First baseman Derrek Lee's third home run in the last three gameswas the decisive blow in the Cubs' 3-2 comeback victory Saturdayagainst the St. Louis Cardinals, but he wasn't taking credit for theresult.
"Michael Barrett was the hero today," Lee said of Barrett's pinch-hit, two-run home run against
reliever Josh Hancock in the seventh inning that tied the score 2-2. "He picked us up."
That was especially true for Lee, who was charged with an errorwhen he let pitcher Carlos Zambrano's pickoff throw get away in thesixth. It allowed the Cardinals' Jim Edmonds to reach third base, andhe scored when shortstop Ronny Cedeno made an errant throw to firston Scott Rolen's grounder. When Rolen later scored, Zambrano was in a2-0 hole despite not allowing an earned run.
"I felt horrible about missing the ball," Lee said. "Z threw itright at my chest. When Z was pitching such a great game, you don'twant to make a mistake."
Especially because reigning Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenterwas dealing just as efficiently. Carpenter allowed four hits andstruck out nine in six scoreless innings.
"What can you do? I threw to the best first baseman in the bigleagues," said a forgiving Zambrano, who allowed four hits and fourwalks and struck out five in six innings. "You let it go and face thenext guy and don't worry about it. You won't see D-Lee missing manyplays like that."
Lee's homer against losing pitcher Brad Thompson (1-1) leading offthe eighth set things right for the crowd of 40,182 at Wrigley Field.Reliever Bob Howry earned his first victory with the Cubs, and closerRyan Dempster worked the ninth for his first save.
"It was a great comeback victory after we gave them those tworuns," manager Dusty Baker said. "Z pitched outstanding. Our bullpendid a great job, and Bobby Howry got his first win as a Cub."
Even the negatives weren't devastating. Cedeno committed twoerrors, but the first wasn't costly.
"I'm trying to make the plays," Cedeno said of his two throwingmiscues. "It was hard to grip the ball, but it's part of the game.I'm happy now because we came back and won."
Zambrano felt a twinge in his groin in the sixth, but he brushedit off afterward.
"I'm OK," he said. "With some treatment, it'll be OK. Even thoughI don't have a decision [in two starts], I still have 32 more. Andthe good thing is we got the win."
No one was more jubilant about the outcome than Barrett, whoadmitted still feeling "high" about the Cubs' 5-1 victory in theirhome opener Friday.
"Even though it was, like, 10 below zero Friday, I can't tell youwhat it's like to play for the Cubs and play in Wrigley Field andthis rivalry to open the season," he said.
Barrett's homer was his first of the season and the second pinchhomer of his career. With Henry Blanco getting his first start of theseason behind the plate, Barrett was watching the action inside theclubhouse and taking a cue from new teammate John Mabry.
"I was in the clubhouse trying to get loose, and I'm watchingMabry go about his business," Barrett said. "He's an experiencedbench guy, and I noticed the things he was doing. I'm trying to pickup and learn from experienced guys. I want to be the kind of playerwho's ready to go no matter what. I hope when Dusty needs me everyday, I'll be ready. Seeing Mabry helped me get ready.
"I was glad Carpenter was out of the game. I was watching him inthe clubhouse. He was hitting both sides of the plate.When he's doingthat and keeping hitters off-balance and then throwing that bigcurveball, that's what made both Carlos and Carpenter tough today.
"Those two have had some of the best games I've ever seen head-to-head. I was excited about the rematch and glad we pulled it out."
tginnetti@suntimes.com
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