Final
Wells gets first win, Cubs beat Indians 6-2
Jun 21, 2009 - 10:26 PM By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports WriterCHICAGO(AP) -- His nerves frayed and his stomach twisting like a wicked curve, Randy Wells couldn't bear to watch so he stayed in the weight room.
Finally, with one out left, he came back out. Then, he got the shaving-cream treatment. And the beer shower.
His first major-league win certainly was something to see.
Wells pitched into the seventh inning, Geovany Soto homered and Jake Fox drove in three runs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a routine 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians and their fourth straight win.
Derrek Lee extended his hitting streak to 18 games with an RBI single, tying a career high, and the Cubs cruised to an easy win after taking the previous three in their final at-bat.
This time, they didn't need any late excitement to send the Indians to their season-high sixth straight loss.
Back-to-back extra-inning wins gave way to this: The Cubs taking control early after rallying Friday and Saturday and finally giving Wells (1-3) the support he needed.
"It was pretty nerve-racking," he said. "I tried to stay in the weight room for most of it. I wanted to be out there for the last out."
Soto got things started when he gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the second with his fifth homer. Fox drove in Ryan Theriot with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and capped a four-run fifth with a two-run, bases-loaded double against Jeremy Sowers (1-5), sucking the drama out of this one.
Wells allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He left to a loud ovation with a 6-1 lead after getting knocked out in the fourth against Minnesota nine days earlier. Now, he finally has a win after posting a 2.55 ERA in his first seven starts following his call-up from Triple-A Iowa last month.
"You dream about winning ballgames in the big leagues," Wells said. "It's been a long time coming."
Gregg preserved the win after things got a little tense in the ninth.
He came on with runners on first and third and one out and promptly threw a wild pitch before striking out Ben Francisco and retiring Trevor Crowe on a grounder for his 11th save in 13 chances.
Wells led off the fifth with a single and scored from third with one out on a bases-loaded single by Lee, who has now reached base in 28 consecutive games. Sowers then walked Soto to force in another run, and Fox chased him with a double off the center-field wall that made it 6-0.
That ended a brutal day for the lefty, who allowed seven hits and six runs and is now 0-3 in five starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus. He even blamed his meltdown in the fifth on his inning-ending groundout in the top half.
"Obviously I won't have to deal with hitting or any of that stuff anymore, which if you've never done it before is quite an exhausting experience," he said. "As embarrassing as it sounds, when you hit a ball and run to first base, it gets to you a little bit. It's pathetic because it's a 30-yard sprint."
It was a rough weekend for the Indians, who led in the first two games only to see longtime Cub Kerry Wood blow save opportunities.
"It's not fun right now," said Jamey Carroll, who had a triple and a single. "But it's not going to keep us from going out and competing. At all."
The Cubs' dramatic wins over Cleveland came on the heels of a nailbiter with the crosstown White Sox in which they rallied from four down to win 6-5 in the ninth on Alfonso Soriano's single.
Suddenly, the Cubs have 26 runs the past four games after stalling for most of the season. But on Sunday, Wells shared the spotlight.
"I told him, 'You keep pitching like that, son, you're going to win a lot of games in the big leagues,"' manager Lou Piniella said.
NOTES: The Indians held 1B Ryan Garko out of the lineup because of a sprained left wrist. ... The Cubs placed RHP Angel Guzman on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right triceps and recalled RHP Kevin Hart from Triple-A Iowa on Sunday. ... Chicago held OF Reed Johnson out of the lineup because of tightness in his back. ... Milton Bradley had two doubles, extending his hitting streak to 10.
- ML
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 0
CHICAGO CUBS 0 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 x 6 9 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: CLE - JEREMY SOWERS, MIKE GOSLING (5TH), JENSEN LEWIS (7TH) AND
VICTOR MARTINEZ
CHN - RANDY WELLS, SEAN MARSHALL (7TH), JOSE ASCANIO
(9TH), KEVIN GREGG (9TH) AND G
Jun 21 5:01 PM - ML
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY TRAVIS HAFNER SCORED LUIS VALBUENA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, T HAFNER ON FIRST, B FRANCISCO ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 2
CHICAGO CUBS 6 TOP, 7TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J CARROLL (.292, 2-FOR-2, HBP)
Guardians 2, Cubs 6 Top 7, 0 OutsJun 21 4:22 PM - ML
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY MARK DEROSA SCORED JAMEY CARROLL.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1
CHICAGO CUBS 6 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: V MARTINEZ (.332, 0-FOR-2)
Guardians 1, Cubs 6 Top 6, 0 OutsJun 21 4:00 PM - ML
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JAKE FOX SCORED MILTON BRADLEY AND DERREK LEE.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, J FOX ON SECOND, G SOTO ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
CHICAGO CUBS 6 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: K FUKUDOME (.273, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Guardians 0, Cubs 6 Bot 5, 0 OutsJun 21 3:49 PM - ML
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
BASES LOADED WALK TO GEOVANY SOTO SCORED ALFONSO SORIANO.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, G SOTO ON FIRST, D LEE ON SECOND, M BRADLEY
ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
CHICAGO CUBS 4 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J FOX (.263, 0-FOR-1, SF, RBI)
Guardians 0, Cubs 4 Bot 5, 0 OutsJun 21 3:48 PM - ML
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY DERREK LEE SCORED RANDY WELLS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D LEE ON FIRST, M BRADLEY ON SECOND, A
SORIANO ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
CHICAGO CUBS 3 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: G SOTO (.226, 1-FOR-1, BB, HR, RBI)
Guardians 0, Cubs 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsJun 21 3:44 PM - ML
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JAKE FOX SCORED RYAN THERIOT.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, G SOTO ON FIRST, M BRADLEY ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
CHICAGO CUBS 2 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: K FUKUDOME (.273, 0-FOR-1)
Guardians 0, Cubs 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsJun 21 3:19 PM - ML
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY GEOVANY SOTO (5) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
2ND OFF JEREMY SOWERS.
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0, CHICAGO CUBS 1
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J FOX (.278, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
Guardians 0, Cubs 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 21 2:44 PM
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