MLB roundup: Cubs rally, keep it rolling
Ramirez hit a grand slam in the eighth inning Thursday night as the surging Chicago Cubs rallied for five runs to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 for their sixth straight win.
"What a great come-from-behind win. Just a great win. I mean, exciting," Piniella said. "This place really got loud. ... I don't know if it was the loudest I've heard it, but let me tell you what, it was loud."
Wrigley Field wasn't rocking so much through the first seven innings. Philadelphia lefty Cole Hamels was cooling off the Cubs, allowing just a run and five hits.
But the Phillies' bullpen, which failed to hold an eighth-inning lead Wednesday night in a tough loss to the Mets, faltered again and a 4-1 lead evaporated.
The surging Cubs moved to 34 games over .500. Ramirez sent the roaring 40,362 fans into a tizzy when he drove reliever Chad Durbin's pitch into the center field bleachers to complete the comeback.
"I mean I've been able to do that since I was in the minor leagues," Ramirez said. "I've always been able to drive in runs, it's something I'm proud of and I like to be in that situation late in the game."
Reliever Ryan Madson gave up three straight hits to start the bottom of the eighth. Pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot homered leading off to make it 4-2, Alfonso Soriano doubled and moved to third on Ryan Theriot's single.
Durbin (5-3) relieved and walked Derrek Lee to load the bases with no outs. Ramirez then hit a 1-0 pitch deep into the seats — Philadelphia center fielder Shane Victorino hardly moved as the ball left the bat — to give the Cubs the lead with his 24th homer.
"(Fontenot) hit a homer and all of a sudden it's a two-run game and we got the top of our lineup coming. Soriano got on base and Theriot got on base. ... We got a good team," Ramirez said.
With the loss, the Phillies dropped a full game behind the idle Mets in the NL East. The Cubs lead Milwaukee by 6 1/2 in the NL Central.
"We shouldn't be going through this. This is our time to hold these leads and it's our job. We're not getting it done right now," Madson said.
Durbin was just as disappointed.
"Yeah, to think about how well Cole threw the ball and how well our guys put at-bats up against Dempster, it's a tough one," he said.
Cubs starter Ryan Dempster, who'd pitched out of trouble all game, gave up a leadoff double to Jayson Werth in the sixth, walked Pedro Feliz and then surrendered a go-ahead RBI single to No. 8 hitter Carlos Ruiz. Hamels sacrificed, Jimmy Rollins hit a sacrifice fly and Chase Utley followed with an RBI single, his third hit of the game, to put the Phils up 4-1.
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