No stranger to drama, A.J. Pierzynski found himself at the center of it again. This time, he didn’t mind.

Pierzynski led off the 10th inning with his second homer of the game and the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 6-5 Wednesday night for their seventh straight win.

“Ozzie was yelling at me to not try to be a hero and hit a single,” Pierzynski said. “When I hit it, I was like, its got a chance. But I didn’t know it was going to make it.”

It did, giving the White Sox a three-game sweep and their second 10-inning win in as many nights.

Pierzynski always seems to find himself at the center of the action for the White Sox, from reaching base on a controversial dropped third strike against the Los Angeles Angels in the 2005 playoffs to fighting with former Cubs catcher Michael Barrett in 2006.

This type of attention he’ll take.

Masa Kobayashi (4-4) pitched a perfect ninth before Pierzynski drove the first pitch of the 10th out to left-center for his seventh homer. Teammates mobbed Pierzynski as he crossed the plate.

Adam Russell (2-0) worked the 10th for his second win in as many nights and the second of his career.

C.C. Sabathia allowed five runs and seven hits in eight innings for Cleveland. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner struck out five and walked two.

The last-place Indians have lost five straight and are 12 1/2 games back of the White Sox in the AL Central. They could look to deal Sabathia if they continue to lag behind in the division, with the big left-hander eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

“I’m just worrying about day to day pitching,” Sabathia said. “I get the ball and that’s it.”

Grady Sizemore hit two solo homers for Cleveland, tying it at 5 with a drive off Scott Linebrink in the ninth.

“I made a bad pitch tonight and he got it,” Linebrink said. “You can’t make mistakes to him. You certainly don’t want to put him on the bases to lead off an inning in a close ballgame like that because you put him on the bases, the next thing you know he’s on second in scoring position. You want to be aggressive and go after him. It was a changeup up in the zone and he hit it. I’ve got to make a better pitch right there.”

Pierzynski and Jermaine Dye went deep in the first inning and Nick Swisher singled in a run in the second to give Chicago a 3-2 lead.

Sizemore walked and scored on Jamey Carroll’s triple in the fifth and connected in the sixth to put the Indians ahead, but Sabathia ran into trouble in the seventh.

Pablo Ozuna led off the inning with a grounder to third baseman Casey Blake, whose wild throw allowed Ozuna to reach second. Alexei Ramirez lined a one-out infield single off Blake’s glove and Brian Anderson followed with a two-run double to left-center.

Nick Masset was in line for his first win after pitching a scoreless seventh, but with closer Bobby Jenks getting the night off because of soreness in his left side, the White Sox turned to Linebrink in the ninth. He blew his second save in as many chances when Sizemore connected.

“I thought we did a good job of taking the momentum back our way,” Sizemore said. “Obviously it was still a tie game but I thought we had the momentum. I was confident we were going to win.”

Mark DeRosa and Ted Lilly got the Chicago Cubs back on track—DeRosa with two fine swings and Lilly with another impressive outing.

DeRosa hit a grand slam and also a two-run homer to match his career high with six RBIs, Lilly pitched eight shutout innings and the Cubs ended a four-game skid with a 9-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.

“It felt good to contribute,” DeRosa said. “Hitting the grand slam, I felt kind of put the game away. We needed this win, no doubt. We’ve had our share of adversity.”

DeRosa hit his third career grand slam and produced his second multihomer game, which he also did on Aug. 9, 2006, at Oakland while with Texas. His power stroke helped Lilly (9-5) win his fourth straight decision.

Lilly was on the cusp of his fifth career complete game and third shutout, his first since he blanked Boston in a 3-0 win on Aug. 23, 2004, for Toronto.

DeRosa’s two-run homer came in the fifth off Barry Zito (3-12), then he connected for the grand slam in the eighth against Billy Sadler to give him 10 home runs, matching his 2007 total. All five of his June homers were hit in California. DeRosa had five total RBIs over his previous 17 games.

“Lilly gave us a big game on the mound and DeRosa gave us a big game with the bat,” manager Lou Piniella said. “It was a good win for us.”

Lilly struck out for the fifth time to start the ninth and the Cubs fans still jumped to their feet to give him a warm ovation, despite him becoming the first pitcher to do so since Clay Hensley in 2006.

“That was pretty funny. It would have been more fun to hit a little bloop single somewhere,” Lilly said. “I felt like I tried every different swing and every different stance.”

The fans cheered again when Piniella lifted Lilly for Kerry Wood in the ninth following consecutive singles. Wood allowed Rich Aurilia’s two-run double.

Lilly had been campaigning for Piniella to use him as a pinch-hitter. But probably not now.

“I wouldn’t blame him, especially after what he saw tonight,” Lilly said. “I don’t think that I put much fear in any of those pitchers. I guess once the scouting report gets out, I’m done now.”

Matt Murton hit a two-run double and Kosuke Fukudome also drove in a run for the Cubs, who were swept by the Chicago White Sox over the weekend to end interleague play and had dropped eight of 12 coming into this four-game series.

Lilly outpitched Zito in a matchup of a pair of lefties and former A’s teammates, with Zito becoming the major league leader for losses and falling to 0-8 at home in the Giants’ waterfront ballpark—where a large contingent of Cubs fans were in attendance.

Zito had to throw an extra 16 pitches after an error by third baseman Jose Castillo in the second, allowing Fukudome’s RBI single for the Cubs’ initial run.

“He had some bad luck out there,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had a tough error at a bad time.”

Zito, trying to win back-to-back starts for the first time all year, has a 5.99 overall ERA and 7.33 at home. Zito walked five in five innings to up his season total to 22. That’s after he didn’t walk a batter in his last outing for the first time in 2008. But he also had a season-best six strikeouts.

The $126 million pitcher also became the franchise leader for losses before the All-Star break.

“It’s real frustrating. There’s no excuse,” Zito said. “My stuff was crisp and that’s a good sign. I’m encouraged even if I didn’t get the result I wanted. We ran into Lilly tonight, who pitched great. I feel more like myself as far as my stuff goes. That makes this one even harder. I was ready to turn it around.”

Lilly has 17 career wins in June, matching his winningest months of May and September. He’s 9-2 over his last 14 starts after starting the year 0-3.

“He started off slow,” Piniella said. “I mentioned a month or six weeks ago his stuff was getting better. His velocity, and he worked on his curveball. You could see he was going to get on a little bit of a roll and he has.”

Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez is away from the team for three days to attend to a personal family matter, Piniella said. DeRosa is playing in his place.

“No one’s going to replace him,” DeRosa said. “He’s one of the best hitters in the game.”

A trip across town made all the difference for the White Sox.

Swept by the Cubs a week ago at Wrigley Field, they were the ones doing the sweeping in their home park on the South Side of town.

They finished off the three-victory run at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday night, beating the Cubs 5-1 with homers from Carlos Quentin, Brian Anderson and Jim Thome backing solid pitching from Mark Buehrle.

“It’s going to be a different Monday in Chicago,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I bet White Sox fans can’t wait to get up for work because I know that was tough for them last weekend. It’s nice to see the fans with a smile on their face.”

Being home turned out to be the biggest factor in the six frenetic games between two first-place teams.

“It’s kind of crazy baseball,” Guillen said.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella wasn’t around for most of his team’s eighth loss in 12 games. He was ejected for the first time this season after arguing an appeal call on a checked swing in the second inning.

And Piniella wasn’t available for comment after the game.

“It was one of those things I think Lou was frustrated,” said bench coach Alan Trammell who filled in for Piniella in the dugout and at the postgame news conference.

The Cubs have their first four-game losing streak of the season and are 16-23 on the road with six more at San Francisco and St. Louis coming up.

“I can’t figure out why that is. We got to correct it if we want to go far,” the Cubs’ Mark DeRosa said. “We’ve got to win on the road, got to be able to go into other people’s backyards and get `Ws.’ We haven’t been able to do it.”

Illustrating the Cubs’ road woes was Aramis Ramirez. He homered four times against the White Sox last weekend but went 0-for-13 at U.S. Cellular the last three games.

Thome’s 15th homer, a two-run blast in the eighth off reliever Jose Ascanio, was his 522nd, moving him past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey into sole possession of 16th place all-time.

The Cubs threatened in the ninth after a walk, and a double by DeRosa. But Jim Edmonds lined to White Sox first baseman Nick Swisher who threw to second to double off DeRosa and douse the threat. Daryle Ward then grounded out to end the game.

The White Sox swept three from the Cubs for only the second time—the first came at Wrigley Field in 1999, two years after interleague play began.

This season the two rivals met as first-place teams for the first time in interleague play and are still atop their respective divisions. The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central was sliced to 2 1/2 games with the loss and the White Sox are 1 1/2 ahead in the AL Central.

Buehrle (6-6) won his fourth straight decision, allowing six hits and an unearned run in seven innings in a matchup of lefties with the Cubs’ Sean Marshall (0-2). Marshall gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings, two of them homers.

“I’m done with this series. I’m kind of glad it’s over,” Buehrle said. “It’s so stressful playing these guys and everything that comes with it. I can’t wait for tomorrow to come in here … kind of relax and get back to normal.”

Quentin, who hit the go-ahead homer Saturday in the White Sox’s 6-5 win, connected for his 19th leading off the fourth to make it 1-0.

Anderson’s fourth homer was a two-run shot in the fifth that just carried over the fence in left center and gave Buehrle a three-run cushion.

The Cubs broke through in the seventh after DeRosa’s ground ball went through third baseman Joe Crede’s legs for an error. After Edmonds singled and Henry Blanco filed out, Ronny Cedeno delivered a two-out RBI single before Buehrle struck out Kosuke Fukudome with two on.

Piniella was ejected after protesting an appeal call from first base umpire Chad Fairchild. When Crede had a check swing at a potential third strike, an appeal was made to Fairchild, who ruled no swing and a ball.

That brought Piniella out of the dugout yelling in Fairchild’s direction. Home plate umpire Rob Drake ejected Piniella, who then began arguing with Drake.

Crew chief Jeff Kellogg came down from third to try to settle the situation. Piniella, known throughout his career for tantrums against umpires, left the field but not before waving at Fairchild and making another angry comment in his direction.

“He (Piniella) stood up for us. I guess the replay showed that he swung and from my angle it looked like he did,” said Marshall, who escaped the inning without a run scoring.

Trammell gave Fairchild an earful in the fifth. The White Sox turned an-around-the horn double play when Fairchild called Cedeno out, even though Swisher dropped the ball after the play. A replay appeared to show that Cedeno beat the throw.

A trip across town made all the difference for the White Sox.

Swept by the Cubs a week ago at Wrigley Field, they were the ones doing the sweeping in their home park on the South Side of town.

They finished off the three-victory run at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday night, beating the Cubs 5-1 with homers from Carlos Quentin, Brian Anderson and Jim Thome backing solid pitching from Mark Buehrle.

“It’s going to be a different Monday in Chicago,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I bet White Sox fans can’t wait to get up for work because I know that was tough for them last weekend. It’s nice to see the fans with a smile on their face.”

Being home turned out to be the biggest factor in the six frenetic games between two first-place teams.

“It’s kind of crazy baseball,” Guillen said.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella wasn’t around for most of his team’s eighth loss in 12 games. He was ejected for the first time this season after arguing an appeal call on a checked swing in the second inning.

And Piniella wasn’t available for comment after the game.

“It was one of those things I think Lou was frustrated,” said bench coach Alan Trammell who filled in for Piniella in the dugout and at the postgame news conference.

The Cubs have their first four-game losing streak of the season and are 16-23 on the road with six more at San Francisco and St. Louis coming up.

“I can’t figure out why that is. We got to correct it if we want to go far,” the Cubs’ Mark DeRosa said. “We’ve got to win on the road, got to be able to go into other people’s backyards and get `Ws.’ We haven’t been able to do it.”

Illustrating the Cubs’ road woes was Aramis Ramirez. He homered four times against the White Sox last weekend but went 0-for-13 at U.S. Cellular the last three games.

Thome’s 15th homer, a two-run blast in the eighth off reliever Jose Ascanio, was his 522nd, moving him past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey into sole possession of 16th place all-time.

The Cubs threatened in the ninth after a walk, and a double by DeRosa. But Jim Edmonds lined to White Sox first baseman Nick Swisher who threw to second to double off DeRosa and douse the threat. Daryle Ward then grounded out to end the game.

The White Sox swept three from the Cubs for only the second time—the first came at Wrigley Field in 1999, two years after interleague play began.

This season the two rivals met as first-place teams for the first time in interleague play and are still atop their respective divisions. The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central was sliced to 2 1/2 games with the loss and the White Sox are 1 1/2 ahead in the AL Central.

Buehrle (6-6) won his fourth straight decision, allowing six hits and an unearned run in seven innings in a matchup of lefties with the Cubs’ Sean Marshall (0-2). Marshall gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings, two of them homers.

“I’m done with this series. I’m kind of glad it’s over,” Buehrle said. “It’s so stressful playing these guys and everything that comes with it. I can’t wait for tomorrow to come in here … kind of relax and get back to normal.”

Quentin, who hit the go-ahead homer Saturday in the White Sox’s 6-5 win, connected for his 19th leading off the fourth to make it 1-0.

Anderson’s fourth homer was a two-run shot in the fifth that just carried over the fence in left center and gave Buehrle a three-run cushion.

The Cubs broke through in the seventh after DeRosa’s ground ball went through third baseman Joe Crede’s legs for an error. After Edmonds singled and Henry Blanco filed out, Ronny Cedeno delivered a two-out RBI single before Buehrle struck out Kosuke Fukudome with two on.

Piniella was ejected after protesting an appeal call from first base umpire Chad Fairchild. When Crede had a check swing at a potential third strike, an appeal was made to Fairchild, who ruled no swing and a ball.

That brought Piniella out of the dugout yelling in Fairchild’s direction. Home plate umpire Rob Drake ejected Piniella, who then began arguing with Drake.

Crew chief Jeff Kellogg came down from third to try to settle the situation. Piniella, known throughout his career for tantrums against umpires, left the field but not before waving at Fairchild and making another angry comment in his direction.

“He (Piniella) stood up for us. I guess the replay showed that he swung and from my angle it looked like he did,” said Marshall, who escaped the inning without a run scoring.

Trammell gave Fairchild an earful in the fifth. The White Sox turned an-around-the horn double play when Fairchild called Cedeno out, even though Swisher dropped the ball after the play. A replay appeared to show that Cedeno beat the throw.

Brian Roberts might have been playing a lot of games at Wrigley Field instead of making a stop with the Baltimore Orioles’ on their first visit to the historic ballpark.

Rampant offseason trade rumors had him on the verge of joining the Chicago Cubs—and whether they were on target or not—he showed Tuesday night why he attracted so much interest.

Roberts had three hits to reach 1,000 for his career, closer George Sherrill struck out the side after the Cubs loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and the Orioles ended Chicago’s 14-game home-field winning streak with a 7-5 victory.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” Roberts said. “The fans love their baseball. … What we dealt with for four months you think about it a little bit. It’s just a fun night to be part of.”

The Orioles led 7-1 before it got tense over the last few innings, especially the ninth.

Chicago loaded the bases off Sherrill on Geovany Soto’s single, a walk to Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot’s infield single before the left-hander found his strikeout pitch and got his 26th save in 29 chances.

He struck out Ronny Cedeno, Kosuke Fukudome and Henry Blanco to end the game.

“It makes it a little more stressful, but I don’t get nervous out there,” Sherrill said. “I get nervous when it’s someone else, not me.”

Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team lost at home for the first time since May 17, wasn’t happy with his team’s final three at-bats.

“It was a good comeback. We got too far behind. … We didn’t have three good at-bats with the bases loaded. We didn’t swing at strikes,” Piniella said.

“We got to put the ball in play and we couldn’t,” Blanco said. “You do the best you can. This guy has 26 saves in the big leagues and you knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

Roberts had two singles and his sixth triple of the season, giving him 1,000 hits.

“I didn’t really think about it. But if it is a big hit, it makes it a little more significant,” Roberts said. “It didn’t seem like it at the time, but later in the game it turned out to be.”

Roberts, for sure, heard the trade rumors. He couldn’t help but do so during the offseason.

“I thought I was going to be a Cub in December,” Roberts said before the game. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. … Once the season started you just kinda go out and play your spot and the rest will take care of itself. I really haven’t thought about in a long time.”

Jeremy Guthrie (4-7) allowed only four hits and a run over the first six innings as the Orioles took a 7-1 lead.

But he was driven out in the seventh when Jim Edmonds hit a three-run homer after singles by Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, slicing the lead to 7-4. After a walk, reliever Jim Johnson got DeRosa to hit into Chicago’s fourth double play of the night to douse the rally.

Ramirez hit an RBI single in the eighth and the Cubs still had two on before Sherrill relieved and got pinch-hitter Matt Murton to fly out.

Cubs’ starter Sean Marshall (0-1)—just recalled from Triple-A—lasted only 4 2-3 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs. The Orioles went up by six with three unearned runs in the sixth off reliever Michael Wuertz.

Luke Scott hit a two-run triple, a liner that got by right fielder Kosuke Fukudome in the fourth. It followed a walk and single by Ramon Hernandez.

Fukudome hit his sixth homer leading off the fourth to make it 2-1.

Roberts singled in the fifth and scored on Nick Markakis’ RBI double. Markakis moved up on a fly ball and scored on Kevin Millar’s RBI single that finished Marshall and made it 4-1.

Scott was initially credited with a double in the sixth when he hit a high pop that shortstop Theriot signaled was his. But when left fielder Eric Patterson called him off late, Theriot got out of his way and the ball dropped. The official scorer changed the ruling to an error on Patterson and one out later, Alex Cintron hit an RBI double.

He scored when Roberts drove one into the gap in right center for a triple. Markakis then delivered an RBI single.

Ozzie Guillen took his shots, and now, his hitters are taking theirs.

Nick Swisher and Alexei Ramirez homered, and Joe Crede had another big day at the plate as the Chicago White Sox routed the Minnesota Twins again, 12-2 on Sunday for their sixth straight win.

The latest outburst came exactly one week after Guillen lashed out at his struggling hitters. Since then?

Fifty-four runs during this streak. They’ve scored 10 or more in three consecutive games for the first time since July 15-17, 2000, against St. Louis and Milwaukee. The 15 hits Sunday gave Chicago at least 15 in three straight games for the first time since July 23-24, 1932, against Cleveland.

The most important number, though, is this: zero. That’s how many losses the White Sox have since Guillen’s tirade in Tampa Bay, and their lead over second-place Minnesota in the AL Central is now 5 1/2 games.

“You want to pull your own weight, individually or as a unit,” Chicago’s Paul Konerko said. “You don’t have to score 10 runs every game. We should be able to score four to six runs a night on average to give these guys a chance to win. … We’ve got to have some easy games, and the offense has to pull their weight on that.”

The hitters did just that, and Guillen was in a much better mood than he was a week earlier.

“I said in spring training I think this team can be special,” he said. “I don’t know how far we’re going to get, but this team has a chance to be special.”

After winning the first two games of this four-game series 10-6 and 11-2, the White Sox quickly jumped on the Twins, who dropped their fourth straight and matched their longest losing streak since Sept. 12-16.

Swisher’s three-run homer off Kevin Slowey (2-6) in the second made it 3-1 and Chicago broke it open with five more in the third, with Paul Konerko’s two-run double highlighting that rally. Ramirez added a two-run shot in the fifth, giving Chicago 16 homers in this streak.

“Another day of not being able to get through the first part of the ballgame,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Slowey, I think he tried everything. Good pitches, bad pitches, they seemed to be hitting just about everything we threw up there.”

That was more than enough for Gavin Floyd (7-3), who struck out a career-high nine and walked one while allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings.

He had plenty of support from an offense that roughed up Slowey for eight runs in three innings—after the start was delayed 89 minutes by rain.

“They hit just about everything—whether it was a good pitch, medium pitch or a very poor pitch,” Slowey said. “It’s tough. I’m sure some of the older guys will tell you and they’ve said it to us young pitchers, that you’ll go through stretches and it’s sometimes inexplicable.”

Swisher, whose average has hovered around .200, has a seven-game hitting streak. He pumped his fist after rounding first on the homer and had more to celebrate in the fifth when he added an RBI double.

Crede, meanwhile, continued his surge.

He is 10-for-15 with 12 RBIs in his last four games after going 2-for-4 and driving in two runs on Sunday. After hitting homers in three straight games for the first time in his career, including two each on Friday and Saturday, Crede doubled and singled and scored twice.

One week earlier, Guillen unleashed a tirade that seemed to be aimed at general manager Kenny Williams and hitting coach Greg Walker after watching his team go 5-for-39 with runners in scoring position while dropping three of four at Tampa Bay. Guillen called for roster changes while saying his job and Walker’s could be in jeopardy

Paul Konerko was just glad he put an end to the game. Now he hopes he can halt his season-long slump, too.

Konerko hit a two-run homer in the 15th inning Wednesday night, sending the Chicago White Sox to a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

His teammates went a little nuts in celebration.

“I felt like a rookie again,” Konerko said. “I got a pie in my face, I got champagne and beer and whatever the heck on my head and all that. I have to go back to the trainer now. Toby Hall got me pretty good with some shaving cream and I got to get it (his eye) cleaned out.”

Konerko, batting only .198 when he came up against Jimmy Gobble (0-1), hit his seventh homer, a drive to left field to score Carlos Quentin, who had drawn a leadoff walk.

Konerko is now 5-for-6 with four homers in his career against the Royals’ left-hander.

“I can’t say I was even happy, more just like relief because we won the game and it was over and I did something positive for the team,” Konerko said.

The Friendly Confines have never seemed friendlier, and that’s a big reason why the Cubs are the best team in baseball entering June for the first time in 100 years.

Alfonso Soriano homered, Jim Edmonds drove in two runs, and the Chicago Cubs beat the reeling Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Sunday to complete a perfect seven-game homestand.

The Cubs entered June with the best record in baseball for the first time since 1908, when they last won a World Series. They started the new month by finishing a four-game sweep of the defending National League champions and sending them to their seventh straight loss.

Chicago is 26-8 at Wrigley Field after wrapping up its first perfect homestand of at least seven games since April 14-26, 1970. Now, they’ll try to establish some momentum away from home.

The road has been far less friendly, and one concern is that they’ve played 11 more games at home than they have on the road.

Criticized for his defense earlier in the week after he misplayed a fly ball that cost the Chicago Cubs a win, Alfonso Soriano responded Wednesday night with a hit that sent his team to victory.

“He has that ability just to stay up and keep on trucking, performing,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said after Soriano’s 10th-inning single gave Chicago a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and completed a three-game sweep.

“I was happy for him. A big clutch hit and it got us the win.”

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs tied it against Dodgers closer Takashi Saito on Geovany Soto’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

In the 10th, pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot doubled with one out off Chan Ho Park (1-1) and scored on Soriano’s single to left. Bob Howry (1-2) pitched the top of the inning for the win.

Soriano lost a fly ball in the sun with two outs in the ninth inning Sunday at Pittsburgh, allowing the Pirates to tie a game they would eventually win.

Maybe that’s why his teammates seemed extra enthusiastic when they came racing out of the dugout Wednesday night to mob him.

“It is great. They know that I am working very hard every day to be better and better,” Soriano said. “I love what I do and I believe in myself all the time.”

Dodgers starter Derek Lowe, winless since April 23, was on his way to a victory after pitching seven shutout innings with two walks and five strikeouts. Jonathan Broxton struck out the side in the eighth.

But Saito, who blew his third save in 11 chances, walked Ryan Theriot and Aramis Ramirez in the ninth before Kosuke Fukudome reached on an infield single to load the bases when Dodgers first baseman James Loney made a nice diving stop on his high hopper. Fukudome was ruled safe at first after Saito raced over to cover the bag and take the flip from Loney.

“I just missed the base,” Saito said through a translator.

“He never got to the base. I couldn’t see that from the dugout. I thought the ball beat him and that’s what my contention was, but he never got to the base,” said Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who went to first to question the call.

Soto then hit the sacrifice fly to tie the game and pinch-runner Ronny Cedeno advanced to third before Saito retired Mark DeRosa on a fly ball to end the inning.

Lowe knew what Saito was feeling after letting the win slip away.

“I really think that if anybody can understand about losing and frustrations, it’s me and that’s what makes it easier,” said Lowe, a former closer. “You root for him and games like that are going to happen. I’ve blown a lot of games in my career, so I understand the feeling.”

The Dodgers, who scored one run in each of the three games at Wrigley Field, used a bout of two-out wildness by Carlos Zambrano in the fourth inning to score on a bases-loaded walk.

Zambrano allowed six hits, walked four and had a costly hit batter during his season-high 130-pitch outing over eight innings and left trailing 1-0.

“I felt good, felt strong to finish the eighth inning,” Zambrano said.

Zambrano gave up two-out singles to Russell Martin and Loney in the fourth before hitting Matt Kemp in the back to load the bases. On a 3-2 pitch, he walked Blake DeWitt to force in the run.

“I don’t know what happened. I lost my command and it’s weird,” Zambrano said.

Andre Ethier and Martin singled with two outs in the eighth and when Theriot made an error on Loney’s grounder to shortstop, the Dodgers had the bases loaded again.

Piniella visited the mound but left Zambrano in before he struck out Kemp with his final pitch of the night.

“It was a cool night and we’ve been watching his pitch counts very carefully all year,” Piniella said. “So next time he’s out there, we’ll shorten him up if we need to.’

Zambrano, who was 4-for-5 at the plate against Pittsburgh in his previous

A few more starts like this and those minor league T-shirts Sean Gallagher distributed to his teammates will become relics.

Gallagher had his best start, and Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome capped a three-run seventh with run-scoring hits to lead the Chicago Cubs to their second straight 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on a bone-chilling, windy Tuesday night.

“Definitely with the wind blowing, you go out there with a little less fear,” Gallagher said after allowing one run and four hits in a career-high seven innings while striking out three and walking two.

The rookie (2-1) started the season in the minors after making eight relief appearances for the Cubs last season. If he keeps pitching like this, he’ll remain in the rotation.

“He’s still got a couple things to work on, but he’s telling us that he wants to stay in the rotation,” manager Lou Piniella said.

The Dodgers got an RBI single from Blake DeWitt in the fourth, but the third baseman’s error in the seventh allowed the tying run to score and helped turn what looked like a win for Hiroki Kuroda (2-4) into a loss.

The right-hander, who won his previous start, was charged with two runs (one earned) and seven hits while striking out three and walking three. He left with a 1-0 lead after Alfonso Soriano, his teammate with the Hiroshima Carp in 1997, lined a single to left with one out in the seventh, putting runners on first and third.

Jonathan Broxton came in, and DeWitt booted Mike Fontenot’s slow roller, allowing Ryan Theriot to score the tying run from third.

“I should have made the play but didn’t,” DeWitt said. “I had no chance at him at home. You need to get the guy out at first base there.”

After Derrek Lee flied to right, Ramirez drove in Soriano with a single to center and Fukodome followed with a double down the left-field line that drove in Fontenot.

The Dodgers loaded the bases against Carlos Marmol in the eighth but stranded the runners after coming up empty twice in similar situations during Monday’s loss to Chicago. Marmol struck out James Loney and Matt Kemp grounded into a force to end the threat, and the Dodgers stranded eight runners after leaving 12 the previous day.

Kerry Wood then pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save in 16 chances, the crowd chanting “Kerry! Kerry!” before Russell Martin grounded out to end the game.

The game featured two of the biggest names to move from Japan in the offseason—Kuroda and Fukudome—and both came up big.

Kuroda dismissed the matchup with Fukudome, saying through an interpreter, “It was any other hitter. This is a team game and I can’t be facing individuals.”

With the game-time temperature at 42—a 33-degree drop from Monday—Kuroda froze a team that was second in the majors with a .283 average entering the game for six innings. The exception was Fukudome.

A .330 hitter with four homers against Kuroda in Japan, Fukudome had a single and walk in three trips to the plate against his countryman before doubling against Broxton. He also raced in for a diving catch on Andre Ethier’s liner to right in the sixth.

“I’m just throwing the ball over the plate, trying to throw strikes, and to have my defense like that making plays … it makes it easier,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher made it look easy for much of the night.

He distributed a box of T-shirts with his name that the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate shipped but, otherwise, bore little resemblance to a minor leaguer. There was a scare in the first, when he deflected Ethier’s infield single with his bare hand, but Gallagher shook that off. Then, he shooed away the Dodgers.