The biggest difference in the Cubs of 2003 and last year’s model can probably be traced to one significant statistic.
When the Cubs held on to beat Baltimore 7-6 Wednesday night in a rain-delayed game at Camden Yards, they improved to 12-4 in one-run decisions after starting 0-3 in that category.
Last year the Cubs were 18-36 in one-run games, the worst record in the National League.
“We’ve learned how to win close games,” said starter Matt Clement, who won his second straight start. “We didn’t have Sammy [Sosa] here. Obviously in a perfect world we’d like to have him here. But we just go about our business and keep working hard.”
Earlier in the day, Major League Baseball reduced Sosa’s suspension for corking his bat from eight games to seven. Sosa was forced to leave the ballpark shortly after taking batting practice, and he watched the game from his hotel. The Cubs are 11-7 without Sosa in the lineup, including four wins in their last five Sosa-free games.
Clement (4-6) had his second straight sharp outing following a five-game losing streak, allowing two runs on four hits in six innings for his 50th career win. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild helped Clement change his arm slot recently and told him to be more aggressive attacking hitters.
“It wasn’t any drastic mechanical change,” Clement said. “I think I was trying to weed out some stuff because there was a lot of stuff going through my mind. When you struggle, there’s always going to be opinions flying around. Everyone is going to have a quick fix for you.
“For me, trusting Larry works. He knows what’s best for me.” The only two runs against Clement came on Jay Gibbons’ two-run double in the sixth on a ball that rookie left fielder David Kelton misjudged. Kelton recently moved to the outfield from third base at Triple-A Iowa and was making his first major-league start. He conceded afterward that he should’ve been charged with an error.
“It’s tough,” Kelton said. “I knew I could’ve made the play. But it happens, and I just have to keep going out there and working on it.”
But Kelton also had his first major-league hit in the fourth, adding his first RBI in the sixth and his first double in the eighth.
“I’m sure he felt badly about that ball out there,” manager Dusty Baker said. “But it’s part of the learning process.”
The Cubs built a 6-0 lead for Clement and looked like they were on cruise control until a late bullpen collapse. But Joe Borowski closed the door in the eighth, then waited out a 1-hour-44-minute delay to close it again in the ninth.
Pitching in a driving rainstorm in the eighth, Borowski struck out Geronimo Gil with the tying run on third, ending a four-run inning off Kyle Farnsworth, Antonio Alfonseca and Mark Guthrie that sliced the Cubs’ lead from 7-2 to 7-6. Borowski pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.
“That was awesome,” Baker said. “After [the delay] he said he felt fine. We were a bit apprehensive, but he proved he was fine.”
