After being sidelined for five straight games with neck soreness and spending most of the day hitting balls in a simulated game, Derrek Lee convinced Lou Piniella he was ready to play for real.
At first, his manager said no. But in the midst of a Chicago Cubs' (20-21) rally, something changed Sweet Lou's mind - and he gave Lee the go-ahead.
With David Aardsma pitching for the White Sox (20-19), Ryan TheRiot led off with a triple in the bottom of the eighth before Alfonso Soriano drove him in on a single to knot it up at 6 a piece. Daryle Ward was then intentionally walked to get to Michael Barrett, who lined one to load the bags.
Enter Boone Logan for some relief and Derrek Lee for the surprise. Pinch-hitting for Jacque Jones after Piniella assured everyone the slugger wouldn't play until at least Tuesday, Lee was greeted by an enormous standing ovation as he smoked a 3-1 pitch over the right-center wall for Wrigley-shaking Grand Salami. He leads the majors with a .394 average, even after 5 days of rest.
White Sox starter Javier Vazquez allowed five runs on five hits over seven innings before the bullpen meltdown took away another win - which he hasn't gotten since April 13th. Aardsma (2-1, 3.63 ERA) was handed the loss along with his 3rd blown save of the season.
Jason Marquis allowed seven hits and five runs for the Cubs in six innings, not to mention his two-run shot in the fifth off Vazquez that gave the Cubs a 5-3 lead. Bob Howry (1-3, 4.57 ERA) got the win, however, after pitching the eighth and giving up one run on two hits.
[MLB]
2 comments:
Yep, D Lee was the last dude Ozzie expected to pinch hit.
Clutch.
Do my eyes lie to me, or are the Cubs only 1 game below .500?
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