• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Cubs rally in ninth to squeeze past Royals

Jun 25, 2011 - 6:01 AM Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - The Chicago Cubs took advantage of a costly ninth-inning error by Chris Getz to earn a tough 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game tilt.

With runners on the corners and one down in the ninth, Kosuke Fukudome bounced a perfect double play ball to Getz, who, in his anticipation to turn two, failed to look the ball into his glove. Tony Campana crossed the plate, breaking a 4-4 tie, as the ball rolled into the outfield.

"I just missed it," said Getz. "I mean, there's really not much more to it."

Aaron Crow (2-1) allowed two runs -- one earned -- over two innings to suffer the loss for the Royals, who have dropped six straight and eight of their last nine.

Kansas City placed runners on second and third with two down in the ninth, but Carlos Marmol induced a groundout from Alex Gordon to earn his 16th save of the season.

After Getz's blunder, Starlin Castro followed with a single up the middle to score D.J. LeMahieu, sealing the final margin.

Earlier, Castro got the Cubs going with a one-out single in the first. He advanced to second on Aramis Ramirez's single, but, with Jeff Baker batting, was thrown out attempting to steal third. Baker then belted a triple off the center field wall to score Ramirez, giving Chicago an early 1-0 lead.

The Royals evened the game in the second with Brayan Pena's sacrifice fly, which plated Gordon.

The Cubs added two in the fourth, but baserunning errors again proved costly.

Ramirez began the frame with a double and, after a Baker groundout, Geovany Soto walked to place runners on first and second. Carlos Pena then lifted a soft line drive to short right field, which scored Ramirez, but Soto was thrown out attempting to take third. After Bruce Chen intentionally walked Alfonso Soriano, Lou Montanez sent a double to left. Pena scored on the play, but Soriano was gunned down at the plate to end the inning.

"On one hand, we want to make sure we run intelligently and do smart things," said Cubs manager Mike Quade. "I still would rather go down aggressively."

The baserunning gaffes were accentuated by Jeff Francoeur's two-run, game- tying shot to left in the next half inning. Later in the frame, with two outs, Melky Cabrera slapped an RBI single over third to give the Royals a 4-3 lead.

Carlos Pena began the seventh with a double to drive Chen from the game. Blake Wood entered and allowed a single to Soriano, sending Pena to third. Blake DeWitt then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, which scored Pena. LeMahieu, Fukudome and Castro followed with three consecutive singles to load the bases, but Wood settled down to strike out Ramirez and end the inning.

Chen, who returned from the disabled list prior to the game, lasted six-plus innings, allowing four runs on eight hits.

Sean Marshall (4-2) pitched a perfect eighth to record the win.

Game Notes

Chen made his 300th career major league appearance. He was placed on the disabled list on May 11 with a left lat strain...The Cubs have won five straight series openers...Castro went 3-for-5 and became just the third Cub since 1999 to reach 100 hits by the end of June.