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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Put a Chicago Cubs reliever -- any reliever, it doesn't seem to matter who -- on the mound these days, and he's going to get the job done.
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| Zuleta |
The bullpen held the Cincinnati Reds to three hits after a rain
delay, and Ron Coomer and Matt Stairs supplied the offense with RBI
singles Wednesday as the Cubs won their fourth straight, 4-2.
"Every guy I've gone to out there the last few games has been
able to bring it home," Cubs manager Don Baylor said. "They want
the ball."
Julio Zuleta hit a solo home run and Ricky Gutierrez added a sacrifice fly for the Cubs.
Ruben Rivera gave the Reds their only offense with a two-run
homer in the second inning. Rivera was a late addition to the
lineup after Pokey Reese scratched with a sore right thumb.
Not even rain can interrupt the Cubs relievers' rhythm. The game
started 1 hour, 15 minutes late, and a rain delay in the top of the
third lasted another 1:33.
While Reds manager Bob Boone left starter Rob Bell in the game, Baylor went right to his bullpen. Todd Van Poppel (2-1) allowed
only one hit and three walks in 3 2/3 innings, striking out five.
Manny Aybar and Felix Heredia each pitched a hitless third of an
inning. Kyle Farnsworth gave up two hits in 1 1/3 innings, but he
also struck out three.
Then Tom Gordon came in and pitched the ninth for his fourth
save. It was the fourth appearance in four days and first
consecutive saves for Gordon, who missed all of last season after
reconstructive elbow surgery.
"Any time you have competition among your players, it's a good thing," Gordon said. "We're trying to push each other every day. When a guy pitches and he pitches well, it makes you want to pitch well and even better."
While the Cubs relievers were clamping down on the Reds, Stairs
and Coomer were taking advantage of Bell (0-3). Left in the game after sitting for more than 90 minutes, Bell showed the effects of the layoff.
"He had too much rain delay," Boone said. "I got a little greedy trying to save our 'pen some innings. His break wasn't there. He wasn't the same guy."
With one out in the third, Van Poppel singled up the gap for his
first hit in almost two years. Two batters later, Bell walked
Gutierrez.
Coomer then singled to deep left to drive in Van Poppel, and Stairs followed with another RBI single.
The Cubs loaded the bases when Bell hit Julio Zuleta, but Bell
was relieved by Scott Sullivan, who got Todd Dunwoody on a
groundout to end the inning.
All of this, and the Cubs didn't even have Sammy Sosa. Sosa
missed his second game in a row with tightness in his lower back.
He expects to play Thursday.
"I had a two-run cushion, though the rain makes it a different
story," said Bell, who allowed three runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings. "My game is best when I pitch offensively, pitch to guys, but I didn't do that."
Bell also gave up a homer in the second inning to Zuleta. Reds
pitchers have now allowed at least one homer in 13 straight games,
matching the mark set June 29-July 10, 1955.
Zuleta's homer came after he practiced more of the "magic"
he's been working on the Cubs' bats. Before the game, he used a
stethoscope to examine some of his teammates' bats and see if they
had any hits in them.
Zuleta also used Rondell White's bat, hoping to "make it warm"
for White, who is mired in a 1-for-27 slump. Sure enough, Zuleta
homered on the first pitch he saw.
"I've got to keep doing it because the last four games, we've won," Zuleta said. "Whatever it takes to win, we're going to do it."
Game notes
Coomer's RBI single extended his hitting streak to 11
games. That matches his career high. ... Reese was bothered by a
screw that was inserted in his thumb in 1998. He couldn't swing a
bat. ... Van Poppel's hit was the fourth of his career and first
since Aug. 24, 1998.
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RECAPS
Seattle 5
Minnesota 4
Baltimore 12
Anaheim 5
Cleveland 4
Detroit 3
NY Yankees 7
Boston 3
Toronto 9
Chi. White Sox 6
Tampa Bay 10
Texas 6
Kansas City 4
Oakland 1
Chicago Cubs 4
Cincinnati 2
Los Angeles 6
Colorado 4
San Diego 7
Houston 6
Philadelphia 4
Pittsburgh 0
Philadelphia 5
Pittsburgh 2
(2nd game)
Atlanta 0
Florida 0
NY Mets 4
Montreal 2
Milwaukee 7
St. Louis 3
San Francisco 5
Arizona 1
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