Come to Think of It...Cubs Finally Close the Deal vs Bucs

First it was Jason Bay. No home runs, no RBIs on the season. Facing Cubs closer Kerry Wood in the bottom of the ninth and the Pirates trailing by a run, Bay hit the game tying homer to send the game into extras.

Then it was Adam LaRoche. Again, no home runs, no RBIs on the season. Facing Cubs reliever Kevin Hart in the bottom of the 14th inning, LaRoche hit a game tying two-run homer to stave off an almost certain Cubs win.

And just like that, the two teams headed off to play a 15th inning.  

It was such a shame to waste a dramatic home run by Aramis Ramirez against his former team in the top half of the 14th, temporarily giving the Cubs a 4-2 lead.

And such a waste of otherwise mostly solid pitching by the rest of the Cubs staff.

Starter Ryan Dempster was terrific. He allowed only one hit in seven innings of work Wednesday night in PNC Park.

And while Marmol allowed a run in his inning of work, Howry and Wuertz combined for three innings of one hit relief work.

Yet Wood and Hart were the story up to the 14th inning. They both had chances to close out the game and couldn't do it. For Wood, it was his first ever blown save. For Hart, well, he just doesn't look as good as he did late last season.

But then what do you know? Felix Pie, hitting .158, drives in two runs with a single, giving Kevin Hart, who actually scored one of those runs, a chance at redemption.

But Hart, who batted for himself in the top half of the 15th inning, was taken out of the game and not given a chance to redeem himself. Instead, Lou trotted out lefty Sean Marshall to try and protect the two run lead.

And you know what? Marshall did what Wood and Hart weren't able to do. He closed the deal.

Not without some stomach churning moments, as the Pirates put a man on second in the bottom of the 15th, but he did finally stop the bleeding.

It helps they were playing the Pirates.

And it helps that they found someone who could snuff out a rally. Come to think of it, make that four wins a row for the Cubbies!