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Ramirez comes through as Cubs edge Cardinals

Jul 25, 2007 - 5:21 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Aramis Ramirez had four hits and snapped a late tie as the Chicago Cubs posted a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday. Ramirez singled in the seventh to drive in Ryan Theriot to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead.

"Well, we're winning games and that's what matters," Ramirez said. "I got an opportunity to knock in some runs and eventually win some games. That's what we play for to get that win and try to get to the playoffs."

Derrek Lee added an RBI single in the ninth, also scoring Theriot to give Chicago a two-run cushion.

"Every run was precious tonight," Lee said. "There was a good pitching performance by both guys. We were just scratching and clawing to get as many runs as we could get."

The extra run came in handy as Ryan Dempster allowed a run and two hits in the ninth but managed to pick up his 17th save of the season.

Albert Pujols came to the plate in the ninth with a chance to make up for a lost night, but this time Dempster got the better of the slugging first baseman.

Pujols homered off of Dempster on April 22 in Chicago, but on Tuesday he capped an 0-for-5 night with a groundout to second with a runner on first.

Carlos Zambrano (13-7) notched his National League-leading 13th win of the season. Zambrano allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

"We won this game today and we are moving forward," Zambrano said. "I was trying to use all of my pitches today. My cutter was working good today and I used that a lot."

Thirteen proved to be unlucky for Kip Wells, who pitched well but still lost his 13th decision of the season. Wells (4-13) allowed three runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

"Obviously we lost so that's frustrating," Wells said. "For the most part I felt that I threw the ball well and made a lot of good pitches. They did a good job of putting good swings on it for the times that they did get hits. I knew I had my work cut out for me with Zambrano. It's frustrating that we came up a little short."

Theriot reached on an error by Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen, his fourth of the season, in the seventh. Lee followed with a walk and Ramirez then singled to left to make it 3-2.

"There's not a much worse feeling in baseball than making an error and watching a run come in and score," Rolen said. "Putting you behind especially in a situation and a game when you know each run is going to be important. It's a play that I should have made."

"That's how you win games, by taking advantage of the other team's mistakes," Ramirez said. "This guy is a gold-glover every year and he made a error and we made him pay for it."

Zambrano's 20-inning scoreless streak came to a halt in the bottom of the fifth inning when Skip Schumaker tripled home Wells and Adam Kennedy to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Zambrano retired Pujols and Chris Duncan to end the inning, stranding Schumaker at third.

The Cubs are 14-16 in one-run games, including 4-8 on the road. They have won seven of their last eight one-run games.

"This game was a struggle but we got it done," Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "We grinded that win out."