Alfonso Soriano & Kosuke Fukudome made key defensive plays in a critical 8th inning, as the Chicago Cubs survived another 9th inning rally to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Thursday evening from Busch Stadium.

Ryan Theriot then singled, which put runners at 1st & 3rd with no outs for Derrek Lee.

Lee then struck out swinging before Aramis Ramirez flied out to Ryan Ludwick in right field, who fired to home plate & nailed Alfonso Soriano to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs then had another scoring chance in the top of the 2nd inning after Mike Fontenot drew a 1-out walk from Wellemeyer.

2 batters later, Reed Johnson singled which put runners at 1st & 3rd with 2 outs for Rich Harden.

Harden then flied out to Aaron Miles in left field to end the scoring threat.

Chicago was then finally able to take the lead in the top of the 5th inning after Geovany Soto drew a lead-off walk from Wellemeyer.

Albert Pujols then kicked a ground ball hit by Reed Johnson & threw late to 2nd base, allowing Johnson to reach 1st safely.

2 batters later, Alfonso Soriano drew a walk which loaded the bases with just 1 out for Ryan Theriot.

Theriot then drew a bases-loaded walk to force home Soto from 3rd base & gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Derrek Lee then hit an RBI groundout to score Johnson from 3rd base & gave Chicago a 2-0 lead.

Aramis Ramirez then popped up to Adam Kennedy in shallow right field to end the inning.

The Cardinals then rallied in the bottom of the 5th inning after Adam Kennedy hit a 1-out single against Cubs starter Rich Harden.

2 batters later, pinch-hitter Nick Stavinoha singled to put runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Cesar Izturis.

Izturis then flied out to Mark DeRosa in right field to end the scoring threat.

DeRosa then started another scoring rally for the Cubs in the top of the 6th inning with his lead-off double against Cardinals reliever Kyle McClellan.

Mike Fontenot then followed with an RBI double, which scored DeRosa from 2nd base & gave Chicago a 3-0 lead.

Geovany Soto & Reed Johnson both struck out before Harden hit an infield groundout to end the inning.

St. Louis then ended the shutout in the bottom of the 6th inning after Aaron Miles drew a 1-out walk from Harden.

Albert Pujols then hit an RBI double to score Miles from 1st base & made it a 3-1 Cub lead.

Ryan Ludwick then grounded out to Harden, but was able to advance Pujols to 3rd base on the play.

Felipe Lopez then hit an RBI single to score Pujols from 2nd base & made it a 3-2 Cub lead.

The Cardinals then threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the 7th inning after Jason LaRue hit a lead-off single against Cubs reliever Jeff Samardzija.

Braden Looper then laid down a sac bunt to advance LaRue to 2nd base with just 1 out.

Cesar Izturis & Skip Schumaker then hit outfield flyouts to end the scoring threat.

St. Louis again put together a scoring rally in the bottom of the 8th inning after Aaron Miles hit a lead-off single against Chicago setup man Carlos Marmol.

Albert Pujols then hit a sharp liner to Alfonso Soriano in left field, who made an great diving grab & nearly picked up Miles as he hustled back to 1st base.

2 batters later, Ryan Ludwick singled to put runners at 1st & 2nd with just 1 out for Felipe Lopez.

Kosuke Fukudome then made an outstanding leaping catch in right field which robbed Lopez of an extra-base hit & kept neither Miles or Ludwick from scoring on the play.

Adam Kennedy was then intentionally walked to load the bases with 2 outs for pinch-hitter Josh Phelps.

Phelps then struck out to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs then tried to add insurance runs in the top of the 9th inning after Alfonso Soriano drew a 2-out walk from Cardinals reliever Ryan Franklin.

Ryan Theriot then singled to put runners at 1st & 3rd with 2 outs for Derrek Lee.

Derrek Lee then grounded out to Felipe Lopez at 3rd base to end the scoring threat.

St. Louis then again threatened in the bottom of the 9th inning after pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan hit a lead-off double off Chicago closer Kerry Wood.

Cesar Izturis then tried to lay down a sac bunt, but Brendan Ryan overslid 3rd base & was tagged out by Aramis Ramirez.

Skip Schumaker then singled to put runner at 1st & 2nd with just 1 out for Aaron Miles.

Miles struck out before Wood got Albert Pujols to pop up to Mark DeRosa in shallow centerfield to end the game.

Rich Harden (5-1) gets the win for the Cubs after pitching 6 innings & allowed 2 runs on 5 hits.

Todd Wellemeyer (12-7) takes the loss for the Cardinals after allowing just 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 innings of work.

Despite allowing a lead-off double, Kerry Wood got out of a 9th inning jam for his 30th save of the season.

The Cubs will not play the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Friday or Saturday in Houston due to Hurricane Ike, which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning.

If there is baseball on Sunday, it will be a doubleheader with the series finale on Monday. The Cubs will then return home for their final regular-season homestand with 6 games against Milwaukee & St. Louis.

The Cubs’ division lead entering Friday morning is at 5.5 games, over the Brewers with their magic number at 11. (# of Cub wins & Brewer losses to clinch division).

Signing off for now,