Cubs down Marlins 5-4 in 11 innings

By Ben Walker ~ The Associated Press

MIAMI -- Add Doug Glanville to the list of baseball's most unlikely postseason heroes.

The last guy to make the Cubs' playoff roster, Glanville delivered a tiebreaking triple in the 11th inning and Chicago got the final out on a crazy play to beat the Florida Marlins 5-4 Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the NL championship series.

In a tense duel that had everything a fan could want in October, Glanville overshadowed Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood and Ivan Rodriguez.

The Marlins threatened in the bottom of the 11th, putting Luis Castillo on second base with two outs. Derrek Lee hit a grounder that third baseman Aramis Ramirez fumbled, but Castillo was trapped in a rundown and the Cubs got him.

Acquired from last-place Texas in late July, Glanville was still on the Cubs' bench for Game 3 as the clock ticked well past midnight. And he was only there because backup Tony Womack was injured and left off the 25-man roster.

Kenny Lofton singled with one out off Michael Tejera and after Braden Looper relieved, Glanville batted for winner Joe Borowski. Lofton was running when Glanville came through in just the second postseason at-bat of his 13-year pro career.

Glanville hit a liner that skipped past diving left fielder Jeff Conine in the gap and using his best asset, streaked into third. Wood jumped off the bench to the top of dugout steps and led his teammates in cheering.

But on a wild night, there was still a twist left. Castillo struck out with one out against Mike Remlinger, but reached base when the ball skittered through catcher Paul Bako's legs for a wild pitch.

Castillo made it to second on a groundout, but was caught to the delight of thousands of Cubs' fans among the crowd of 65,115.

Remlinger had recorded only one save in the last three years, and picked a great time to get another one.

Game 4 is Saturday night, and features a neat subplot. All-Star rookie Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins and Chicago starter Matt Clement were traded for each other a few days before the 2002 season began.

The win left the Cubs two wins short of making their first World Series appearance since 1945. They last won it in 1908.

The Marlins threatened in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs against Borowski before little Mike Mordecai flied out.

After 13 balls sailed out of the park in two games at Wrigley Field, starters Wood and Mark Redman put the emphasis back on pitching in these playoffs. The bigger dimensions and still air at Pro Player Stadium helped keep the ball in play, too -- Sosa and Florida's Alex Gonzalez hit shots that clearly would have cleared the ivy-covered walls.

With another swing of his bat, Randall Simon gave people new reason to talk about him. His two-run homer in the eighth off Chad Fox put the Cubs ahead 4-3 and certainly was his highlight in a season that saw him vilified, suspended and fined for swatting a sausage mascot this summer.

The 14th home run of the series tied the NLCS record for two teams, set by San Francisco and St. Louis in 2002.

Pinch-hitter Todd Hollandsworth made it 4-all in the bottom half with a pinch-hit RBI single off Borowski. Like Simon, the Marlins' reserve has had a tough year -- his early season struggles at the plate left local critics calling him "Hollandsworthless."

Until then, Rodriguez stood to be the star once again this postseason. His two-out single on a 98 mph fastball from Wood capped a two-run rally that put the Marlins ahead 3-2 in the seventh.

Wood shouted toward the ground and Cubs catcher Damian Miller swung his arm after Rodriguez reached out and delivered. The opposite-field hit finished Wood, and he was still shaking his head on the bench.

Earlier in the game, Wood struck out Rodriguez with three straight sliders to leave the bases loaded.

Wood beat Atlanta twice in the opening round of the playoffs, winning the decisive Game 5 while borrowing teammate Mark Prior's glove. Wood brought his mitt to Miami, but could not duplicate the success that had made him 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA lifetime against the Marlins.

Sosa and the Cubs struck first on the humid night. Lofton led off the game with an infield single, reaching on a play in which Redman was shaken up covering first base, and moved up on a sacrifice.

With an open base, the Marlins decided to pitch to Sosa and he made them pay. He hit a line drive off the left-field wall, tagging it so hard that he only managed a single when Conine correctly played the carom.

Wood again helped himself at the plate in this postseason and gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the second. A single by Eric Karros and two walks loaded the bases and Wood hit a sacrifice fly. In Game 1 of the division series, Wood's two-run double sent the Cubs over Atlanta.

The Marlins came back in the bottom half on two singles and a two-out, RBI double by the slumping Gonzalez. He had been just 1-for-24 this postseason before his drive, which hit near the top of the 26 1/2-foot wall in left.

Wood had little trouble limiting the damage, retiring Redman on a soft comebacker. Not that Redman was a real threat, going an astounding 1-for-61 (.016) at the plate this season.

Notes: Florida rookie Miguel Cabrera made his major league debut in right field, moving there from third base in a double switch. In Game 2, he played shortstop for the first time. ... Umpire crew chief Jerry Crawford returned after leaving the opener with pneumonia. ... Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams watched from a box seat. The Philadelphia Phillies picked him in the eighth round of the 1995 draft, and the outfielder hit .211 with four homers over four years in the low minors.