The Cubs blew a five-run lead for the second straight game Thursday night in Atlanta, but bounced off the mat once again.
Lance Johnson’s sacrifice fly off Kevin McGlinchey gave the Cubs a 6-5 victory in 12 innings in a wild game at Turner Field.
McGlinchey’s throwing error on a Curtis Goodwin bunt put runners on second and third with no one out, setting the stage for Johnson. The Cubs have won four straight and six of their last seven.
Dan Serafini posted his first Cubs victory with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief after Scott Sanders blew a lead in the ninth.
Protecting a 5-4 lead with one out, Sanders served up a game-tying home run to Gerald Williams to send the game into extra innings. The beleaguered Cubs bullpen has recorded 10 blown saves–five since May 7.
The Cubs offense struck quickly as Sammy Sosa and Mark Grace poked back-to-back homers off Greg Maddux in the first. Sosa’s 13th home run gave him nine in 15 games and 70 over his last 148 games.
Henry Rodriguez’s two-run single in the third made it 5-0, but the Cubs managed only one single from the fifth through the 11th innings.
The lead dwindled to two in the sixth when pitching coach Marty DeMerritt gave new meaning to the term “in your face,” screaming at Steve Trachsel during a mound visit after Brian Jordan’s two-run double. Trachsel promptly served up an RBI double to Ryan Klesko and was yanked with a 5-4 lead.
The Cubs had Maddux on the ropes, but let him rope-a-dope his way out of it. Despite settling down and lasting seven innings, Maddux’s earned-run average rose to 5.02. Over the last seven years–six with Atlanta and one with the Cubs–Maddux won four Cy Young Awards and four ERA titles, with a combined ERA of 2.15.
