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  Saturday, Jun. 3 4:05pm ET
Weaver holds Cubs to one run
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CHICAGO (AP) -- A healthy Damion Easley is a happy Damion Easley. Productive, too.

Easley, activated from the disabled list Friday, drove in three runs Saturday as the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs 5-3 in interleague play.

Juan Gonzalez drove in another run with a fourth-inning single, and Jeff Weaver held the Cubs to one run in 7 1/3 innings.

It was Detroit's first victory at Wrigley Field since Oct. 10, 1945, when the Tigers beat the Cubs 9-3 in Game 7 of the World Series.

"It makes a difference, doesn't it?" said Easley, who spent more than three weeks on the DL with a hairline fracture in his right wrist. He was on the disabled list earlier in the season with a strained muscle in his ribcage.

"One, I felt healthy and wasn't worrying about anything physically," Easley said. "That's one obstacle out of the way."

Sammy Sosa hit a three-run homer off Matt Anderson in the eighth inning, his 17th, but it wasn't enough. Weaver (2-5) allowed just five hits, and Todd Jones pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 16 chances.

"Weaver shut us down offensively. He never really gave in," Cubs manager Don Baylor said. "The book on him was make him throw strikes. He did and he got us out."

The Cubs got some impressive pitching of their own from Kerry Wood, who was making his sixth start after missing all of last season because of reconstructive elbow surgery. Wood (2-3) looked like his old masterful self for all but one inning, striking out a season-high nine and walking just one.

He gave up three runs on five hits, and 69 of his 109 pitches were strikes.

"My stuff is pretty close," the 1998 NL Rookie of the Year said. "I go out there and try to get guys out and throw my best pitches."

Wood ran into trouble in the fourth, though, and it cost him. He led off the inning by walking Rob Fick, and then hit Juan Encarnacion in the right wrist. Gonzalez singled to drive in a run and give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Wood got the next two batters before giving up an RBI single to Easley.

"I don't think Wood threw as hard as he did a couple of years ago when I saw him," Easley said. "I think I was just fortunate enough to find a hole."

Wood then hit Deivi Cruz in the right forearm. He finally got out of the inning by striking out Weaver.

Wood ran into another jam in the fifth inning when the Tigers put runners at first and third with singles by Fick and Encarnacion. But he got Gonzalez on a groundout, and then struck out Bobby Higginson to end the threat.

"I was trying to get him a win, but we couldn't muster anything," Baylor said.

Matt Karchner relieved Wood in the eighth and gave up Easley's two-run double. It was the first runs scored on the Cubs bullpen in eight-plus games, a streak of 18 innings.

"After being injured, you just want to get in and contribute," Easley said. "I was happy to get in and contribute."

Dean Palmer hit his 11th homer of the season with a solo shot in the second inning.

The Cubs blew their only other chance to score in the third inning. Mark Grace doubled to right with two outs, and Sosa followed with a single to shallow left. Grace, playing just his third game after spending 20 days on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, went for home.

Higginson's throw was wide right and Brad Ausmus had to leave the plate to catch the ball, but he made it with plenty of time to spare and tagged out Grace.

Game notes
Sosa's homer was his first at Wrigley since May 10. ... Attendance was 40,061, the second-largest crowd of the season. ... Weaver was making his first start in Chicago since an April 22 game against the White Sox, when he sparked two benches-clearing brawls by beaning the White Sox's Carlos Lee. Sixteen members of the White Sox and Tigers were suspended for the fights.

 


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