Kawakami pitches Braves past Cubs 4-1
July 9, 2009
CHICAGO (AP)—Kenshin Kawakami(notes) wasn’t completely satisfied with one of his bestmajor league outings.
His old teammate had something to do with that.
The 34-year-old rookie allowed only four hits over six innings Wednesday inhelping the Atlanta Braves to a 4-1 victory over Chicago.
It was just the second time this season Kawakami (5-6) gave up one run orfewer while pitching at least six innings. The run came on a sixth-inning homerby Kosuke Fukudome(notes), whom he played with for nine years with the Chunichi Dragonsof Japan’s Central League.
“He might have taken half of my happiness today,” a laughing Kawakamisaid.
The other half of Kawakami’s happiness was preserved by shortstop YunelEscobar(notes), whose spectacular diving grab of a line drive off Fukudome’s bat keptAtlanta ahead 2-1 in the eighth.
Series at a Glance Atlanta 2 Chi Cubs 4 Mon, Jul 6 – Final Atlanta 2 Chi Cubs 1 Tue, Jul 7 – Final Atlanta 4 Chi Cubs 1 Wed, Jul 8 – Final
“His range is as good as it gets and his arm is awesome,” Braves catcherBrian McCann(notes) said of Escobar, who made several outstanding plays in thethree-game series. “That play he made today saved the game maybe.”
The Cubs then gave away two runs in the ninth—one on center fielderFukudome’s first error of the year and another on Kevin Gregg’s(notes) wild pitch—asfans booed the home team.
It was all part of another frustrating day for the Cubs, whose offensivewoes left manager Lou Piniella searching for words.
“Frustrating? Look … what else can I say?” he said. “There’s nothingelse to say, there really isn’t. You’ve just got to swing the bats better ifwe’re going to do anything the rest of the year, and that’s really the bottomline.
“I said it before the ballgame. I get asked the same questions every day—every day, you know? I think what you need to do is go ask the players whythey’re not hitting instead of asking me,” Piniella added. “They can probablygive you much better insight.”
Chicago Cubs' Milton Bradl… AP – Jul 8, 6:29 pm EDT
Not really. The players also were wondering why a team that led the NL inruns last season is ranked 15th this year.
“The fact of the matter is we just didn’t hit,” said Ryan Theriot(notes), who hadtwo of Chicago’s six hits. “That’s baseball. I just think that’s the way it is.You’re not going to score a ton of runs every game.”
Piniella would settle for something similar to the first 35 games, when theCubs averaged 5.06 runs while going 21-14. Since then, the average has dipped to3.43 runs and their record has slumped to 20-27. They have been held to one runor fewer 15 times during the 47-game slide.
Asked if he believed the offense would come alive, Theriot said: “Yeah, Ithink so. I hope so. I don’t think you’ve seen our best for sure. I hope wedo.”
Several teammates echoed those sentiments and chose to give credit toKawakami, who left after six innings with minor shoulder soreness.
“I don’t think it was something bad because he was throwing the ball sowell,” manager Bobby Cox said. “It’s something he was battling a little bit.But there weren’t many balls squared up on him.”
Chicago Cubs pitcher Angel Guz… AP – Jul 8, 5:26 pm EDT
Casey Kotchman(notes) homered and Martin Prado(notes) had an RBI single for the Braves,who won a road series for the first time in nearly two months. After going 0-6against the Cubs in 2008, Atlanta won this season’s series 4-2.
Peter Moylan(notes), Mike Gonzalez(notes) and Rafael Soriano(notes) each worked a scorelessinning of relief. Soriano earned his 10th save.
Kevin Hart(notes) (0-1) was the latest Cubs starter done in by the team’s offensiveshortcomings. Making his first big league start as a fill-in for injured RyanDempster(notes), Hart allowed only one run on four hits over five innings.
NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 42 minutes by rain. Gametimetemperature was a cool 63 degrees. … During batting practice, Cubs C GeovanySoto(notes) sustained a mild left oblique strain. He was scratched from the lineup andis day to day. … Braves 3B Chipper Jones(notes) sat out a second straight game with agroin strain. He is day to day. … Kawakami entered the game with a 5.65 roadERA. … Cubs RHP Carlos Zambrano(notes), Tuesday’s losing pitcher, was in the pressbox more than three hours before Wednesday’s game singing “Take Me Out to theBall Game” to an empty Wrigley Field.
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