Giants-Cubs, 7/11/08. A-Ram's HR lifts Cubs in pitchers' duel

Result: Cubs 3, Giants 1. The Cubs lead the NL Central by 4.5 games over the Cardinals and 5 games over the Brewers. The Cards beat Pittsburgh on Friday, while the Reds knocked off Milwaukee. At 56-37, the Cubs once again have the best record in baseball; their winning percentage is just slightly better than that of the Tampa Bay Rays.

What happened: Jason Marquis matched the Giants' Matt Cain pitch for pitch over 7 innings. Marquis' line -- 7 IP, 0 runs, 3 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Cain's line -- 7 IP, 0 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks and 9 Ks. In two starts against the Cubs, Cain has thrown 15 scoreless innings. Good thing the Cubs are through with SF after this weekend. With Marquis' strong outing, that is 3 excellent starts in 4 games of this homestand. Aramis Ramirez hooked a three-run bomb around the left-field foul pole, giving the Cubs all the runs they need. Bob Howry worked a scoreless 8th, and Kerry Wood gave up a run but earned his 24th save.

It was over when: Wood got the final three outs. The Giants scored one and got the tying runs on base with no outs in the 9th. Wood then struck out Aaron Rowand, got John Bowker to pop out to shallow right, and got Rich Aurilia to ground out to first base to end it. While you never want to see your closer get into trouble, it was nice to see Wood work his way out of it.

Up next: Giants-Cubs at noon today from Wrigley. Rich Harden makes his Cubs debut against SF's Kevin Correia.