With the final ruling on Michael Barrett's 10-game suspension finally handed down, the Cubs were forced to lean heavily on someone else. That someone else was Henry Blanco. He shouldered more than his share of the load, as he went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and four RBIs.

"Boy, I'll tell you, it pays to have a guy like Henry," manager Dusty Baker said. "You knew he could hit a lot better than he was hitting. He came through in the clutch for us tonight a number of times."

Blanco's big blow came in the fourth inning with the score tied at 3. The Cubs had jumped out to a 3-0 lead, thanks to a home run from Jacque Jones and an RBI triple from Juan Pierre. But the Indians tied the game in the third with homers from Eduardo Perez and Travis Hafner.

With two outs and two on in the top of the fourth, Indians starter Jason Johnson hung a curveball to Blanco. "Hank White," as he is affectionately known in the Wrigley Field bleachers, didn't miss the pitch, depositing it into the left-center-field stands.

"That was a big three-run homer, especially after they had scored three to get back in the ballgame," Baker said.

Blanco's homer gave the Cubs a 6-3 lead, and they never looked back.

"I saw the pitch [well], and I got a good pitch to hit," said Blanco, whose hit .352 with two homers against the Tribe in 54 career at-bats.

Blanco has been seeing the ball well for close to a week now. He's hit in seven straight games, tying a career high. During the streak, Blanco has hit .542 (13-for-24) with three home runs and 11 RBIs.

"I consider myself not a bad hitter," he said. "Hopefully I can keep showing them that and try to help the team win some games."

The Cubs needed Blanco's bat on Monday, because starter Sean Marshall struggled to gain a rhythm and consistency with his pitches. Marshall picked up the win, but in five innings, he allowed four runs and surrendered three home runs.

When the rains came before the top of the sixth, Marshall had thrown more than 90 pitches. He didn't come back out after the rain delay.

"Marshall wasn't quite as sharp as he'd like," Baker said. "But he's had some games when he's been real sharp and had nothing to show for it. Tonight was one of those makeup victories for him, and we needed badly to get off this losing streak."

After the rains ceased and the field was sufficiently dry, the Cubs picked up where they left off. In the sixth, they scored two runs on Pierre's single. Chicago's center fielder finished the night 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

But even with an 8-4 lead, the Cubs kept pecking away at the Tribe bullpen. Phil Nevin hit a two-run homer in the seventh, the 200th of his career.

And in the eighth, the Cubs used RBI hits from Blanco and Todd Walker to score two more runs and extend their lead to 12-4.

Ryan Dempster came on to pitch the ninth and struggled, though by that point the game was safely in hand. Dempster yielded four runs and four hits in the inning, but he induced a game-ending groundout from Franklin Gutierrez.

Dempster's performance was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect night for the Cubs bullpen.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.