CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Daryle Ward belted a pinch-hit, two-run
double in the eighth inning Sunday, leading the Chicago Cubs to
a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Reed Johnson and Derrek Lee homered for Chicago, which finished
off a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks in a rematch of the
2007 National League Division Series.
"We got some timely hitting late in the game," Cubs manager Lou
Piniella said. "It wrapped up a real good weekend for us
against a real good team."
With the game tied at 4-4, Tony Pena issued an intentional walk
to pinch hitter Alfonso Soriano to load the bases. Ward then
drilled a pitch from Pena (0-1) into right-center field for a
two-run double.
"He has good stuff," Ward said. "I wanted to jump on a
first-pitch fastball, if that was what he was going to give to
me, and he did. He couldn't have thrown it anymore down the
middle than he did. As a pinch hitter, you see a pitch down the
middle and you've got to swing."
Carlos Marmol (1-0) logged a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood threw
a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the season.
Johnson tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh by blasting a 2-1
fastball from Juan Cruz to right field for a two-run homer.
"Juan has been one of our best relievers all year," Arizona
manager Bob Melvin said. "Today, he made a mistake to Johnson
and he paid for it."
"It was a 2-and-1 count on Johnson," Diamondbacks catcher Miguel
Montero said. "We were trying to come inside with a fastball.
(Juan) missed the spot. Johnson put a good swing on it and did
some damage with the pitch."
The Cubs' comeback helped disguise some questionable managing by
Piniella, which helped Arizona take a 4-2 lead in the fifth.
The Diamondbacks tied the game at 2-2 as Montero led off the
frame with a double and scored on an RBI single from Augie
Ojeda. Eric Byrnes doubled, and Piniella ordered spot starter
Sean Gallagher to walk Chris Young.
Chad Fox relieved Gallagher and walked Conor Jackson and Justin
Upton to force in a pair of runs.
The game was delayed 58 minutes due to rain, causing both teams
to scratch their scheduled starters.
Randy Johnson, who had a second back surgery in as many years
this offseason, was held out as a precaution.
Edgar Gonzalez got the start in place of Johnson and allowed two
runs and five hits in five innings.
"I didn't know I was going to pitch until three hours before the
game started," Gonzalez said. "He (Melvin) asked me if I could
go some innings. I told them to just give me the ball."
Meanwhile, Gallagher took Carlos Zambrano's place and yielded
four runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings.
"Very nice surprise," Gallagher said of his spot start. "It was
probably about an hour beforehand.
"I was walking around the clubhouse when (pitching coach) Larry
Rothschild comes up and says, 'You're starting.' I think it was
great for me. I think I got a lot better sleep last night just
finding out this afternoon rather than being told a day in
advance."
Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jackson drilled an RBI
triple to center, plating Young. Chicago answered in the
second when Mark DeRosa walked, and later scored on a wild
pitch.
"We took an early lead today," Melvin said. "I felt good about
it. They just played better than we did in the last couple of
innings the last two games."
Lee's 10th home run of the season gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead in
the third.
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