As a 38th-round draft pick in 2002, Randy Wells never received the same hype as the Mark Priors of the world.
It took Wells seven years to get to the major leagues, but now he’s making the most of it.
The rookie right-hander earned his fourth straight victory Monday in a 4-2 win over Cincinnati, giving him eight wins in his last nine decisions.
“I don’t want the hype at all,” Wells said. “I could care less if anybody recognizes me or if anyone knew who I was. As long as I can go out there every fifth day and can pitch, that’s enough for me.
“I love being here. I love everything about it — the charter flights, the camaraderie of the team. I can stay under the radar as long as I want to, but the reality of it is it’s not going to happen. You start winning games, and guys are going to start gunning for you.”
Wells (8-4) threw seven shutout innings before being touched for a solo home run by Alex Gonzalez in the eighth and left after 7 1/3 innings and 106 pitches.
The Cubs moved into a virtual tie with St. Louis atop the National League Central, remaining two games ahead in the loss column. The Reds have now lost seven straight and 13 of their last 14, dropping into last place.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Cubs if things didn’t get a little interesting at the end.
“We make a lot of games interesting,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We’re an interesting team.”
Newly acquired left-hander John Grabow escaped an eighth-inning jam with a double-play grounder before Carlos Marmol had his usual touch-and-go outing in the ninth.
After walking the leadoff hitter and giving up a one-out single, Marmol induced pinch-hitter Wladimir Balentien to pop up before Gonzalez doubled home a run in an 11-pitch at-bat.
Piniella stuck with Marmol, who got a grounder to first to end it. In a mound meeting during the inning, Piniella told Marmol to stop getting into three-ball counts.
“Larry [Rothschild] is going to have to work with him a little bit on keeping his elbow up so the ball has more downward bite to it,” Piniella said.
Marmol was just happy with his fourth save and didn’t want to talk about his control issues.
“I don’t care anymore,” he said. “I know they’re going to take a pitch. I’m trying to throw a strike. The good thing is we won.”
Mike Fontenot’s three-run, second-inning homer off Aaron Harang gave Wells an early lead, and Derrek Lee added an RBI double in the eighth, dealing Harang his ninth straight loss.
The Cubs are focused on winning the NL Central, but they’re also right in the thick of the wild card race.
“We know where we’re at,” Piniella said. “If we play well enough, we have plenty of time, and if we don’t play well enough, it’s not going to make any difference who we play.”
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psullivan@tribune.com
Up next Tuesday at Reds, 6:10 p.m., CSN
