Thursday, September 20, 2001
Cubs hang in wild-card race, knock on Wood
The Associated Press
With their closer out and their season slipping away, the Chicago Cubs sure needed a pick-me-up. Kerry Wood provided it.
Wood gave up only two hits in seven innings, an indication he's over his shoulder problems, and Rondell White and Michael Tucker each drove in four runs Wednesday night in a 10-0 victory over the Reds.
“For the team, this is very encouraging,” Wood said. “We should be able to do this day-in, day-out. It's no secret that if we want to make the playoffs, we've got to win a lot of these games.”
The Cubs won for only the second time in eight games, a slump that has deeply dented their playoff chances. They're third in line for the NL wild card, trailing St. Louis by 2 1/2 games.
With closer Tom Gordon temporarily sidelined by a sore elbow, the Cubs needed just what Wood gave them. The right-hander allowed only two singles, walked one and struck out nine in his second start since returning from shoulder tendinitis.
Wood (11-6) came off the disabled list on Sept. 7 and went six-plus innings in a 3-2 loss to Atlanta. He was much better this time, throwing 88 pitches — 64 for strikes — while allowing only one runner to reach second base.
“I have him down for three more starts,” manager Don Baylor said. “If he can give us that nice, fluid Kerry Wood approach like tonight ...”
If he can do that, the third-place Cubs will have a much better chance of catching up. A more consistent offense would help as well.
White homered, singled and had a run-scoring groundout as the Cubs got rolling against starter Joey Hamilton (0-1). Matt Stairs also homered, and Tucker had two run-scoring triples against the team that traded him in July.
“That's not one of those things that you have control over,” Tucker said. “When you play against the team that traded you, you just try to do what you normally do.”
When the Cubs gave up two minor league pitchers for Tucker on July 20, they were looking to solidify their hold on first place in the NL Central — 4 1/2 games at the time. Instead, they went into a nose dive on Aug. 1, dropping to third in the division.
Cubs Notes: C Joe Girardi flew home to Peoria, Ill., to be with his father, who is having heart surgery. ... Reliever Felix Heredia was released from a hospital and returned to Chicago. Heredia had an emergency appendectomy and was placed on the 15-day DL on Tuesday.
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Cubs hang in wild-card race, knock on Wood
