GAME THREAD: NL: CINCINNATI (52-67) at CHICAGO CUBS (60-59)

DeRosa's five hits enable Cubs to rout Reds

<h3>CHICAGO CUBS 12, CINCINNATI 4</h3>CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Mark DeRosa had a career-high five hits andtwo RBI and Aramis Ramirez had four hits and drove in two moreas the Chicago Cubs benefited from a seven-run seventh to cruiseto a 12-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursdayafternoon.


Ryan Theriot had three hits and two RBI for the Cubs (61-59),who amassed a season-high 20 hits and now are one-half gamebehind the Milwaukee Brewers (62-59) for first place in theNational League Central Division.


The Brewers were shut out, 8-0, by the St. Louis Cardinals onThursday.


Leading, 5-4, in the seventh, Chicago rallied for seven runs ina wild seventh inning. The Cubs totaled seven hits, includingDeRosa's fifth of the day to make it 11-4. Ramirez capped thescoring with an RBI double.


DeRosa also snapped a 4-4 tie in the fourth, scoring Theriot,who had blasted a one-out double.


Jason Marquis (10-7) threw six effective innings, allowing fourruns and seven hits, while striking out two and walking four.Scott Eyre, rookie Carmen Pignatiello and Ryan Dempster eachtossed a scoreless frame to finish out the game.


Pignatiello was making his major league debut.


The Cubs got on the board with four runs in the first inning.The uprising started with a leadoff walk to Theriot, setting upDeRosa's RBI double to plate Theriot.


Derrek Lee's fly ball moved DeRosa to third and Ramirez belted adouble to score DeRosa. Jake Fox added another run-scoringdouble to make it 3-0.


After Matt Murton's fly out, Jacque Jones ripped his club'sfourth double of the inning to plate Fox and cap the scoring inthe frame.


The Reds tied the game with four runs of their own in thesecond. Adam Dunn led off the inning with his 32nd blast of theseason.


Scott Hatteberg followed with a walk and Edwin Encarnacionsmacked a one-out double to put runners at second and third.Marquis then issued a walk to Cincinnati starter BobbyLivingston (3-3) to load the bases.


Josh Hamilton was hit by a pitch to score a run, and JeffKeppinger reached on an infield single to make it 4-3. KenGriffey, Jr. then ripped a single to tie the game.

Livingston yielded five runs and 11 hits five innings whilestriking out three and walking one for the Reds, who won thefirst two games of the series before dropping Thursday'scontest.

 

DeRosa's five hits enable Cubs to rout Reds

<h3>CHICAGO CUBS 12, CINCINNATI 4</h3>CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Mark DeRosa had a career-high five hits andtwo RBI and Aramis Ramirez had four hits and drove in two runsas the Chicago Cubs benefited from a seven-run seventh inning tocruise to a 12-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursdayafternoon.


Ryan Theriot had three hits and two RBI for the Cubs (61-59),who amassed a season-high 20 hits and now are one-half gamebehind the Milwaukee Brewers (62-59) for first place in theNational League Central Division.


The Brewers were shut out, 8-0, by the St. Louis Cardinals onThursday.


Leading, 5-4, in the seventh, Chicago rallied for seven runs ina wild inning. The Cubs totaled seven hits, including DeRosa'sfifth of the day, to make it 11-4. Ramirez capped the scoringwith an RBI double.


"It's unbelievable. I have done a lot of good things and a lotof bad things," DeRosa said. "Obviously, this comes at a goodtime. I was scoreboard-watching and saw St. Louis beat up onMilwaukee. We swung the bats well."


DeRosa also snapped a 4-4 tie in the fourth by plating Theriot,who had blasted a one-out double.


Jason Marquis (10-7) threw six effective innings, allowing fourruns and seven hits while striking out two and walking four.Scott Eyre, rookie Carmen Pignatiello and Ryan Dempster eachtossed a scoreless frame to finish out the game.


"It's obviously always nice when all cylinders are clicking,"Marquis said. "Our offense picked me up today. Our defensesaved me more runs."


Pignatiello was making his major league debut.


"I couldn't feel my knees," said Pignatiello, who is aChicago-area native. "It doesn't get any better than that -pitching in your hometown, at Wrigley Field, for the team yougrew up rooting for."


The Cubs got on the board with four runs in the first inning.The uprising started with a leadoff walk to Theriot, who scoredon DeRosa's double.


"I was able to work the count when I had to today," Theriotsaid. "I also was aggressive on the first pitch when I felt itwas necessary. When you get 20 hits, everybody is doingsomething right."


Derrek Lee's fly ball moved DeRosa to third and Ramirez beltedan RBI double. Jake Fox added another run-scoring two-base hitto make it 3-0.


After Matt Murton's flyout, Jacque Jones ripped his club'sfourth double of the inning to plate Fox and cap the scoring inthe frame.


"Every game is big now for us," said Jones, who left the game inthe eighth with a sprained left ankle. "The division isgetting bunched up. We just have to keep taking care of our ownbusiness."


The Reds tied the game with four runs of their own in thesecond. Adam Dunn led off the inning with his 32nd blast of theseason.


"We got to Marquis early, we just didn't get to him often," Dunnsaid. "It seemed like after the second inning, Jason made hisball sink a little more. He became harder to hit."

Scott Hatteberg followed with a walk and Edwin Encarnacionsmacked a one-out double to put runners at second and third.Marquis then issued a walk to Cincinnati starter BobbyLivingston (3-3) to load the bases.


Josh Hamilton was hit by a pitch to score a run, and JeffKeppinger reached on an infield single to make it 4-3. KenGriffey Jr. then ripped a single to tie the game.


Livingston yielded five runs and 11 hits in five innings whilestriking out three and walking one for the Reds, who won thefirst two games of the series before dropping Thursday'scontest.


"Livingston didn't look good early, but he battled back," Redsmanager Pete Mackanin said. "I am happy with winning two out ofthree in the series. It's too bad we lost this one today, butwe won the series. It is good to get out of here with that."