Pujols, Cardinals come up short

Sunday, August 20, 2006 Pujols nearly had his fifth career grand slam. ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO — Juan Pierre used all of Wrigley Field to stop Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday. Phil Nevin hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning, and Pierre's leaping catch in the ivy on Pujols' ball in the ninth gave the Chicago Cubs a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Jacque Jones led off the 10th inning with a double off Cardinals reliever Jason Isringhausen (4-6). Jones moved to third on Angel Pagan's bunt single. Then with bases loaded and one out, Nevin hit a shot over the head of draw-in left fielder Scott Spiezio to end the game. Trailing 4-3, the Cardinals tied the game in the ninth as Ryan Dempster blew his sixth save of the season. He walked pinch-hitter Jim Edmonds to lead off the inning, and then on the next pitch Ronnie Belliard hit an RBI-double to left-center, scoring Edmonds from first, who just beat the tag at the plate. Dempster then loaded the bases with one out by walking pinch-hitter Timo Perez and Aaron Miles. Facing Pujols Cubs reliever Will Ohman struck out pinch-hitter Juan Encarnacion. Then Michael Wuertz (1-0) came into face Pujols. Pujols hit a fly ball that Pierre snagged in center with a leaping catch in the ivy to end the inning. "I knew where I was at, I finally got back on it in time. I just didn't know with the basket, if it was going to hit the basket or not. So you have to go up there thinking it's not going to hit it to make the catch. I think this year I have two or three that hit just right off my glove like that, so it felt good to bring one down," Pierre said. Pujols just nearly missed his fifth career grand slam. "I told Wuertz, 'You knew how much park to work with, didn't you'. We had a couple of inches left, I think," Nevin said. Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano backed up an impressive eight-scoreless-inning outing against Houston on Monday by allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked two. "He's not going to give in just because we got to him early. He was being real aggressive with guys," said Chris Duncan. But Duncan ruined Zambrano's chance of becoming the first 14-game winner in the National League with a solo home run leading off the eighth off Cubs reliever Bob Howry that tied the game 3-3. It was Duncan's 13th of the season. Nevin blooped a pinch-hit RBI-single off Jorge Sosa in the eighth inning to put the Cubs ahead 4-3. Yadier Molina and Duncan homered for the Cardinals. ST. LOUISCHICAGO abrhbiabrhbi Miles ss4120Pierre cf5020 Duncan rf4121NPerez ss5120 JEcrcn ph1000Murton lf5011 Isrnghs p0000ARmrz 3b4110 Pujols 1b4001JJones rf5220 Rolen 3b5010Mabry 1b4010 Spiezio lf5010Theriot pr0100 PrWlsn cf2000Dmpstr p0000 JoSosa p0000Ohman p0000 Edmnd cf1110Wuertz p0000 Blliard 2b5011Pagan ph1010 YMolna c3111HBlnco c3000 Suppan p2000Cedeno 2b4021 TJhnsn p0000CZmro p3000 Tguchi cf0000Howry p0000 TiPerez rf0000Nevin 1b2022 Totals36494Totals415144 St. Louis1100000110—4 Chicago0002100101—5 One out when winning run scored. E—YMolina (4). DP—Chicago 1. LOB—St. Louis 9, Chicago 12. 2B—Rolen (38), Belliard (3), Murton (15), JJones (25). HR—Duncan (13), YMolina (5). SB—Pierre (43). S—YMolina, HBlanco. SF—Pujols. IPHRERBBSO St. Louis Suppan4 1-383313 TJohnson2-300001 JoSosa331112 Isrnghs L,4-61 1-331111 Chicago CZambrano762226 Howry111101 Dempster1-311130 Ohman1-300001 Wuertz W,1-01 1-310002 WP—Suppan 2. Umpires—Home, Jeff Nelson; First, Rob Drake; Second, Derryl Cousins; Third, Ed Hickox. T—3:35. A—40,864. Diamondbacks 5, Padres 3 SAN DIEGO — Claudio Vargas combined with three relievers on a five-hitter and helped himself with a two-run double to lead the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks popped back above .500 and regained sole possession of second place in the moribund NL West. The Diamondbacks and Padres entered the day tied for second in the division and a game behind Cincinnati in the NL wild-card race. The defending division champion Padres lost for the ninth time in 12 games. The inconsistent Padres, who beat the Diamondbacks 8-2 on Friday night, managed only three hits and one run off Vargas (10-8) in seven innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked two in his third straight strong start. ARIZONASAN DIEGO abrhbiabrhbi Byrnes cf3001DRbrts lf4000 Tracy 3b5010Cmeron cf2110 Julio p0000BGiles rf4000 Pena p0000AGnzlz 1b4010 LGnzlz lf4010Bard c3100 CJcksn 1b3110TWalkr 3b2110 Lyon p0000Blum ss3012 Easley 3b0000Brfield 2b2000 ShGren rf4010Brocail p0000 OHudsn 2b4210Bowen ph1000 Drew ss4121Adkins p0000 CSnydr c2100Piazza ph0001 CVrgas p3012Jhnson pr0000 Quentin rf0000Thmps p1000 Bllhorn 3b3010 Totals32584Totals29353 Arizona000022001—5 San Diego000010002—3 DP—Arizona 1, San Diego 2. LOB—Arizona 6, San Diego 6. 2B—OHudson (26), Drew (10), CVargas (3), Bellhorn (10). 3B—TWalker (2). CS—Cameron (5). S—CSnyder. SF—Byrnes, Blum. IPHRERBBSO Arizona CVargas W,10-8731125 Lyon110000 Julio2-302231 Pena S,1 1-310011 San Diego Thompson L,3-45 2-364432 Brocail2 1-310000 Adkins111100 HBP—by Adkins (Quentin). WP—Brocail. Umpires—Home, Alfonso Marquez; First, Tom Hallion; Second, Mike Everitt; Third, Larry Young. T—2:56. A—34,250. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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