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Cubs win 5-4 in 10 to end Rangers' 5-game streak

May 23, 2010 - 3:22 AM By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas(AP) -- Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella went with what he had left on the bench when the game got into extra innings. The strategy worked perfectly.

Left-handed pinch-hitters Kosuke Fukudome and Mike Fontenot had consecutive singles in the 10th after rookie Tyler Colvin's leadoff double and the Cubs beat Texas 5-4 on Saturday night to end the Rangers' five-game winning streak.

Texas had already used its left-handed reliever, Darren Oliver, to get through a scoreless eighth. And submarine-throwing righty Darren O'Day has had trouble this season getting out left-handed hitters.

"We have all those reports. We had Fukudome sitting there and we had Fontenot," Piniella said. "We used them and it worked for us."

O'Day (1-2) started the 10th by giving up a double to Colvin, another left-hander who had entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth. Fukudome and Fontenot then came off the bench to pull hits to right, the latter breaking a 3-all tie and chasing O'Day. Another run scored on Derrek Lee's grounder with the bases loaded.

"There's a little deception there, so the best thing you can do is try to pick up the arm slot and pick up the ball," Fontenot said about facing the sidearm delivery. "You try to pick up the release point and get the head of the bat out there."

After O'Day gave up hits to all three batters he faced, left-handers are hitting .429 (9 for 21) against him this season.

"They threw three left-handers up there in a row, and they all came through," Rangers manager Ron Washington said simply.

Sean Marshall (4-1) pitched around Josh Hamilton's double after relieving starter Randy Wells with one out in the ninth. Carlos Marmol worked the 10th for eighth save in 10 chances despite giving up an RBI single to Ian Kinsler.

"The big story today was Wells, he went into the ninth," Piniella said. "The pitching kept us in it the whole way."

Texas lost for the first time in its homestand that followed being swept in three games at Toronto last weekend, ending what was the longest active winning streak in the majors. The AL West-leading Rangers had won seven in a row at home.

Hamilton greeted Marshall with a towering popup that dropped behind shortstop Starlin Castro and out of the reach of diving center fielder Marlon Byrd. Nelson Cruz, who had already homered and driven in two runs, was then intentionally walked before a flyball and a strikeout ended the threat.

Wells left after Vladimir Guerrero's inning-starting groundout. The Cubs right-hander struck out six but remained winless in four May starts after going 3-0 in April.

The 20-year-old Castro, the youngest shortstop ever for the Cubs, hit a solo homer that barely cleared the wall in the third and made it 3-1 against Derek Holland. It was Castro's second homer of the season.

Byrd led off the second reaching on rookie first baseman Justin Smoak's fielding error, then advanced to second on Holland's errant pickoff attempt. Alfonso Soriano, who like Byrd used to play in Texas, then hit a two-run homer.

Guerrero and Cruz hit solo home runs in the Rangers fourth to tie it at 3.

After crossing home with his 10th homer, Guerrero stopped and shared a few words and a laugh with Cruz waiting in the on-deck circle before Hamilton grounded out. Cruz then hit his ninth homer, a 427-foot blast that landed beyond the Rangers bullpen in right-center field.

The second inning for Texas began with consecutive singles by Guerrero, Hamilton and Cruz that pushed in a run before Wells got a strikeout and a double play.

Holland, who had won his first two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, needed 103 pitches to get through six innings. The 23-year-old left-hander struck out five and walked two.

The six runs Holland has allowed this season have come on four homers.

"The pitches were up. It's my job to get the ball down," Holland said. "I left a couple of changeups up, and they took care of them."

NOTES: It was the seventh extra-inning game of the season for Texas, matching Boston for the most in the majors. The Rangers are 4-3 in those games. ... Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez was back in the lineup, serving as the DH after being held out of the starting lineup the previous two games due to a sore left thumb. He 0 for 5 with four strikeouts. ... When Ryan Theriot tried a sacrifice bunt in the Cubs eighth, C Max Ramirez instead fired a shot to second to get out the lead runner. Theriot then stole second and took a knee to the side of the head from SS Elvis Andrus, who had to leap to grab the high throw. Theriot was OK and left stranded when Lee grounded out. ... The crowd of 46,180 was the largest at home for the Rangers since the season opener.