GAME THREAD: NL: CHICAGO CUBS (27-32) at ATLANTA (33-29)

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">CHICAGO CUBS (5) VS ATLANTA (9) - FINAL

CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Soriano lf 4 1 0 0 0 2 1 .320
F Pie cf 3 1 1 0 2 1 1 .288
D Lee 1b 5 2 2 1 0 1 2 .338
M Barrett c 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 .246
J Jones rf 3 1 0 1 1 0 1 .236
M DeRosa 3b 4 0 3 2 0 0 2 .263
M Fontenot 2b 4 0 1 1 0 0 3 .333
C Izturis ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .245
J Marquis p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188
S Gallagher p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-M Murton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .261
S Eyre p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Wuertz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-R Theriot ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .269

Totals 33 5 8 5 4 7 17

a-flied out to right for S Gallagher in the 6th; b-popped out to second for M
Wuertz in the 9th.

BATTING: RBI - D Lee (35), M DeRosa 2 (31), M Fontenot (1), J Jones (19).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Murton 1. GIDP - J Jones. Team LOB
- 7.

FIELDING: E - J Marquis (2, throw). Outfield assists - A Soriano (S Thorman
at Home). DP: 1 (A Soriano-M Barrett).


ATLANTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
K Johnson 2b 4 1 1 1 1 0 1 .285
W Harris lf 3 3 2 0 1 0 1 .391
E Renteria ss 5 2 3 4 0 1 1 .322
A Jones cf 5 1 2 3 0 1 2 .225
B McCann c 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 .278
J Francoeur rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 .283
S Thorman 1b 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 .222
Y Escobar 3b 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 .314
T Hudson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .214
P Moylan p 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000
a-P Orr ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .196
B Boyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Yates p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-C Woodward ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .215
R Soriano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Wickman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 32 9 10 9 6 2 11

a-flied out to right for P Moylan in the 5th; b-flied out to left for T Yates
in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - W Harris (7, S Gallagher); E Renteria (17, S Eyre). HR - A Jones
(11, 1st inning off J Marquis 1 on, 2 Out), E Renteria (9, 4th inning off S
Gallagher 1 on, 0 Out). S - W Harris , T Hudson. RBI - A Jones 3 (42), K
Johnson (34), E Renteria 4 (33), B McCann (28). 2-out RBI - A Jones 3, E
Renteria, B McCann. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A Jones 1, J
Francoeur 2. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - W Harris (7, 2nd base off J Marquis/M Barrett).

FIELDING: E - Y Escobar (1, throw). Outfield assists - J Francoeur (M DeRosa
at 3rd base). DP: 2 (K Johnson-E Renteria-S Thorman-B McCann-Y Escobar, K Johnson-S Thorman).


----------------------------------------------------
CHICAGO CUBS - 401 000 000 -- 5
ATLANTA - 240 201 00x -- 9
----------------------------------------------------

CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era
J Marquis (L, 5-3) 1 2/3 4 6 2 3 1 1 3.01
S Gallagher 3 1/3 3 2 2 1 1 1 5.40
S Eyre 2 2 1 1 2 0 0 7.17
M Wuertz 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.21

ATLANTA ip h r er bb so hr era
T Hudson 2 5 5 5 2 1 0 3.51
P Moylan (W, 2-1) 3 0 0 0 1 3 0 2.43
B Boyer (H, 1) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.25
T Yates 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 3.45
R Soriano 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.25
B Wickman 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.66

T Hudson pitched to 3 batters in the 3rd.

WP - J Marquis, B Boyer, S Eyre. IBB - J Jones (by T Hudson). HBP - A Soriano
(by T Hudson); S Gallagher (by P Moylan). Pitches-strikes: J Marquis 50-26; S
Gallagher 54-32; S Eyre 35-17; M Wuertz 12-8; T Hudson 44-26; P Moylan 32-18; B
Boyer 19-12; T Yates 18-12; R Soriano 11-6; B Wickman 16-9. Ground balls-fly
balls: J Marquis 3-1; S Gallagher 3-6; S Eyre 3-2; M Wuertz 3-0; T Hudson 4-1;
P Moylan 4-1; B Boyer 1-1; T Yates 0-1; R Soriano 1-2; B Wickman 1-2. Batters
faced: J Marquis 13; S Gallagher 14; S Eyre 9; M Wuertz 4; T Hudson 14; P
Moylan 9; B Boyer 4; T Yates 4; R Soriano 4; B Wickman 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Tim Tschida. 1B--Jim Wolf. 2B--Adrian Johnson. 3B--Jim Joyce.

T--3:09. Att--51,816.
Weather: 90 degrees, clear. Wind: 11 mph, left to
right.</div>

 

Jones, Renteria help Braves end four-game skid

<h3>ATLANTA 9, CHICAGO CUBS 5</h3>ATLANTA (Ticker) -- All the Atlanta Braves needed to snap outof their funk was a visit from old teammate Jason Marquis.

Andruw Jones and Edgar Renteria each homered as Atlanta endedits four-game slide with a 9-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs inthe third game of a four-game series Saturday.

Entering the matchup, Atlanta was in the midst of a tailspin,dropping six of seven and eight of its last nine here whilebatting just .193 over the last five games. The Braves did nothave a lead in any of its last four contests.

But fortunately for Atlanta, it was facing Marquis.

The 28-year-old righthander, who played his first four seasonswith the Braves from 2000 to 2003, had been nothing short ofdisastrous against his former club, allowing 24 earned runs in15 frames in three starts. Atlanta tattooed Marquis (5-3) for12 runs and 14 hits in five innings in his last start againstthe Braves.

This one was not much different.

Although he was spotted a 4-0 lead, Marquis allowed six runs -two earned - four hits, walked three and struck out one in 1 2/3frames to fall to 0-3 with a 14.33 ERA in four career startsagainst his former club.

"It wasn't my night," Marquis said. "I wasn't making qualitypitches. I was falling behind. I wasn't attacking the strikezone. That made it a little difficult to do what I wanted."

"We score four runs against a good pitcher in the first, andbefore you know it, we're behind by two," Cubs manager LouPiniella said. "Jason was falling behind on hitters. He needs tostart using his changeup a little more."

Jones did the most damage. The 30-year-old slugger, who cameinto the game 7-for-10 with four homers and 13 RBI againstMarquis, smashed a two-run homer 425 feet over the center fieldwall in the first to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Jones also chased Marquis in the second with a run-scoringsingle to left as the Braves grabbed their first lead in 37frames, 5-4.

"We play behind them so many times that we know what kind ofpitchers they are," Jones said of Marquis and Tom Glavine,another former Brave that Atlanta has had a lot of successagainst. "When they make mistakes, we take advantage of them."

A nine-time Gold Glove Award winner, Jones also made aspectacular diving grab on a flyball in shallow right centerfield to end the seventh.

"I didn't even see (Andruw)," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "Iwas looking at (Jeff) Francoeur (in right field). Then I sawhim catch it. I thought he had no chance."

Renteria, who laced an RBI single in the second to snap an0-for-14 slide, smashed a two-run homer over the right fieldwall for an 8-5 edge in the fourth off rookie Sean Gallagher,who was making his major league debut. Renteria collected hisfourth RBI of the night with an RBI double in the sixth.

"I saw the ball a little bit better," Renteria said. "I tried togo to my strength and hit the ball to right field."

Chicago gave the sold-out Turner Field crowd of 51,816 a bit ofa scare in the third.

With runners at first and third, Jacque Jones smashed a grounderoff the left shin of Atlanta starter Tim Hudson, who threwwildly to home plate, allowing Derrek Lee to score to cut theedge to 6-5.

Fortunately for Atlanta, Hudson, who allowed five runs and fivehits in two-plus innings, suffered just a contusion to his leftleg. X-Rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day.

"It feels alright, but I'm pretty sore," Hudson said. "It'sprobably the best one I've ever gotten. It hit me pretty flush.Nothing is broken. If it's not broken, I'll be in there (formy next start). It'll be a little sore, but everybody here issore."

Peter Moylan (2-1) allowed just one walk and hit a batter inthree scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win. Fourother relievers combined with Moylan to hurl seven shutoutinnings.

"I wasn't expecting to be in as early as I was," Moylan said. "Iknew I could to it. (The bullpen was) unbelievable. We alllove the game and we all enjoy each other's company. We allwant each other to do really well. It was great. We reallyenjoyed it."

Mark DeRosa had three hits for the Cubs, who lost for only thesecond time in seven games.