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Soriano bails out the Cubs bullpen

Jun 26, 2007 - 5:48 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Alfonso Soriano was in the midst of a tough night until the game was on the line.

Soriano's lone hit in six at-bats came with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Chicago Cubs a 10-9 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday.

Angel Pagan and Mark DeRosa drove in three runs each for the Cubs, who pushed their winning streak to four games.

"We came in here after three good wins against the White Sox and needed to keep the momentum going," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "The game was in hand, then it got away from us in the ninth before we snatched it back. It's a great win that you could not script any better."

The Cubs' $136 million free agent has been earning his money recently, homering in each game during a three-game sweep of the crosstown-rival White Sox before Monday's heroics.

"It's great to come back and win a game like that," Soriano said. "Nobody got down after they scored the six runs, but we were a little frustrated. After DeRosa came right back with a hit to start us off, we got some motivation. That was a big hit for me to win the game. Until then I was 0-for-5."

Chicago looked to have a comfortable five-run lead going into the ninth, but Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry combined to blow the advantage. After rookie Troy Tulowitzki's three-run homer gave the Rockies a 9-8 lead, a fan raced onto the field and screamed at Howry before being captured by security.

"All he (the fan) said to me is, 'What are you doing?'" Howry said. "Then security raced in and he got crushed, but all that matters is in the end the Cubs got a win."

Piniella offered has own view about Howry and the Cubs' security department.

"Bobby really kept his composure after the fan ran out there, he retired the next three hitters," Piniella said. "I don't know who made the tackle on the fan, but Bears head coach Lovie Smith is looking for him. That guy went down in a hurry."

Kaz Matsui led off the top of the ninth with a single and moved to second when Eyre walked Matt Holliday. Todd Helton came to the plate next and wasted little time cutting the deficit to 8-4 with an RBI double to deep left field.

"It was a weird game," Helton said. "Give them credit for winning but give us credit for coming back."

Howry replaced Eyre and yielded back-to-back RBI singles to Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe before Tulowitzki's homer.

"I wasn't thinking home run, I just wanted to get another hit and make the inning even bigger," Tulowitzki said. "It was nice to hit the home run and put us up, it's even more frustrating that we still lost."

Brian Fuentes looked to be in line for an easy save with two outs and a runner on first, but Koyie Hill singled and Matsui committed a fielding error, loading the bases for Soriano's heroics.

"The ball took a little hop but that is no excuse," Matsui said through an interpreter. "It is my first error of the season but I still feel bad about it."

Soriano looped a single into right-center field, plating two runs to give Chicago a walk-off win and Fuentes his second consecutive blown save.

"All I can do is move on from this one," Fuentes said. "It is not going to get any better thinking about it."

Jason Marquis pitched 5 2/3 solid innings and was in line for his first win since May 9 before the bullpen surrendered the lead. The veteran righthander is now 0-3 over his past nine starts after beginning the season 5-1 with a 1.70 ERA in his first seven outings.

Rookie Mike Fontenot extended his hitting streak to eight games with a 5-for-5 performance for the Cubs.

"I feel good and was glad to get a few hits off a lefthander, "Fontenot said. "A night like this is all worth it when we come back to win a game like this."

Pagan's three-run blast in the first off Colorado starter Jeff Francis snapped a 1-1 tie. Pagan, who was just 1-for-8 in the series against the White Sox, came up with runners on first and second after three consecutive singles had tied the game at 1-1 and ripped Francis' 1-0 offering over the wall in left.

"The home run seems like so long ago," Pagan said. "This game is like a dream now, I can't believe we came back and won."

DeRosa - batting in front of Pagan - drove in Chicago's first run and picked up an RBI on a groundout in the third and a fielder's choice in the fifth.

The Rockies jumped on top in the first when Matsui singled, stole second and came around to score on Holliday's RBI single. They chased Marquis when Ryan Spilborghs slapped a two-run single to right to cut the deficit to 6-3, but Chicago's bullpen held strong.

"This club has no quit in it," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "All night long we just kept playing the game."

After yielding just one earned run over his previous two starts combined, Francis was knocked around for six runs and 10 hits in five frames. Colorado's ace lefthander walked two and struck out four.

"I think I kept the ball down for the most part," Francis said. "The results just were not good enough."

The Rockies had their string of nine straight series wins snapped when they were swept by the Blue Jays over the weekend, and the four straight losses have dropped them back to .500 (38-38).

"Just when you think you have seen it all, a game like this happens," Hurdle said. "So we are back to .500, right where we started the season."