Rizzo and Wood Carry Cubs to Win

The Cubs went into Friday’s game struggling against lefties. They busted out of their struggles against one of the best in the game: Johan Santana.

Reed Johnson got the start and hit a lead-off bomb, but that lead wouldn’t last long.

In the 2nd, Lucas Duda hit a solo shot to tie it and then in the 3rd, former Cub, Ronny Cedeno doubled to knock in the second run for the Mets.

In the 4th, the Cubs tied it with a sacrifice fly by Joe Mather and they would take charge in the 5th. Anthony Rizzo hit a 3-run home run because he hates it when the Cubs are not winning. (How many go-ahead hits can a guy get in his first couple weeks?) That was followed by a home run by Jeff Baker and then the Cubs continued to rally for one more run on a base hit by Luis Valbuena. Santana didn’t make it out of the 5th. 7-2 Cubs.

In the 6th the Mets got one back on a sacrifice fly by Nickeas.

The Cubs tacked on one more in the 8th with a bases-loaded single by Soriano.

The Mets began their come back in the 8th with an RBI single by Justin Turner. They brought it in the 9th against Carlos Marmol with the Cubs leading 8-4. Valdespin homered to start it all off, narrowing the lead to 3. Ike Davis had a bases loaded single to score 2. Carlos Marmol then caught a line drive to start a game-ending double play to thwart the rally. Cubs win 8-7.

Anthony Rizzo and Reed Johnson both had 4 hits, leading the Cubs to a season-high 18 for the game. They did all of this with Starlin Casto out of the lineup.

Travis Wood won his 4th straight start. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 3 runs (2 ER) on 5 hits, but he did walk 4. Wood continues to show promise and could be even more effective he cut down on the walks.

The Cubs have won 8 of 11 games. They are 7-3 since Rizzo was called up. They are now a half-game up on Houston for last place in the Central. Ryan Dempster will start on Sunday and there is a chance, if he pitches well, that the Cubs might get some offers over the all-star break.