Soto belts decisive blast in wild win
Three-run shot in seventh breaks tie with rallying Sox
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
06/26/09 6:45 PM ET
CHICAGO -- Telling the truth may have been the best thing for Geovany Soto.
Soto, who revealed he tested positive for marijuana in the World Baseball Classic, smashed a three-run homer with one out in the seventh Friday to power the Cubs to a 5-4 Interleague victory over their intracity rivals, the White Sox.
The White Sox gave their fans in the sellout crowd of 39,015 a thrill in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out as Carlos Marmol walked two batters and Jermaine Dye blooped a single to left that dropped between three players. Jim Thome then lined a two-run double off Derrek Lee at first to close to 5-4, and Paul Konerko was intentionally walked to load the bases again. But Sean Marshall got A.J. Pierzynski to hit into a 3-2-3 double play.
Back to Soto. Cubs manager Lou Piniella did not know about the incident until a few days ago, and said he felt keeping the secret was affecting the catcher's performance. Soto won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2008, but has not performed as well this season. Soto has known about the test results since early April.
Jake Fox had three hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth, his second in as many games, to back Randy Wells (2-3). The rookie pitcher struck out six over seven innings and gave up two runs on five hits over seven innings.
Wells did serve up Dye's 17th homer with two outs in the first, but the Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Lee singled with one out, and one out later, Fox connected. Thome poked an opposite-field homer with one out in the White Sox fourth to tie the game at 2.
Fox singled with one out in the seventh off Jose Contreras (2-7) for his third hit of the game, and Mike Fontenot reached on a fielding error by Konerko at first to set up Soto's seventh homer and go ahead, 5-2.
Piniella has another matter to deal with. He and outfielder Milton Bradley apparently exchanged words in the dugout after Bradley threw his helmet and a cup after flying out in the sixth. Bradley was pulled from the game and replaced defensively in the bottom of the inning by Ryan Freel in right.
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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