Cubs' Wood blows two-run lead in 9th to Cardinals

ST. LOUIS - When Cubs closer Kerry Wood entered in the ninth inning Saturday at Busch Stadium with a two-run lead over St. Louis, it seemed safe to say the game was history.

Wood had become automatic lately, converting his last 12 save opportunities, including Friday night's victory with fireworks going off behind him.

But Wood walked the first two men he faced and allowed three runs to hand the Cardinals a shocking 5-4 triumph to even the series at a game apiece.

Rick Ankiel's bases-loaded, two-out single on an 0-1 pitch brought home the tying and winning runs, igniting a raucous celebration in the Cubs' house of horrors.

"I got ahead with a breaking ball and tried to throw the next one a little bit lower and ended up hanging it," Wood said. "He put a good swing on it."

So instead of taking a 41/2-game lead over the Cardinals in the National League Central, the Cubs let St. Louis creep to within 21/2 games, with the rubber match Sunday.

"He almost worked himself out of it," manager Lou Piniella said. "You walk the first two hitters of an inning, you get yourself in trouble right from the get-go."

The Cubs had taken a 4-2 lead in the eighth on Aramis Ramirez's two-run homer off Ryan Franklin, but they were denied a third run in the inning when right fielder Ryan Ludwick threw out Jim Edmonds, who tried to score after tagging up on Mark DeRosa's deep fly.

That play turned out to be crucial when Wood ran into trouble by walking Ludwick and Yadier Molina. Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee then had to play in a little, thinking Adam Kennedy was going to bunt. Instead, Kennedy lashed the first pitch down the right-field line for an RBI double that pulled the Cardinals to within a run at 4-3.

After Piniella ordered an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Chris Duncan, Skip Schumaker grounded into a force play at the plate and Aaron Miles popped up to short for the second out. Just when it looked as if Wood might play Houdini again, Ankiel's two-run single over second ended the day.

Wood (4-2) had shown great control most of the year, so Saturday's performance was something few could have seen coming.

"We were one pitch away from getting out of it," Wood said. "Seems to always be the case when you're in the role."

Ted Lilly pitched five shutout innings before the Cardinals tied the game 2-2 in the sixth on an Ankiel home run and Ludwick's run-scoring double on an 0-2 pitch. Piniella removed Lilly after the inning, and Neal Cotts and Carlos Marmol pitched well in relief for an inning apiece before Wood's implosion.

"Tough loss," Piniella said.

But not as tough to some as it was to Piniella or Wood.

"They're all tough, obviously," Edmonds said. "Good game. We just came up short. ... It's not the end of the world. We just have to come back [Sunday] and win the series."

psullivan@tribune.com

Related topic galleries: Major League Baseball, Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs, Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol, Ted Lilly

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