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Pagan, Cubs rally to win Windy City Series opener

May 19, 2007 - 12:30 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Angel Pagan clearly is not fazed by the pressure swirling around the Windy City Series.

Pagan had three hits - including a game-tying triple - and scored the go-ahead run Friday afternoon as the Chicago Cubs rallied for a 6-3 interleague triumph over the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a three-game series between crosstown rivals.

It was just the third victory in the last nine games for the Cubs, who lost four of six meetings with the White Sox last season.

The Cubs appeared to be headed down a similar path Friday before erupting for five runs over their final two at-bats to improve to 26-29 all-time in the Windy City Series.

"Believe me, I understand how important the rivalry is, but we just needed a win," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "After that tough loss in New York, this one eases the pain a bit."

A 25-year-old from Puerto Rico, Pagan entered Friday's matinee with just 187 career at-bats. But the switch-hitting outfielder has tormented the White Sox, going 6-for-11 with three runs, two homers and five RBI in three career games vs. the Cubs' intra-city rivals.

"It's the best feeling to help your team win a game like this," Pagan said. "We just came off of a tough loss, our team forgot about it, came out and did what we had to do to win a ballgame."

Pagan also has been outstanding since being recalled from the minors last week, batting .455 (10-for-22) with two homers and five RBI.

"Pagan has done a real professional job since he has been here," Piniella said. "In the outfield and with his hitting, he has been very impressive."

While Pagan continued to go to work at the plate, Cubs starter Ted Lilly (4-2) delivered yet another solid outing, yielding three runs in seven innings to win his third straight decision.

"I was definitely excited to be out there in a crosstown series," Lilly said. "This was my best start as far as coming out of there behind and having the offense win the game for me."

Signed to a four-year, $40 million deal in the offseason, Lilly allowed six hits and two walks with six strikeouts to improve his season ERA to 2.69. Bob Howry logged a scoreless eighth while fellow righthander Ryan Dempster worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.

"We are like a family down there (in the bullpen)," Dempster said. "We really pull for each other, and it was nice to see Bob have a dominating inning. Hopefully we can all keep it going."

The often erratic Dempster was just one day removed from an awful performance against the New York Mets, who rallied for five runs in the ninth inning against the Cubs' closer to post a 6-5 triumph. But Dempster bounced back Friday, striking out two while throwing 11 of 16 pitches for strikes.

Darin Erstad ripped an RBI double in the seventh to give the White Sox a 3-1 advantage, but the Cubs stormed back in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-3 lead.

White Sox starter Mark Buehrle retired the first two batters before walking pinch-hitter Henry Blanco and yielding a single to Ryan Theriot.

"I wasn't tired when I faced Blanco," Buehrle said. "There was one changeup that wasn't called but other than that, my pitches weren't close. It is not acceptable walking a guy like that with two outs and nobody on base. You have to attack the guy and if he hits a home run, he hits a home run."

Righthander Mike MacDougal (1-1) replaced the lefthanded Buehrle only to allow the pivotal triple to Pagan, who smashed a line drive into the right-field corner to plate Blanco and Theriot, tying the score.

"I was just trying to leave the base runners stranded," MacDougal said. "It was just a fastball outside, and Pagan hit it over the first baseman's head."

The Cubs took a 4-3 lead on the following pitch thanks to White Sox catcher Toby Hall, who could not handle MacDougal's outside fastball. The ball skirted all the way to the backstop wall, allowing Pagan to score the go-ahead run.

"MacDougal has a nasty slider, but normally I catch that ball," Hall said.

Playing his first game of the season, Hall was charged with a passed ball on the play. The reserve catcher also committed a costly throwing error in the following frame, allowing the Cubs' runners to advance to second and third with no outs.

"I got a little excited on the throwing error," Hall said. "My first thought was that I could get the guy, I just double-pumped and ended up throwing it away."

The Cubs capitalized two batters later when Cliff Floyd scored on a throwing error by third baseman Pablo Ozuna. Theriot followed with an RBI forceout to make it 6-3.

Buehrle remained winless in his last four starts, yielding three runs, six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 frames. Hall had two hits for the White Sox, who fell to 13-15 all-time at Wrigley Field.

"It's a little more heartbreaking for our fans than for us to lose to the Cubs," Buehrle said. "We never like to lose, all we can do is try to even the series tomorrow."

The White Sox jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second inning against Lilly, who yielded a leadoff single to Paul Konerko before walking Tadahito Iguchi.

After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Juan Uribe lofted a sacrifice fly to open the scoring.

But the Cubs forged a 1-1 tie with one out in the bottom of the frame thanks to Michael Barrett, who capped an eight-pitch at-bat by crushing Buehrle's 1-2 offering over the wall in left-center field for his sixth homer.

The White Sox reclaimed the lead in the third on Jermaine Dye's solo homer, his eighth of the season. It was the second homer in as many days for Dye, who blasted Lilly's 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field to make it 2-1.