Good news for the Cubs -- a rain-shortened win is still a win. They broke their eight-game losing skid with a five-inning win over the Pirates which was cut short by the thunderstorms that rolled through Chicago on Tuesday night. The win was not just refreshing for the team, but individual players who had been struggling.
Sean Marshall walked away from the game with a win. His last outing was a loss to St. Louis last Thursday, helping the archrival Cardinals to a sweep of the Cubs. In the win over the Pirates, he gave up just four hits in five innings, striking out six. It was a banner outing for the Cubs pitcher, and pushed him to a .500 record.
The Cubs' hitters were also helped out by the team's first win in more than a week. Mike Fontenot, who started to pull out of a slump in San Diego, hit full steam in the win. He went 2-3, driving in a run. Micah Hoffpauir has recently filled in for Derrek Lee at first base, but has failed to follow in D-Lee's footsteps at the plate. In the past six games, he has just had two hits. He matched that total on Tuesday night, going 2-3.
One win will not make up for the eight days of losses, or the hole the Cubs have dug for themselves in the Central Divison. But in those five innings of baseball, the Cubs shook quite a few monkeys off their back, and that is nothing but good news for the North Siders.
Maggie Hendricks is a lifelong Chicagoan who has loved sports since she fell in love with Jody Davis at age three. She also writes for Cagewriter, Yahoo! Sports' MMA blog, and Fourth-Place Medal, Yahoo! Sports' Olympic blog.
