Cubs defeat Padres 7-6

The Cubs defeated the Padres 7-6 thanks to Jim Edmonds and Carlos Zambrano who provided plenty of offense for the Cubs. Jim Edmonds went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.

His first double came in the fourth inning which scored Kosuke Fukudome, his second double came in the seventh and once again drove in Fukudome to put the Cubs up 7-3.

Carlos Zambrano was a bit wild on the mound but was brilliant at the plate as he went 3-for-3 with a triple, a double and one RBI. His triple came in the fourth which drove in Jim Edmonds.

Zambrano on the mound pitched five innings allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out two and walking four. He did however still pick up the win and improved his record to 8-1.

Kerry Wood came on in the middle of the ninth after Carlos Marmol gave up a three-run home run to Adrian Gonzalez putting the Padres within one run at 7-6. Wood was able to get the final two outs to pick up his 15th save of the season.

As for the Padres they got on the board early in the first inning when Adrian Gonzalez singled in Jody Gerut and Kevin Kouzmanoff tripled driving in both Gonzalez and Brian Giles to give the Padres an early 3-0 lead. They would not score again until the ninth inning when Gonzalez blasted the three-run home run to put the Padres within one run.

Starter Cha Seung Baek took the loss as he pitched four-and-one-thinrd innings allowing four earned runs on nine hits while striking out two and walking one.

With the Win the Cubs extended their winning streak to eight games and now sit at 37-21 three-and-a-half games up on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Tonight in the second game of the series the Cubs will send Jason Marquis who is 2-3 with 4.98 ERA to mound as Wilfredo Ledezma who is 0-2 with a 4.25 ERA will go for the Padres. Game time is set for 9:05 p.m. CT.