ESPN MLB

Cubs 4, Giants 2

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Cliff Floyd is finding himself in the middle of a lot of winning rallies, and keeping the Chicago Cubs in the thick of a pennant race.

Floyd led off the 10th inning with a double, and after he was replaced by pinch runner Felix Pie, Jason Kendall drove in the go-ahead run in the Cubs' 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.

Floyd had been away from the Cubs for nine days dealing with the death of his father, before returning Tuesday night to hit the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth inning of a 5-1 win over the Giants.

"Floyd got us going," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose club opened up a one-game lead on the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. "When you're playing aggressive, good things can happen. It was a good win for us."

Barry Bonds drove in Randy Winn with his 600th career double, and his 1,990th RBI got Bonds within five of tying Lou Gehrig for fourth on the career list.

Bonds finished 1-for-2 and was intentionally walked twice to bring his career total to 684.

Carlos Marmol (3-1) pitched two innings for the win. Ryan Dempster got the final three outs for his 20th save in 22 chances.

Cubs starter Rich Hill went seven innings, retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. He gave up two runs and six hits, with one walk and 10 strikeouts. He's walked more than two in a game just five times in 25 starts.

"I made a few bad pitches but it wasn't for lack of concentration," Hill said. "It was a matter of making better pitches."

Hill, who hasn't won on the road since June 7 at Atlanta, has a 1.96 ERA in his last four starts against the Giants.

Giants starter Barry Zito lasted eight innings, allowing two runs and five hits. He struck out four and did not walk a batter for just the second time this year. Zito is 0-2 in his last six home starts, since beating the Houston Astros on May 23.

"I'm not in the business of talking about frustration or negative things," Zito said. "You just have to keep working and anticipate positive results."

The Giants jumped out to an early lead. With two outs, Winn doubled and Bonds was walked before Bengie Molina hit an RBI single. Bonds' RBI double in the third made it 2-0.

Zito retired the first 10 batters he faced, but the Cubs rallied to tie the game in the fourth. Mark DeRosa and Derrek Lee singled ahead of Aramis Ramirez's two-run double, giving him 35 RBIs in his last 39 games.

The game remained even until Floyd doubled off Pat Misch (0-3). Pie raced to third on a wild pitch and Mike Fontenot walked, before Kendall hit a sharp grounder toward second that kicked off Rich Aurilia's foot and into shallow center, allowing Pie to score.

"I got the barrel of the bat on it," said Kendall, who admitted he was looking for a sacrifice fly. "I tried to elevate it and didn't. Fortunately enough we got a good kick."

Pinch hitter Henry Blanco squeezed home Fontenot for another run, as Chicago won its first extra-inning game since May 6. The Cubs had been scoreless in their last 12 extra innings.

"This is a team which plays like it's never over," Kendall said. "It's good to be a part of."

Game notes

The Giants activated C Eliezer Alfonzo from the DL and optioned him to Triple-A Fresno. ... Bonds became the 14th player to reach 600 doubles, three shy of Cal Ripken, Jr. for 13th. ... Giants LHP Steve Kline turned 35 on Wednesday. ... The Cubs have won 14 of the 19 series in which they have scored first. ... Zito improved his average to .104 (5-for-48) with his seventh-inning single. ... Hill recorded at least 10 strikeouts in a game for the fifth time in his career. ... The attendance of 39,548 ended the Giants string of 20 straight sellouts.