Bullpen comes through as Cubs win suspended game

Cubs 8, Pirates 6

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Chicago Cubs pulled off one of their best comeback victories of the season, even if they had to wait nearly 16 hours to celebrate it.

Alfonso Soriano hit his first homer for the Cubs and Cliff Floyd had a go-ahead, two-run shot during a four-run rally in the seventh inning on Tuesday night, and Chicago completed the suspended-game victory by finishing off the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-6 on Wednesday.

After a delay of 2 hours, 18 minutes, the game was suspended Tuesday with the Pirates about to bat in the seventh. After the game resumed, relievers Bob Howry, Will Ohman and Ryan Dempster gave up one run in three relief innings and Jacque Jones doubled and scored an insurance run with some heads-up baserunning in the eighth. Rocky Cherry (1-1) got two outs in the sixth for the win.

As Matt Murton beat the throw on a two-out single to third baseman Jose Bautista, Jones kept running and scored before first baseman Adam LaRoche realized Jones had not stopped at third.

Derrek Lee had four hits, including two doubles and a run-scoring single in the ninth off John Wasdin. Dempster got the final four outs for his fifth save in as many opportunities despite allowing Chris Duffy's RBI double in the ninth.

Earlier -- in this case, more than half a day earlier -- Jones, Soriano and Floyd all homered as the Cubs won their fourth in fifth games. The Pirates dropped their third in four games.

While the game lasted longer than the required five innings to be official, it was suspended because the Pirates had not yet batted in the seventh. Baseball's suspension rules were changed during the offseason to pick up play at the point where a game was stopped, rather than going back to the last completed inning -- in this case, the sixth, with the Pirates up 5-2.

Soriano, who signed a $136 million contract with Chicago as a free agent in the offseason, was coming off what he called the worst month of his career. But he needed only one at-bat in May to equal his RBI total in April -- one -- when he homered over the center-field wall on Tony Armas' third pitch.

Soriano and Murton each doubled in the seventh to drive in a run ahead of Floyd's 451-foot drive that bounced into the Allegheny River behind the right-field seats for his second homer of the season. The homer was more impressive because Floyd took his at-bat with a steady rain falling.

The Cubs withstood a rough outing from Ted Lilly, who gave up three runs in the first while allowing only one ball out of the infield. Lilly also wound up on his backside twice while fielding bunts.

Tony Armas began the game with an 11.57 ERA to Lilly's 2.18, but limited the Cubs to two runs in six innings, solo homers by Soriano on his third pitch of the game and Jones in the second. Armas left with a 5-2 lead, but the usually reliable Pirates bullpen couldn't hold it in the seventh.

Murton had a pinch-hit double off John Grabow, and Soriano doubled off loser Jonah Bayliss (2-2), who gave up extra-base hits to three consecutive batters. Bayliss did not allow any of his 10 inherited runners to score in April.

Ronny Paulino singled and scored on Jack Wilson's sacrifice fly in the Pirates' second and hit a solo homer in the fourth.

Notes:
The Pirates hadn't had a game suspended since June 16, 1986, in St. Louis. The Cubs' last suspended game was April 5, 1997. ... Lee, 12-for-32 with four homers against Armas, doubled and singled against the right-hander. Lee is one of only seven players in the last 50 years to double in seven consecutive games. ... Floyd's homer was the 21st, by 16 players, to reach the Allegheny River since PNC Park opened in 2001. All but one homer bounced into the river. ... Lee has a 10-game hitting streak (20-for-45, .444).