Hall of Famer Cal Ripken traded his old Baltimore Orioles' uniform for a business suit, as an owner of minor league baseball teams.
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Nick Markakis and Luke Scott drove in two runs each for Baltimore, as the Orioles bested the Chicago Cubs, 7-5, in the opener of a three-game interleague set at Wrigley Field.
Markakis was 2-for-5 with a run scored and Scott added a triple, single and a run scored. Brian Roberts was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a run batted in for Baltimore, which halted a two-game slide. George Sherrill got out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the ninth with three straight strikeouts to earn his 26th save.
Jeremy Guthrie (4-7) tossed six effective innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits and a walk. Guthrie was mainly hurt by a three-run homer in the seventh and pitched well otherwise to earn the win. The hard-luck righthander has surrendered two earned runs or fewer in seven of his last 11 starts with only four wins to show for it.
Jim Edmonds connected for a three-run homer and Kosuke Fukudome was 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored. Aramis Ramirez added two hits, an RBI and a scored a run for Chicago, which ended both a three-game winning streak and the Cubs' 14-game winning streak at Wrigley Field, their longest such streak since June 4-July 10, 1936.
"These guys basically are ready to go," Cubs manager Lou Pinella said while addressing a letdown following the Cubs sweep of the White Sox. "The White Sox had nothing to do with this. Absolutely nothing. Baltimore came in here and played a good ballgame. Give them credit."
O's end Cubbies' 14-game home winning streak....
