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Izturis leads Cubs over Mariners

Jun 14, 2007 - 10:19 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Cesar Izturis' two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday in the rubber game of a three-game series.

Seattle righthander Brandon Morrow (3-1) walked Mark DeRosa and Mike Fontenot to start winning rally. Koyie Hill sacrificed both runners into scoring position and Izturis made the reliever pay by lining a double to left field to put the Cubs ahead to stay.

That made a winner of Cubs reliever Bobby Howry (3-3) who retired all four batters he faced to close out the game.

"You have to win these tight games to be successful," Howry said. "We are starting to get better at it, hopefully we can continue."

The Cubs started fast against Seattle starter Jeff Weaver, plating three runs in the first inning.

Alfonso Soriano led off the game with a double to left field, and rookie Felix Pie followed with a triple to center. Cliff Floyd made it 2-0 when he singled up the middle to score Pie.

"I wanted to establish the fastball early," Weaver said. "After the Soriano double I had to decide whether to stick with the game plan or start mixing it up. The fastball eventually was the pitch that kept me out there."

After an out, Fontenot tripled to right field, scoring Floyd with the third run of the inning. Those would be the only runs Weaver allowed as he went six innings, allowing 10 hits, walking three and striking out two.

"Once Jeff got past the first inning everything improved," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "His command of the fastball improved significantly after the first, we got a real good outing out of him."

The Mariners scored four times in the sixth inning to take the lead. Weaver was hit by a pitch from Cubs starter Jason Marquis. Ichiro Suzuki walked, then Weaver scored the first Seattle run when second baseman Mark DeRosa misplayed a grounder by Jose Lopez.

"In that inning it all came down to two bad pitches," Marquis said. "I have to attack Jeff Weaver better, for the most part I pitched how I wanted to."

Jose Guillen walked to load the bases, and Raul Ibanez cleared them with a three-run double to center field.

Despite allowing just two hits, Marquis remained winless in his last seven starts. The righthander pitched 5 1/3 innings, walking a pair and striking out five.

"Obviously I would like to win but my goal is to get the team a win," Marquis said. "I don't think I put my team behind the eight ball too bad, they did a nice job of coming back to win."

Floyd had three hits, while Izturis and Soriano each had a pair to pace Chicago's 12-hit attack.

"In that situation I was just looking to make contact," Izturis said of his game winning hit. "I wanted to drive in at least one run, but we got two."