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Lee, bullpen lift Cubs past Rangers

Jun 20, 2007 - 4:54 AM ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Derrek Lee and the Chicago Cubs bullpen picked up Sean Marshall on an off night. Lee drove in the winning run and the Cubs bullpen did not allow a run in five hitless innings as Chicago posted a 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

Lee was in the lineup after appealing a five-game suspension he was given for his role in a bench-clearing brawl Saturday against the San Diego Padres. The fight started after Lee was hit by a pitch thrown by San Diego starter Chris Young. Lee put the Cubs ahead in the sixth plating Mike Fontenot, who was 2-for-3 and scored twice, with a double to left to make it 5-4.

Piniella said he was contemplating moving Fontenot, who has hit safely in eight of nine games since being called up from Class AAA Iowa, up to the second spot in the batting order.

"I don't really care where I hit in the lineup," Fontenot said. "I'm happy to hit anywhere but it's nice to hear that they're beginning to have faith in me." Ian Kinsler hit a pair of home runs for Texas. A solo shot by Kinsler gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead, and his two-run homer in the fourth tied the game, 4-4.

"He was trying to get ahead of me in the count on that second homer," Kinsler said. "He just left it over the plate and I got a good swing on it." Sammy Sosa, who is one home run away from becoming just the fifth player in major league history to reach 600 career homers, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He flied out to left-center in the eighth and will have to wait at least one more game to join Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays on the exclusive list. Kinsler's first homer stood up until the third, when Felix Pie gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead with a two-run triple to right. Brad Wilkerson answered in the bottom of the frame with a solo homer to tie the game at 2-2. Marshall left in the fifth after allowing a single to Kenny Lofton and Kinsler's second homer. The 24-year-old lefthander, who had yet to allow more than two runs in any of his five starts this season entering Tuesday, yielded four runs and five hits.

"I just couldn't settle down and get in a good groove," Marshall said. "I was close but just couldn't seem to dial it up to the level I needed. I wasn't attacking the hitters." While Marshall struggled, the trio of Carlos Marmol, Bob Howry and Ryan Dempster shined. "Our bullpen pitched very well tonight," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We had some pop in our bats and then Marmol came on with no outs in the fifth and gave us three great innings. Then Howry and Dempster with 1-2-3 innings ... that was great."

Marmol (2-0) struck out five in three innings and Howry recorded one strikeout in the eighth. Dempster struck out the side in the ninth for his 16th save.

"I was trying to keep my fastball down and get ground balls," Marmol said, "but I love the strikeouts too. It was a good performance for me as I know Texas has a lot of good hitters." Joaquin Benoit (2-2) allowed a run and three hits in the sixth to take the loss.