Cardinals Catch Up to Falling Cubs

With a five-run lead and the Chicago Cubs struggling to scratch together hits, the St. Louis Cardinals should have been able to enjoy the last few innings.

In a rivalry as old and heated as the Cubs and the Cardinals, nothing is ever that easy.

The Cubs rallied for two runs in the seventh and the ninth innings, but the Cardinals held on for a 10-8 victory Friday at Wrigley Field.

Craig Paquette and Jim Edmonds drove in three runs each for the Cardinals, who moved back into a tie for second place in the National League Central with the Cubs. Both teams are four games behind Houston.

“I was very nervous the last couple of innings,” St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa said. “As great as this rivalry is, there have only been so many times this series has included both teams in contention, so it’s extra special.”

If the Cubs don’t regroup soon, they could be out of contention. In first place as recently as Aug. 15, Chicago has lost 10 of its last 14 games.

Though the Cubs managed 12 hits and made things interesting at the end, they stranded 11 runners. They didn’t get an extra-base hit until the seventh inning.

“We’ve got a great team. We’ve been fighting all year long,” said Sammy Sosa, who drove in two runs, one on a sacrifice fly that was inches from being a home run. He’s one homer shy of joining Babe Ruth and Mark McGwire as the only players in history with four 50-homer seasons.

“We’ve had such a great year and just because we lost one game doesn’t mean we’re not going to come back.”

At least the Cubs aren’t quitting. In the ninth, with runners on first and second, Robert Machado doubled down the third-base line to drive in Ricky Gutierrez. Pinch-hitter Corey Patterson then hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 10-8.

But Luther Hackman relieved and got Eric Young on a groundout to end the game. It was Hackman’s first save in three chances.

Philadelphia 6, Arizona 5--Pat Burrell homered and drove in three runs as the Phillies defeated the Diamondbacks at Philadelphia despite Luis Gonzalez’s 47th home run.

Reggie Sanders hit two home runs for the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, who lead the San Francisco Giants by 1 1/2 games and the Dodgers by 3 1/2.

Omar Daal gave up one run in five innings, improving to 12-4 this season after going 4-19 in 2000.

Burrell, benched the previous two games, gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the first with a run-scoring double. His two-run homer in the fourth made it 6-1.

Gonzalez led off the sixth with a homer off reliever Turk Wendell into the upper deck in right field to cut it to 6-2. After Mark Grace’s one-out walk, Sanders hit a drive into the center-field seats to make it 6-4.

New York 4, San Francisco 3--Bruce Chen gave up three hits over seven innings in shutting down Barry Bonds and the Giants at New York.

Edgardo Alfonzo and Todd Zeile hit second-inning home runs off Kirk Rueter (12-9) and Jay Payton hit a solo shot in the seventh off Brian Boehringer.

San Francisco, which had won seven of its previous 10 games, wasted a chance to gain on Arizona.

A night after hitting his major league-leading 55th home run, Bonds had a single and a walk in three at-bats.

Chen improved to 2-1 in five starts since the Mets acquired him from Philadelphia on July 27, leading New York to its fifth win in six games after a seven-game losing streak.

Florida 6, San Diego 3--Preston Wilson hit a two-run home run and Kevin Millar drove in three runs with a first-inning double at Miami as the Marlins won for the second time in 11 games.

Matt Clement (8-8) won in his first appearance against his former team. He was traded by the Padres to Florida right before opening day.

Colorado 12, Milwaukee 6--Todd Helton homered and doubled twice to drive in five runs at Milwaukee, Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer and Larry Walker became Colorado’s leading career home run hitter in the Rockies’ victory.

Walker hit his 204th homer with the Rockies in the fifth inning, lifting him ahead of Vinny Castilla on the team’s list.

Montreal 6, Cincinnati 4--Tim Raines, making his first start since May 3, scored the go-ahead run on Orlando Cabrera’s single in the seventh inning as the Expos won at Montreal.

Raines, who turns 42 next month, had been out of the lineup since injuring his left shoulder early this season.