With the win, the Cubs set a Major League record for consecutive stops at .500 to open the season. The Cubs have gone 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, and are now 10-10. The 1951 Red Sox and 1970 Yankees got to 9-9."My goal is to get to over .500 for a long time," Quade said. "It's been the strangest 20-game start that I can remember at any level anywhere. There's plenty to like but in three weeks, I don't want to hear you say, 'You're 30-30, do you have any reaction to that?'"
Lilly snapped the Dodgers' streak of six consecutive quality starts, allowing his former team five runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings. Dempster went 5 2/3 innings, charged with seven runs on nine hits."At the end of the day, it's not about me, it's about us as a team, and those guys in there did an incredible job scoring some runs," said Dempster. "Guerrier hadn't given up a run all year and to score five in the eighth -- and big hits, clutch hits -- it was a big win for us."The Cubs were led by the top of their batting order, as Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney combined for seven hits, six RBIs and four runs.Lilly stepped up and took the blame."It's especially disappointing given the fact our offense battled back from a deficit, took the lead and I wasn't able today to get it done, so we could go up 2-0 in the series," said Lilly. "I wasn't making quality pitches. I put us in a tough spot going to the bullpen early. I didn't want to, and Donnie didn't want to."I don't know [that] the conditions had anything to do with it. I don't know I can really find any excuses. It's just a matter of making the pitches when I had to. I felt my performance wasn't good enough."
Trailing 8-5 in the eighth, the Cubs loaded the bases against Guerrier, who had not given up a run in 10 2/3 innings this year. Castro smacked a two-run single, his fourth hit, to close to 8-7, and another run scored as Barney hit into a fielder's choice. One out later, Aramis Ramirez singled.Baker, who got the start because Lilly was pitching, then lined a double into the gap in right center, driving in two. Quade could have had Carlos Pena, Tyler Colvin or Blake DeWitt pinch-hit."We've got all sorts of left-handed people on the bench but he's been in the game," Quade said of Baker. "He's had some good at-bats against right-handers this year. It's a decision you make and you say, 'The guy's been doing a heck of a job for us and let's give him a shot to win this thing,' and he did it."
Filed under: Cubs
Tags: Aramis Ramirez, Blake DeWitt, Carlos Pena, Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, Darwin Barney, Dodgers, Don Mattingly, Haiku, Hiroli Kuroda, Jeff Baker, Matt Guerrier, Mike Quade, Red Sox, Ryan Dempster, Starlin Castro, Ted Lilly, Tyler Colvin, Wrigley Field, Yankees
