Chicago Cubs 7, St. Louis Cardinals 1: Ramirez, Marshall Give Cubs Crucial Win

Yesterday, for the first time this season, the Cardinals were able to pull off a  ninth inning comeback win as they beat the Cubs, 5-4.

With the series tied at one a piece, could the Cubs pull off a rare series win on the road?

On a different note, the All-Star teams were revealed today. Three Cubs (Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto, Alfonso Soriano) were named to the starting line-up, and three pitchers (Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano) were announced as well. The other spot went to Aramis Ramirez, though he will be a reserve.

With the Midsummer Classic just days away, the Cubs needed a win today. Surprisingly, Fukudome was out of the starting lineup. Another starter resting today was Jim Edmonds, who had gone 0-7 in the series against his former team.

Sean Marshall got the call for today’s game, as well as former Cub Todd Wellemeyer. Marshall took over early, pitching five scoreless innings and only allowing five hits in that period, while striking out four.

Mark DeRosa started the scoring today, knocking in Ramirez for an early 1-0 lead in the second. Then, Ramirez got his turn with an RBI single by knocking in Reed Johnson to make it 2-0.

After a quiet fourth inning, Ramirez once again showed why he’s an All-Star with a sacrifice fly to score Johnson and go up 3-0.

But the Cards would not go down without a fight. Another All-Star, Ryan Ludwick finally got the Cards on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 3-1.

Fukudome would make a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh, hitting for Marshall and getting on base with a single before advancing to second off a Johnson sacrifice bunt.

The All-Star and possible Rookie of the Year gave the Cubs a little insurance when Derrek Lee doubled to right-center to make it a 4-1 game. Ramirez had a chance to once again pad the lead, but he grounded out to Troy Glaus to begin the seventh inning stretch.

The eighth inning saw more action from the All-Stars, as Geovany Soto upped his chances for Rookie of the Year by blasting his 15^th homer of the year off reliever Russ Springer for a 5-1 lead.

Mike Fontenot would double and almost drive in another, but the arm of Rick Ankiel (as much as I hate to admit it, he’s good) killed that dream for Daryle Ward as he was tagged out at home.

Then what should’ve been a simple groundout to Springer turned into an error as he threw the ball past Pujols, allowing Fukudome to reach second and Fontenot to score, making it 6-1.

As if that wasn’t enough for the Central Division leaders, Ramirez batted in his third run of the day with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to increase the lead to six, and the Cards couldn't recover as the Cubs pulled off a much needed win.

Marshall (6 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 4 K) picked up his first win, going to 1-2 on the year, while Wellemeyer (5 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 3 K) dropped to 7-4 on the year.  

With the win, the Cubs retake a 3.5 game lead in the NL Central over the Cardinals, as they return home on Tuesday for a series against the Cincinnati Reds.