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Ramirez, Cubs rally back to beat Mets

Sep 10, 2011 - 10:16 PM Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Aramis Ramirez singled home two runs with two outs in the top of the ninth to give the Chicago Cubs a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets in the second of three games from Citi Field.

The teams combined for seven runs in a wild final two innings. After the Cubs scored once in the top of the eighth for a 3-0 lead, the Mets answered with four runs in the bottom of the frame to move in front before the Cubs countered with a two-run rally in the ninth to steal it right back.

New York's fourth error of the contest ignited Chicago's comeback against Bobby Parnell (3-6). David Wright booted Geovany Soto's leadoff grounder to third and Bryan LaHair doubled pinch-runner Lou Montanez to third.

Parnell nearly pitched out of it, as he flagged down Starlin Castro's bouncer for the first out and struck out Reed Johnson. Ramirez then slapped a ball through the hole between first and second to score both runners for a 5-4 lead.

Carlos Marmol worked around a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth for his 34th save to close out Chicago's fourth win in six games. With a runner on first and two outs Jose Reyes ripped a line shot toward first that went off the glove of Carlos Pena, but second baseman DJ LeMahieu picked up the carom and threw to first to nab the speedy leadoff hitter by a half-step.

The Mets went into the home eighth down by three runs, but Willie Harris led off with a walk from Chicago starter Randy Wells and scored on a double by Reyes. Kerry Wood took the mound for the Cubs and yielded a single to Ruben Tejada before fanning Lucas Duda.

Wright then singled home Reyes to make it a 3-2 game and Angel Pagan went down swinging for the second out, but Wright stole second and both runners scored on a single to left field by Jason Bay to give the Mets a short-lived lead.

Wells, who entered the contest 5-0 in his previous seven starts, was charged with two runs on seven hits in seven-plus innings. He walked one and struck out three. Wood (3-5) was credited with the win despite blowing a save for the six time this season.

"We've had our ups and downs but these guys keep battling," said Cubs manager Mike Quade. "It's always good to see. For Wood to have a tough game and for us to pick him up was good to see."

New York starter Chris Capuano went the first seven innings and surrendered two runs -- one earned -- on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

The Cubs grabbed a quick lead in the first inning when Johnson doubled with one out and scored after Reyes was charged with an error for failing to catch a line drive off the bat of Jeff Baker.

New York threatened for the first time in the fourth when Duda and Wright both stroked one-out singles. A fielder's choice left runners at the corners and Castro made a nice play at shortstop to throw out Bay to end the inning.

The Cubs then extended their lead in the fifth. Soto led off with a walk, took second on a bunt and advanced to third on a single by Castro. Reyes then committed his second error of the game on a grounder by Johnson, allowing Soto to cross for a 2-0 edge.

"That's not us, that's for sure," Mets manager Terry Collins said about his team's four errors. "We catch the baseball -- we have all year long."

Wells worked out of minor trouble in the sixth, retiring Wright on a grounder and Pagan on a fly ball to right field after Duda had doubled with one out.

Chicago picked up another run in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Alfonso Soriano and Marlon Byrd off Ryota Igarashi for a 3-0 edge.

Game Notes

Castro extended his hit streak to 11 games, matching a career-best previously set from August 15-27. He has also reached base in 23 straight games...Bay was 2-for-4 and now has a nine-game hitting streak. He is 14-for-31 during that stretch...In a strange occurrence, the Cubs had three straight batters in the third inning foul out and the first Mets batter in the bottom of the inning also fouled out...The Cubs now lead the all-time series, 346-345-2...Chicago will try for its first series win in Flushing since taking two-of-three from July 24-26, 2006 at Shea Stadium.