CHICAGO | The Cubs and Colorado Rockies could not have stuffed any more drama into the ninth inning Monday night.
How's this for a lineup? Cubs relievers Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry blew an 8-3 lead. Then a fan wearing a No. 16 Aramis Ramirez jersey jumped on the field and ran toward Howry before being tackled by two Cubs security men. And finally: Alfonso Soriano's two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the inning for a 10-9 Cubs victory for the ages.
"You couldn't script it any better," manager Lou Piniella said. "Just clutch."
Soriano brought the Cubs off the floor after the most stunning bullpen collapse of the season to date.
With two out and Rob Bowen on first, pinch hitter Koyie Hill singled to left off Rockies closer Brian Fuentes. Kazuo Matsui then booted Ryan Theriot's grounder up the middle. Soriano then singled to right center and was mobbed in a scrum of celebrating Cubs.
"This was the best moment I had with Chicago so far," Soriano said.
Soriano and teammates could have been down after Eyre and Howry reverted to their early-season form and then some, as Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki slugged a three-run homer to give the Rockies a 9-8 lead.
Piniella did not want to use Howry for a third straight game, filling in for injured closer Ryan Dempster. But when Eyre gave up three straight hits and two runs to start the ninth, Piniella's hand was forced. Howry gave up an RBI single to Brad Hawpe before Tulowitzki connected.
Seconds after the homer, the fan ran out to the mound with arms outstretched, but was tackled by Cubs security personnel only a few feet away from Howry.
The incident was reminiscent of a 1995 game in which Cubs closer Randy Myers decked a fan who approached him on the mound after he served up a homer.
"I didn't notice him until he got clotheslined," Howry said. "He said, 'What are you doing?'"
"I thought he was going to run around like they usually do," Hill said. "One of the best saves I've seen in my life."
Almost overlooked in the mayhem was a 5-for-5 night by rookie second baseman Mike Fontenot, matching Soriano's feat for most hits by a Cub this season.
Fontenot, who extended his hitting streak to eight games, has hit in 15 of 16 games since his June 9 callup from Triple-A Iowa.
He singled in the first, singled and scored in the third, doubled and scored in the fifth, and collected RBI singles in the sixth and eighth. He is hitting .397 (25-for-63).
