![]() Diamondbacks base runner Chris Burke is picked off first base to end the top of the sixth inning at Wrigley Field as Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee makes the tag.
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Another pinch hit by Ward helps Cubs ward off defeatthe associated press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.12.2008
CHICAGO — Daryle Ward was so sure he would play in the majors that he practiced his signature as a kid. He may get a few autograph requests after his latest big hit.
Ward delivered a pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied again to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 Sunday after the anticipated showdown between Carlos Zambrano and Randy Johnson got wiped out.
"I love the game of baseball," Ward said. "It's something I knew that I was going to do when I was about 3 years old."
Carlos Marmol (1-0) struck out two in a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save in 10 chances and finish off Chicago's three-game sweep of the NL West leaders.
Heavy rain and temperatures in the mid-40s delayed the start of the game by 58 minutes, and Zambrano and Johnson were spectators when it finally began. By the time the game ended, the Cubs had used another late rally to beat Arizona, the team that swept them in the playoffs last year.
Reed Johnson tied it at 4 with a two-run homer off Juan Cruz with one out in the seventh after Mike Fontenot walked. Cruz then walked Ryan Theriot before Tony Pena (0-1) got Derrek Lee to hit into a double play,
But the Cubs struck again in the eighth. Pena intentionally walked pinch hitter Alfonso Soriano to load the bases with one out and set the stage for Ward, who drove the ball to right-center to make it 6-4.
"Well, I'm not going to let Soriano beat us right there," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "We've got to have a chance for a double-play ball and we've got (Ward) hitting (.174) up there. That's really not that tough of a decision."
Ward also tied it in the seventh with a pinch-hit RBI single in Chicago's 7-2 victory over Arizona on Saturday.
Arizona's Edgar Gonzalez was in line to get the win until Johnson went deep.
Recently booted from the rotation, Gonzalez allowed two runs and five hits before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth. One of those hits was a solo homer by Lee that gave Chicago a 2-1 lead in the third.
Randy Johnson will start Tuesday night aganst the Rockies at Chase Field.
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