Cubs Just Miss Second Straight 9th Inning Comeback

On Saturday the Cubs snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (after their “closer” Kevin Gregg blew a 9th inning lead).  On Sunday they had a chance to pull a similar rabbit out of a similar hat, but unfortunately, came up just a few inches short.  And I mean literally inches:  Geovany Soto hit a two-out smash that would’ve driven in at least the tying run, had it been just a little bit to the left or right, and not directly at Houston third baseman Jeff Keppinger.  It was a disappointing end to an exciting rally that saw the Cubs claw back from down 6-3 to get within 1.

As on Saturday, a frustrating pitching appearance led to the deficit the Cubs had to try and come back from.  Sunday it was Rich Harden doing the (dis) honors.  Harden, who had been solid in his last few starts, went from having apparently great stuff to getting blasted for 4 runs in the 4th, two coming on a Pudge Rodriguez homer.  That erased the 2-0 lead the Cubs garnered in the bottom of the 3rd courtesy of Ryan Theriot and Derrek Lee who each hit run-scoring doubles.  Speaking of Lee:  the slumping first baseman finally had himself a bust-out sort of day, going 4-5 with a homer.  The Cubs managed plenty of offense – 11 hits to Houston’s 7 – but Harden’s bad inning was their downfall.