Reds 7, Cubs 5: Defensive Lapses and Wildness Do In Cubs

For an inning or two Saturday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs could smell their fifth straight win, which would have tied their season high. Instead, the Cincinnati Reds beat them 7-5 after a two-run rally in the top of the ninth against Cubs closer Carlos Marmol. The Cubs fell behind early, when three Cubs' errors gave Cincinnati a pair of unearned second-inning runs. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Ryan Theriot each made miscues during the nightmare inning, and neither of the two runs allowed in that frame by starter Randy Wells were earned. Wells struggled, allowing three more runs in the Cincinnati third. Lee misplayed a ground ball into an RBI single in that inning, too, but Wells hurt his own cause by walking in a run with the bases loaded. The star rookie right-hander threw 89 pitches in just 3 2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. The Cubs began chipping away in the bottom of the sixth, however, when Ramirez drove in Ryan Theriot on a single to right-center fi...