Ramirez's three-run homer wins it for Cubs

For decades, a starting pitcher's routine at Wrigley Field has included walking out and seeing which way the flags are blowing.

Jason Marquis couldn't have liked what he saw on a sweltering Friday morning.

"The wind was blowing out during [batting practice]," he said. "And we were having fun watching Carlos [Zambrano] hitting fly balls out of the ballpark."

Not long after, Marquis was in the clubhouse, watching television and surely wondering whether the Giants could hit more home runs than the seven the Reds did the day before.

"A couple of guys came in and said, 'It's like 15 degrees cooler and the wind's blowing in,' " Marquis said. "And everybody thought they were joking."

If there was a joke, it was on Cubs and Giants hitters, whose confidence level took a jolt when the game-time temperature was 72 degrees and the wind was coming off the lake at 12 m.p.h.

And while Marquis pitched seven shutout innings, it was, unbelievably, a home run that gave the Cubs a 3-1 victory over the Giants and kept them from their first back-to-back losses at home since the first two games of the season against Milwaukee.

"I knew it was out because I hit it on the line," Aramis Ramirez said after his eighth-inning, three-run homer broke a scoreless tie. "If you hit a fly ball, I don't think it goes out."

Ramirez had a tough day before hitting the first pitch from reliever Tyler Walker right past the left-field foul pole. In the first inning, Matt Cain hit him just above the left elbow with a fastball and in the sixth Cain walked him intentionally.

"[Cain's pitch] was close to my head—that's what makes you nervous," Ramirez said. "Any time you get hit with a baseball, it's not fun. But I'm OK."

Ramirez got the chance to play hero because Derrek Lee was walked intentionally to put runners on first and second base after Ryan Theriot led off with a single and Mike Fontenot sacrificed him to second.

"D-Lee is hitting .300, he's one of the best hitters the last five years ... I would have walked him too," Ramirez said. "In that situation, you don't want to get beat by one of the best hitters. You walk him and take your chance with the next guy."

Manager Lou Piniella certainly didn't mind.

"Ramirez is the guy you feel comfortable with in that situation," he said. "Ramirez is a professional hitter, he gives you a good, professional at-bat."

Marquis lowered his earned run average from 4.78 to 4.44 with his second strong outing against the hitting-challenged Giants.

Bob Howry (3-2) picked up the victory with a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood nailed down his 13th straight save at Wrigley, although he left the tying runs at second and third base.

The Giants' ninth was only the second time in 36 innings they have had more than one hit in an inning. But after giving up a double, walk and single for one run, Wood struck out Aaron Rowand, retired John Bowker on a fly ball and ended the game on a Rich Aurilia groundout.

"Wood made that a little exciting, but it's in the win column," Piniella said.

The victory gave the Cubs a 22-4 record with the wind blowing in, even when weather history says it isn't supposed to.

"I said [Wrigley Field] is like the British Open at times," Piniella said. "I'm learning the little idiosyncrasies of this ballpark."

dvandyck@tribune.com

Related topic galleries: Jason Marquis, Wrigley Field, Carlos Zambrano, Mike Fontenot, Chicago Cubs, Major League Baseball, Bob Howry

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