Cubs Rally Around Ramirez’ 3 Home Runs
Elite pitching might be baseball’s most desirable commodity, but when a player hits three home runs in one game, that tops the list.
Aramis Ramirez hit three home runs to lift the inspired Cubs to a 14-7 come-from-behind win Tuesday over the Astros. It was his fourth career three-homer game and first since Sept. 16, 2004, at Cincinnati. The seven RBIs also matched his career high.
"I'm not a home run hitter," said Ramirez, who is batting .383 in July with five doubles, a triple, nine homers and 24 RBIs. "I want to get my average up. I'm still in the .220s. I'm at least a .250 hitter."
He is definitely on the right track having also hit a home run on Monday and now has four home runs in his last seven at-bats. Chicago trailed 6-0 after 3 1/2 innings, but rallied behind Ramirez homers.
Ramirez blasts drove in seven runs while teammates Geovany Soto hit a game-tying solo shot and Derrek Lee hit a tie-breaking RBI double.
“Watching from the bullpen and seeing the way Ramy's been swinging the bat, going all the way back to Arizona [series July 5-7], he's been seeing the ball well and he picked us up tonight," said last year's top draft choice, Andrew Cashner.
"As soon as I got up, I thought I'd be going in and I just tried to keep it close."
Cashner’s brief performance totaled 16 pitches in two innings and threw to six batters.
"I really didn't have my best stuff tonight, but I was able to get guys out and put the ball in the location I wanted to," Cashner said. "My main goal was to throw strikes and not walk any guys."
The win comes at a very emotional time for Chicago. Having experienced back-to-back disappointing years and failing to top .500 this year, Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella announced prior to Tuesday’s game that he would be retiring at the end of the season.
Piniella, 66, is heading home to Tampa, Fla., despite his team’s valiant efforts to play good down the stretch and keep him behind the bench.
Piniella told reporters before Tuesday night's game against the Giants: "I'm not sure how much I want to work after this year.
That's what I have to figure out. But I'm not of a mind to think I'm going to be doing this anywhere but here.''
Following the Cubs’ valiant efforts at Wrigley Field, their manager spoke freely about his feelings- something that we have been accustomed to seeing in the past.
"Sure it was emotional and draining," Piniella said of his day. "But it's over with and now my situation doesn't have to be [discussed] anymore and we can concentrate on the team, which is the important component. I'm just a small piece of it. Let's hope we continue to play and win some baseball games and make it fun for our fans."
While the Cubs didn’t make much of a splash in 2010, players are anxious about how the franchise will be after losing their general.
"Playing for so long, coaching and managing for so long, I think he's seen it all," Ryan Dempster said.
"He's been through it all, he's won a lot of games as a manager. He's won World Series titles both as a player and coach and manager and he's had a great career. Hopefully we can go out there and keep winning ballgames and end this season with something special."
Chicago Cubs' third baseman Ramirez has had a quiet season thus far but has finally broken out of his slump. If he can duplicate last game’s success, maybe he can bolster the offence and end the season on a good note.
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