Daryle Ward was so sure he would play in the majors that he practiced his signature as a kid. He might get a few autograph requests after yesterday.
Ward delivered a pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied again to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 at Wrigley Field after the anticipated showdown between Carlos Zambrano and Randy Johnson got wiped out.
“I love the game of baseball,” Ward said. “It's something I knew that I was going to do when I was about 3 years old.”
Winner Carlos Marmol struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save and finish Chicago's three-game sweep of the NL West leader.
Heavy rain and temperatures in the mid-40s delayed the start of the game by 58 minutes, and Zambrano and Johnson were spectators when it finally began.
Reed Johnson tied the score at 4 with a two-run homer off Arizona's Juan Cruz with one out in the seventh. In the eighth, Tony Peña intentionally walked pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano to load the bases with one out and set the stage for Ward, who drove the ball to right-center to make it 6-4.
“Well, I'm not going to let Soriano beat us right there,” Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. “We've got to have a chance for a double-play ball and we've got (Ward) hitting (.174) up there. That's not that tough a decision.”
ASTROS 8, DODGERS 5: Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the seventh for the Dodgers in L.A. before Houston broke out for seven hits and six runs in the eighth inning to win. Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence had RBI singles against reliever Jonathan Broxton, and Brad Ausmus added a two-run single against the right-hander as the Astros won for the eighth time in nine games. Houston completed its first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since Sept. 25-27, 1992. Michael Bourn capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, giving Houston a 7-3 lead.
GIANTS 4, PHILLIES 3: Steve Holm hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh for his first major league homer, and the Giants held on against the visiting Phillies in the rubber game of the series. Holm homered in his first at-bat on the first pitch he saw from J.C. Romero after replacing Bengie Molina in the top of the seventh.
