Walking Win at Windy Wrigley

The Washington Nationals dropped an extra innings game to the Cubs on a bases-loaded walk at a cold and blustery Wrigley Field Monday. Chicago’s Aramis Ramirez drew the RBI base-on-balls off Brian Bruney in the 10th inning to give the Cubs the 4-3 decision. It was Chicago’s fourth straight win and the eighth pass of the game for Cubs clubbers.
Carlos Silva went seven strong innings as the hurler for Chicago in his second home start. Silva permitted three runs on seven hits, while fanning three. The Nationals threw John Lannon, who went six deep and allowed five hits. Lannon yielded three earned runs and issued five walks as he struggled to get outs in the early frames. The Cubs built a 3-0 lead through three innings on consecutive doubles by Marlon Byrd and Ramirez. Byrd belted a double in the second, and Ramirez followed it up with one of his own for the first Cubs’ tally. Silva walked on four straight pitches to score Ramirez to make it a 2-0 Chicago advantage. Byrd helped the Cubs get another run on the board in the bottom of the third with an infield single. He finished with three hits in the win. Jeff Baker pounded a triple off Lannon to set up Byrd’s RBI opportunity in the third.
The Nationals finally punched home a run in the fourth after Silva retired nine straight Washington batters. Josh Willingham walked in the first Washington run during a three-hit , two-run fourth. Scrappy third baseman, Adam Kennedy’s sacrifice fly off the Cubs’ ace made it a 3-2 home lead. The Nationals’ hot corner veteran helped set the tone in the top of the sixth as Washington tied the game at 3-3. Kennedy grounded out on a fielder’s choice to send Willingham to third. Willingham reached base on a single and took second on a wild pitch by Silva. Wil Nieves knocked home the Nationals’ left fielder with a two-out run-scoring single. Neither team broke through again on offense until the tenth.
Carlos Zambrano pitched scoreless innings in his second appearance out of the bullpen for the team with the league’s fourth best ERA. The former Chicago starter ended the Nationals’ thin threat in the eighth and allowed just one hit. Carlos Marmol toed the rubber for the Cubs in the tenth, and in doing so, earned his first win. Marmol pitched around a two-out double by Adam Dunn in the top half of the tenth. Dunn recorded a three hit night for the Nationals and put a brief scare into the Cubs’ reliever. The five year Chicago tosser, Marmol, nailed the win when the offense picked up the deciding run in the bottom half of the extra frame. Ryan Theriot got the inning started with a hit off reliever Bruney. Theroit was fresh off a five-hit contest against the Brewers on Sunday. The former Yankee Bruney wastefully walked Derrek Lee and gave up a bloop single to Byrd to load the bases for Ramirez. Ramirez completed the winning rally as Bruney didn’t come close to finding the strike zone when he needed to most. The Cubs opened their seven game home stand by strolling away with a win—literally.

Parting Points: Song of the day-“Everyone knows it’s Windy” by The Association