Extended Box

ATLANTA (8) VS CHICAGO CUBS (10) - FINAL

ATLANTA                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Furcal ss             3  1  1  0   0  0   0  .279
 J Capellan p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-A LaRoche ph         1  1  1  1   0  0   0  .278
 R Colon p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 c-J Drew ph            1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .305
N Green 2b-3b           5  0  0  0   0  1   1  .273
D Wise cf               4  1  1  1   0  2   1  .228
J Franco 1b             3  1  2  1   1  1   0  .309
E Marrero rf            4  2  3  0   0  0   1  .320
C Thomas lf             4  2  2  5   0  1   2  .288
E Perez c               4  0  0  0   0  1   2  .229
W Betemit 3b-ss         4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .170
P Byrd p                1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .200
 a-M Giles ph-2b        3  0  1  0   0  0   0  .311

Totals                 37  8 11  8   1  8   9

a-lined out to center for P Byrd in the 5th;  b-homered to center for J 
Capellan in the 7th;  c-struck out swinging for R Colon in the 9th.

BATTING: HR - C Thomas 2 (7, 2nd inning off G Maddux 2 on, 0 Out, 6th inning 
off G Maddux 1 on, 2 Out), A Laroche (13, 7th inning off R Dempster 0 on, 2 
Out), D Wise (6, 8th inning off K Mercker 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - C Thomas 5 (31), 
J Franco (57), A LaRoche (45), D Wise (17). 2-out RBI - J Franco, C Thomas 2, A 
LaRoche. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - W Betemit 1. Team LOB - 3. 

 
BASERUNNING: SB - R Furcal (29, 2nd base off G Maddux/P Bako), E Marrero (4, 
2nd base off G Maddux/P Bako). CS - J Franco (2, 2nd base by G Maddux/P Bako). 

 
FIELDING: E - W Betemit (3, ground ball). DP: 1 (M Giles-W Betemit-J Franco). 

 

CHICAGO CUBS           ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
C Patterson cf          5  1  1  0   0  1   3  .266
M Grudzielanek 2b       5  2  2  1   0  0   1  .307
M Alou lf               5  2  3  2   0  0   0  .293
A Ramirez 3b            5  0  3  1   0  0   1  .318
N Garciaparra ss        5  1  2  1   0  0   3  .297
D Lee 1b                3  2  1  0   1  0   2  .278
J Dubois rf             4  2  2  4   0  1   1  .217
P Bako c                3  0  1  0   1  0   1  .203
G Maddux p              3  0  0  0   0  1   3  .159
 R Dempster p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 a-T Walker ph          1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .274
 K Mercker p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Leicester p          0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 L Hawkins p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 39 10 15  9   2  3  16

a-lined out to center for R Dempster in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - C Patterson (33, P Byrd); A Ramirez (32, P Byrd); P Bako (8, R 
Colon). 3B - J Dubois (1, P Byrd). HR - M Alou (39, 1st inning off P Byrd 1 on, 
1 Out), J Dubois (1, 3rd inning off P Byrd 1 on, 2 Out), M Grudzielanek (6, 4th 
inning off P Byrd 0 on, 2 Out). RBI - M Alou 2 (106), J Dubois 4 (5), M 
Grudzielanek (23), A Ramirez (103), N Garciaparra (20). 2-out RBI - J Dubois 4, 
M Grudzielanek, A Ramirez, N Garciaparra. Runners left in scoring position, 2 
out - N Garciaparra 1, G Maddux 1, C Patterson 2. GIDP - A Ramirez. Team LOB - 
7. 
 

-----------------------------------------------------
    ATLANTA         - 031 002 110   --   8
    CHICAGO CUBS    - 502 201 00x   --  10
-----------------------------------------------------

ATLANTA                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
P Byrd (L, 8-7)               4       9   9   9   2   1   3   3.94
J Capellan                    2       4   1   1   0   0   0  11.25
R Colon                       2       2   0   0   0   2   0   3.32

CHICAGO CUBS                 ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
G Maddux (W, 16-11)           6       7   6   6   1   4   2   4.02
R Dempster                    1       1   1   1   0   1   1   3.92
K Mercker (H, 18)             0       1   1   1   0   0   1   2.55
J Leicester (H, 5)            1       1   0   0   0   2   0   3.89
L Hawkins (S, 25)             1       1   0   0   0   1   0   2.63

K Mercker pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

WP - P Byrd. Pitches-strikes: P Byrd 75-50; J Capellan 26-16; R Colon 19-13; 
G Maddux 95-59; R Dempster 11-8; K Mercker 4-2; J Leicester 20-15; L Hawkins 
11-8. Ground balls-fly balls: P Byrd 5-6; J Capellan 3-3; R Colon 0-4; G Maddux 
10-3; R Dempster 2-0; K Mercker 0-0; J Leicester 0-1; L Hawkins 2-0. Batters 
faced: P Byrd 23; J Capellan 10; R Colon 8; G Maddux 25; R Dempster 4; K 
Mercker 1; J Leicester 4; L Hawkins 4. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Ed Rapuano. 1B--Rick Reed. 2B--Ted Barrett. 3B--Alfonso Marquez. 

T--2:18. Att--38,420. 
Weather: 63 degrees, sunny. Wind: 17 mph, out to 
center.
 

How They Scored

CHICAGO CUBS 1ST:   C Patterson doubled to deep right.  M Grudzielanek 
grounded out to third.  M Alou homered to center, C Patterson scored.  
A Ramirez popped out to first.  N Garciaparra singled to center.  D Lee 
walked, N Garciaparra to second.  J Dubois tripled to right, N Garciaparra 
and D Lee scored.  P Bako walked.  J Dubois scored, P Bako to second on wild 
pitch by P Byrd. G Maddux struck out swinging. (5 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors)  
ATLANTA 0, CHICAGO CUBS 5.

ATLANTA 2ND:   J Franco singled to center.  E Marrero singled to right, 
J Franco to second.  C Thomas homered to right, J Franco and E Marrero scored.  
E Perez grounded out to third.  W Betemit grounded out to first.  P Byrd struck 
out swinging. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 3, CHICAGO CUBS 5.

ATLANTA 3RD:   R Furcal singled to right.  R Furcal stole second. N Green 
grounded out to second, R Furcal to third.  D Wise struck out swinging.  
J Franco singled to right, R Furcal scored.  J Franco caught stealing second, 
catcher to second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 4, CHICAGO CUBS 5.

CHICAGO CUBS 3RD:   A Ramirez singled to right center.  N Garciaparra 
grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, A Ramirez out at second.  
D Lee grounded into fielder's choice to second, N Garciaparra out at second.  
J Dubois homered to center, D Lee scored.  P Bako flied out to left. (2 Runs, 
2 Hits, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 4, CHICAGO CUBS 7.

CHICAGO CUBS 4TH:   G Maddux fouled out to first.  C Patterson flied out to 
left.  M Grudzielanek homered to left.  M Alou singled to center.  A Ramirez 
doubled to right center, M Alou scored.  N Garciaparra flied out to left. 
(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 4, CHICAGO CUBS 9.

ATLANTA 6TH:   D Wise grounded out to second.  J Franco walked.  E Marrero 
grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Franco out at second.  C Thomas 
homered to center, E Marrero scored.  E Perez grounded out to shortstop. 
(2 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 6, CHICAGO CUBS 9.

CHICAGO CUBS 6TH:   M Grudzielanek singled to right.  M Alou singled to left, 
M Grudzielanek to second.  A Ramirez grounded into double play, second to 
shortstop to first, M Alou out at second, M Grudzielanek to third. 
N Garciaparra singled to right, M Grudzielanek scored.  D Lee flied out to 
right. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 6, CHICAGO CUBS 10.

ATLANTA 7TH:   R Dempster relieved G Maddux. W Betemit grounded out to first. 
M Giles grounded out to second.  A LaRoche hit for J Capellan. A LaRoche 
homered to center.  N Green struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)  
ATLANTA 7, CHICAGO CUBS 10.

ATLANTA 8TH:   K Mercker relieved R Dempster. D Wise homered to left center.  
J Leicester relieved K Mercker. J Franco struck out looking.  E Marrero reached 
on infield single to third.  C Thomas flied out to left.  E Perez struck out 
swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 8, CHICAGO CUBS 10.

Game Story

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs finally got a win, long 
after they actually needed one.

Jason Dubois hit his first career homer and drove in four runs
to lead a 14-hit attack as the Cubs posted a 10-8 victory over
the Atlanta Braves.

One day after dropping its fifth straight game to be officially
eliminated from playoff contention, Chicago ended the season at
89-73, its best record since 1998.  The Cubs endured numerous
injuries and struggled offensively in falling short of its fifth
playoff appearance since 1945.

Dubois, who made his major league debut May 19 and was recalled
September 6, tripled in two runs and scored to cap a five-run
first.  The 25-year-old added a two-run homer in the third for a
7-4 lead.

Moises Alou finished a fine campaign with a two-run homer and a
pair of singles.  Alou led Chicago with 39 homers, 106 RBI and
106 runs scored.

Greg Maddux (16-11) struggled but still managed to reach 16 wins
for the third straight year.  He allowed six runs and seven
hits in six innings, striking out four and walking one in
improving to 8-3 lifetime vs. his old team.

LaTroy Hawkins got the last three outs for his 25th save.

Paul Byrd (8-7), who is is slated to appear out of the Braves'
bullpen in their first-round series against Houston, was hit for
nine runs and nine hits in four innings.  He surrendered three
home runs and saw his lifetime ERA vs. the Cubs rise to 9.64.

Rookie Charles Thomas carried Atlanta with a pair of homers -
both off Maddux - and five RBI.

The Braves ended the year 96-66 in winning their 13th straight
division title.  They will host the Astros in the NL Division
Series.