Final
Ramirez haunts former team yet again as Cubs rout Pirates
Aug 26, 2008 - 3:45 AM By Chris Adamski PA SportsTicker Contributing WriterPITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Aramis Ramirez continues to torch his former team and the Chicago Cubs continue to have their way with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ramirez hit his 23rd home run of the season as the Cubs routed the Pirates, 12-3, on Monday.
Chicago improved to 12-4 against Pittsburgh this season, thanks in part to Ramirez.
The one-time All-Star has 22 homers and 65 RBI in 81 career games vs. the Pirates, who he spent five-plus seasons with before a midseason trade in 2003 sent him to the Cubs. Despite spending nearly half of his career - 559 of 1302 games - with Pittsburgh, he has hit more homers against only three other teams.
Ramirez's three-run blast came in the third off Pirates starter Jeff Karstens (2-3) after Derrek Lee had driven in Alfonso Soriano with a single.
"He's been hitting with guys in scoring position and guys on base," said Jim Edmonds, who scored twice. "He's doing a great job as our No. 4 hitter. He's been doing it all year, which is a big year for us. It's been impressive to watch."
Kosuke Fukudome had three hits and a career-high four RBI. The Japanese import hit a sacrifice fly to right in the second to score Edmonds, who tripled to lead off the inning. His final RBI came in the ninth when he double to score Mark DeRosa.
"He drove he ball, hit it hard and hit it to all fields," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He's looking like the hitter he was early in the season."
Cubs coaches had been working with Fukudome on shortening his stride the past couple days. The rookie has seen his batting average decline during each month this season, hitting .327 through April 30 but batting only .159 in August entering this contest.
"During (batting practice), I was able to work on it pretty good but, in the game, I didn't think I was able to incorporate that 100 percent," Fukudome said through an interpreter. "It's great that I had three hits today but today is over. It's a different game. It starts tomorrow. I just need to keep working at it."
Edmonds, Lee and Soriano each added three hits.
Ted Lilly (13-7) struck out seven to win for the fourth time in his last five decisions, allowing three runs and and seven hits over seven frames for Chicago (81-50), which won its third in a row and extended its lead in the National League Central to five games over the idle Milwaukee Brewers (76-55).
After starting the season 1-4, Lilly is 11-3 since.
Adam LaRoche hit his 18th home run and Brandon Moss hit his fourth homer in 21 games for the Pirates (57-74), who have lost five in a row and nine of 11 to drop into a tie for last place in the NL Central.
The Cubs led 5-0 after three but broke the game open with a five-run fifth off of reliever Jason Davis that featured a two-run double by Edmonds, a two-run single by Fukudome and an RBI single by Lilly, his fourth RBI of the season.
"When you get a big lead like that, you kind of want to still bear down and make quality pitches," Lilly said. "There were moments when I felt like I got away with a few but, all in all, anytime we can get into a series with the first win, it's nice. It sets the tone for the rest of the series."
"Anytime you score runs like that and get a pitcher a chance to get comfortable, it's a nice day," Edmonds said. "It takes some stress out of him for the day."
Karstens was charged with five runs on six hits and a walk in three innings, striking out only one. He has allowed 12 earned runs over 16 innings over his past three starts after tossing 15 consecutive shutout innings since making his Pirates debut on August 1.
"Obviously, he (Karstens) was missing his spots," Pirates manager John Russell said. "Against a team like that, you can't miss too many spots. ? They took advantage of it. (The Cubs are) a pretty good club. That's why they are where they are."
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CHICAGO CUBS 0 1 4 0 5 0 0 1 1 12 17 0
PITTSBURGH 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 8 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: CHN - TED LILLY, BOBBY HOWRY (8TH), KERRY WOOD (9TH) AND GEOVANY
SOTO, HENRY BLANCO (8TH)
PIT - JEFF KARSTENS, JASON DAVIS (4TH), DENNY BAUTISTA
(6TH), SEAN BURNET
Aug 25 10:02 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY KOSUKE FUKUDOME SCORED MARK DEROSA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, K FUKUDOME ON SECOND, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 12
PITTSBURGH 3 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: B HOWRY (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Cubs 12, Pirates 3 Top 9, 0 OutsAug 25 9:50 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY HENRY BLANCO SCORED ALFONSO SORIANO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D LEE ON SECOND, R CEDENO ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 11
PITTSBURGH 3 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J EDMONDS (.238, 3-FOR-4, RBI)
Cubs 11, Pirates 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 25 9:35 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY ADAM LAROCHE (18) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 6TH OFF TED LILLY SCORED FREDDY SANCHEZ.
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 10, PITTSBURGH 3
DUE UP FOR PITTSBURGH: J MICHAELS (.242, 0-FOR-2)
Cubs 10, Pirates 3 Bot 6, 0 OutsAug 25 9:02 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY TED LILLY SCORED MARK DEROSA.
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, T LILLY ON FIRST, G SOTO ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 10
PITTSBURGH 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A SORIANO (.287, 2-FOR-3)
Cubs 10, Pirates 1 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 25 8:38 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY KOSUKE FUKUDOME SCORED ARAMIS RAMIREZ AND JIM
EDMONDS.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, K FUKUDOME ON FIRST, M DEROSA ON SECOND, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 9
PITTSBURGH 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: G SOTO (.283, 0-FOR-2)
Cubs 9, Pirates 1 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 25 8:36 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JIM EDMONDS SCORED DERREK LEE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J EDMONDS ON SECOND, A RAMIREZ ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 7
PITTSBURGH 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: M DEROSA (.286, 0-FOR-2)
Cubs 7, Pirates 1 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 25 8:32 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
WILD PITCH BY JASON DAVIS ALLOWED RYAN THERIOT TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A RAMIREZ ON FIRST, D LEE ON SECOND, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 6
PITTSBURGH 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J EDMONDS (.236, 2-FOR-2)
Cubs 6, Pirates 1 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 25 8:31 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY BRANDON MOSS (4) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 2
OUT IN THE 4TH OFF TED LILLY.
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 5, PITTSBURGH 1
DUE UP FOR PITTSBURGH: AN LAROCHE (.168, 0-FOR-1)
Cubs 5, Pirates 1 Bot 4, 0 OutsAug 25 8:22 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY ARAMIS RAMIREZ (23) TO LEFT WITH 1
OUT IN THE 3RD OFF JEFF KARSTENS SCORED RYAN THERIOT AND DERREK
LEE.
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 5, PITTSBURGH 0
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J EDMONDS (.233, 1-FOR-1)
Cubs 5, Pirates 0 Top 3, 0 OutsAug 25 7:57 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY DERREK LEE SCORED ALFONSO SORIANO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D LEE ON FIRST, R THERIOT ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 2
PITTSBURGH 0 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A RAMIREZ (.287, 0-FOR-1)
Cubs 2, Pirates 0 Top 3, 0 OutsAug 25 7:54 PM - NL
AT PITTSBURGH - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY KOSUKE FUKUDOME SCORED JIM EDMONDS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1
PITTSBURGH 0 TOP, 2ND
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: G SOTO (.284, 19 HR, 71 RBI)
Cubs 1, Pirates 0 Top 2, 0 OutsAug 25 7:34 PM
Related News
- A few more thoughts about the Cubs’ offseason inactivity thus far Dec 26
- Cub Tracks’ box set Dec 26
- BCB After Dark: Happy Holidays! Dec 26
- Merry Christmas from BCB! Dec 25
- Outside The Confines: Merry Christmas Dec 25
- Baseball history unpacked, December 25 Dec 25
- ‘Twas the night before Cub Christmas, 2023 Dec 24
- Cub Tracks has garlic in its soul Dec 24
- Cubs historical sleuthing: Early 1940s edition Dec 23
- Cubs historical sleuthing: Ticket edition Dec 23
- Cub Tracks’ green Xmas Dec 23
- Pirates Top Games of 2023: No. 6 - Drew Maggi gets his moment Dec 23