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In the opener of a four-game series between the NL’s top two teams, the Cubs prevailed in a back-and-forth contest to improve to 32-26 at Miller Park since it opened in 2001.
With the game tied at 4, Brewers closer Salomon Torres (5-3) struck out Kosuke Fukudome, but ran into trouble by walking Soriano and pinch hitter Mike Fontenot.
Lee then flared a double to right, scoring Soriano. After an intentional walk to Aramis Ramirez and a strike out of Geovany Soto, Mark DeRosa’s infield single scored Fontenot to make it 6-4.
The Brewers had tied the game at 4-4 with a solo homer by pinch hitter Russell Branyan with two outs in the seventh off Bob Howry. They couldn’t mount another comeback in the ninth against reliever Carlos Marmol, who picked up his fifth save after working around a two-out walk. Soriano made a jumping catch near the wall on Gabe Kapler’s fly ball to deep left to end the game.
Reliever Chad Gaudin (2-1) earned the win with a scoreless eighth.
The Cubs took an early lead off reigning AL Cy Young winner CC Sabathia, the Brewers’ prized acquisition picked up in a trade with Cleveland before the All-Star break.
Soriano doubled, stole a base and then scored on Lee’s single in the first. The Cubs made it 2-0 when Soriano homered in the third, his 17th of the season and second in two days.
The Brewers used the long ball to tie the game in the seventh. Down 2-0, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun hit back-to-back homers off Cubs starter Ted Lilly. Milwaukee took the lead moments later when Prince Fielder singled and scored on Corey Hart’s double.
Lilly had retired 13 of his previous 14 batters before the home runs.
The Cubs answered right back in the seventh off Sabathia. Ronny Cedeno and Fukudome led off the seventh with singles after Fukudome’s grounder deflected off second baseman Rickie Weeks’ glove. Soriano struck out during a double steal, but Sabathia walked Reed Johnson to load the bases with one out.
Sabathia forced Lee to ground weakly to Hardy, the shortstop, for a potential double play. But Johnson’s hard slide took out Weeks at second and his errant throw allowed Cedeno and Fukudome to score to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead.
That chased Sabathia from a game, but Branyan’s homer off Howry took Sabathia off the hook for the loss, setting the stage for the frantic finish as the Brewers try to mimic what the Cubs did to them last season.
Chicago overcame an 8½-game deficit last June to win the division by two games over Milwaukee, and this year Chicago’s biggest lead has been 8½ games on June 16 only to have the Brewers catch the Cubs in the division Saturday before losing Sunday to fall a game back.
With the four-game series, both teams get to showcase their best pitchers, continuing Tuesday when NL All-Star starter Ben Sheets (10-3, 2.87 ERA) squares off against Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano (11-4, 2.96).
