped himself to win with a bat. 

In the fourth, Blake DeWitt reached second on fielder’s choice before Jeff Baker struck out.  Koyie Hill hit a single to advance DeWitt to third.  Wells ripped Cain’s first pitch and transformed it to a left-field double that produced DeWitt’s run.  The Cubs restored a two-run lead.

But while on the mound, Wells gave it all back.  In the bottom of the inning, he served up back to back solo home runs to lead-off man Pat Burrell (his 11th of the year) and Sandoval (his seventh). 

And the Giants knocked him out in the fifth by adding four runs on the scoreboard.  Aaron Rowand led off and reached first on third baseman Jeff Baker’s throwing error.  He advanced to second on Freddy Sanchez’s sacrifice bunt.  Wells walked both Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey to load the bases.

Pat Burrell stepped up and crushed Wells’ 0-2 count pitch to left field for a grand slam, his second home run of the afternoon.  Burrell killed to the Cubs in this series.  He finished the day going 2-for-4 with 5-RBI and drove in a total of nine runs in this series, including a three-RBI performance the previous night.

Wells left the game after five innings allowing seven runs (six earned), eight hits, and three home runs.  Marcos Mateo, Casey Coleman, and Sean Marshall shared the relief work, pitching one inning each to shut down the Giants and to keep the game reachable for the Cubs.

The Giants bullpen, however, went the opposite way.  After Cain was pulled out after six innings of work, their relievers could not protect their comfortable four-run lead against the hampered Cubs who have lost a few regulars in their lineup this week.

In the seventh, the Cubs got one off Chris Ray, the first pitcher who replaced Cain.  Castro reached first on a single and Kosuke Fukudome drove him home with his 10th double of the year. 

The eighth inning was huge for the Cubs as they tied the game to 7-7. 

Reliever Javier Lopez faced lead-off DeWitt and lost him by walking him.  Guillermo Mota came in to replace Lopez and gave up a single to Baker and a RBI-double to Hill.  The Cubs made it 7-5.

Sergio Romo, the third Giants’ reliever, got Alfonso Soriano to fly out, then faced Tyler Colvin who hit a RBI-groundout to score Baker from third.  Castro hit his fourth single of the afternoon to produce the Cubs’ game-tying run as Hill crossed the plate.

The tie-game did not last long and it was all over for the North Side at the bottom of the ninth. 

Cubs’ new reliever Andrew Cashner (1-5) allowed a lead-off single to Aaron Rowand who moved to second on Sanchez’s sacrifice bunt.  He gave Aubrey Huff an intentional walk and lost Buster Posey on another walk. 

With the bases loaded and on the 2-0 count, pinch-hitter Andres Torres drove a long walk-off single to center field to score the Giants’ winning run.

Giants closer, Brian Wilson (3-1) who blanked the Cubs at the top of the ninth, took the win.

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A victory is much needed for the ailing Chicago Cubs.

After the one-run walk-off loss on Monday and having lost four in a row, they finally added one in the winning column by defeating the San Francisco Giants 8-6 last night in AT&T Park. 

The Cubs came out strong in the first inning, scoring four runs and adding two in the fourth and another pair in the eighth.

Their pitching has been miserable lately; only one pitcher was credited with a win in the last 10 days.  That victory belonged to last night’s starter Ryan Dempster.  He pitched well enough, allowing three runs and eight hits in 6.2 innings to improve his season record to 10-8. 

Taking an early lead is a key success against Giants’ ace starter Tim Lincecum (11-8).  And that is exactly what the Cubs did last night.

In the first inning, Tyler Colvin led off with a single to the right field.  The speedy runner stole second and scored on Starlin Castro’s single.   Castro stole second base before Micah Hoffpauir’s groundout. 

Then Aramis Ramirez added another single to score Castro.  His run produced is the third baseman’s 1000th RBI in his career.   

Kosuke Fukudome connected by sending Lincecum’s 90-mph fastball into McCovey Cove for his 10th dinger of the year. 

Castro had a great night, hitting for 2-for-5 and producing three of the Cubs’ eight runs.  Apart from his RBI in the first, his ground-ball single to the center field in the fourth inning scored Koyie Hill and Ryan Demspter.

The Cubs’ 6-2 lead after four innings forced Lincecum’s a rare early exit; he was charged with six runs and eight hits. 

The Cubs scored the game-winning run in the top of the eighth.  With one out, Alfonso Soriano singled off reliever Guillermo Mota before Blake DeWitt struck out swinging.  Koyie Hill hit another single to advance Soriano to third.  Pinch-hitter Ryan Theriot sent a double deep to no-man’s land in the right field to empty the bases. 

The Giants scored one each in first and second innings off Dempster.  But the hurler settled down and did not concede any other until the Giants’ two-run seventh inning.

In the eighth, Castro made a huge defensive play preventing the Giants from scoring.  The shortstop’s diving catch stole a line-drive base hit from Andres Torres to end the inning and to strand runners on first and second. 

The Giants finally added two more runs on the board in the ninth but failed to complete the rally.  With Cubs closer Carlos Marmol on the mound, Buster Posey scored Emmanuel Buriss to finish his 4-RBI night and himself tallied the Giants’ last run.

Besides Castro, three other Cubs finished the night with a multi-hit game—Ramirez went 3-for-4, Fukudome 2-for-5, and Hill 2-for-4.

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The Boston Red Sox should be glad that they are leaving New York on a high note.  There is nothing more encouraging than being able to steal a tight game from the defending World Champions in Yankee Stadium. 

A 2-1 victory in the series finale was well deserved for the injury-prone Red Sox.  The key to the victory is their pitching ace, Jon Lester (12-7) who kept the mighty Yankees powerless in 6.1-inning this afternoon.  And his teammates gave him just enough runs in the second inning for their 64th win of the season.

Moreover, they make sure they do not fall too far behind the AL East division leaders with only one and a half months of baseball left.

Jon Lester blanked the home team by scattering four hits and issuing three walks.  He was unhittable in his first four innings, in which eight of the twelve Yankees never hit the ball out of the infield.  He also retired six Yankees by strikeouts.

The two runs scored by the Red Sox both came in the second inning against Yankees starter Phil Hughes (13-5).

Third baseball Mike Lowell led off but flied out.  Rookie left fielder Ryan Kalish singled on a ground ball to Nick Swisher.  With Bill Hall at the plate, Kalish stole second base and hustled to third on catcher Jorge Posada’s off-line throw to second baseman Robinson Cano.  He then scored easily on Hall’s single.   

Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a base hit and Hall moved to third.  Hughes walked Marco Scutaro to load the bases.  J.D. Drew grounded out but Hall tallied to score the game winning run.

Lester’s only troublesome inning was the seventh.  The Yankees had two of their six hits off him.  He gave up back-to-back singles to Posada and the designate hitter Marcus Thames.  He then hit Austin Kearns on a 1-2 pitch.  Manager Terry Francona pulled him from the game after striking out Curtis Granderson. 

The hard-throwing Daniel Bard came in and only needed minimal six pitches to strike out Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher to end the inning.

But Bard could not avoid the lead-off hitter Mark Teixeira in the eighth.  He challenged Teixeira with a 95 mph fastball but the slugger hit a towering home run to right field.  His 26th homer of the year is also his sixth in his last nine games.    

However, his teammates failed to complete the comeback from a 2-1 deficit.  

In the same inning, Alex Rodriguez singled and the speedy Brent Gardner pinch-ran for him.  Posada walked after Cano’s groundout.  With potential winning run on first, Bard retired pinch-hitter Lance Berkman on an infield-fly. 

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon came in to extinguish the Yankees’ rally.  He grounded out Austin Kearns easily to end inning.  Although he gave up a walk in the ninth, he struck out the side for his 28th save of the year.  The Yankees stranded a total of 11 base runners today.

Even though Boston fails to get any closer to the Yankees in the standings after this series, they still maintain a reachable six-game margin with the arch-rivals.  Both teams will face each other six more times including a regular season finale series in Fenway Park. 

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