From the 2nd inning on, the Cubs had their fair share of chances to score plenty of runs.

It didn’t work to their liking, as the Detroit Tigers scored on two bases-loaded walks to beat the Chicago Cubs 5-3 on Wednesday evening from CoAmerica Park.

The Cubs got an early rally going in the 2nd after Micah Hoffpauir hit a lead-off single against Tigers starter Rick Porcello.

Milton Bradley then drew a walk, which put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Jake Fox.

Fox then reached safely on a fielder’s choice, but just barely missed out being part of a tripleplay as Bradley & Hoffpauir were both out at 2nd & 3rd base.

Chicago got another rally going in the top of the 3rd after Geovany Soto hit a lead-off double against Porcello.

Mike Fontenot then reached safely on a fielder’s choice, but Soto was easily tagged out at 3rd base trying to advance on the play.

There was some controversy in the bottom of the 3rd after Rich Harden made a nice diving catch on Placido Polanco’s bunt attempt to end the inning, but the ball hit Polanco’s helmet which made it foul.

Curtis Granderson (reached on 2-out single) then stole 2nd base during Marcus Thames’ at-bat, who flied out to Kosuke Fukudome in shallow centerfield to end the threat.

The Cubs got another rally going in the top of the 4th after Ryan Theriot reached on a lead-off bunt single against Porcello.

Derrek Lee then drew a walk, which put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Micah Hoffpauir.

Hoffpauir then flied out to Don Kelly in left field, as Theriot & Lee were unable to advance on the play.

Milton Bradley then struck out looking, which left it up to Jake Fox.

Fox then grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the scoring chance.

Detroit finally took the lead in the bottom of the 4th on Miguel Cabrera’s lead-off solo homer (15th of season) off Harden, which gave them a 1-0 lead.

The Cubs then got even in the 5th, thanks to Geovany Soto’s 1-out solo homer (6th of season) off Porcello which tied the game 1-1.

It didn’t stop there, as Alfonso Soriano & Ryan Theriot both hit back-to-back 2-out singles to put runners on 1st & 3rd for Derrek Lee.

Lee then drew a walk, which loaded the bases with 2 outs for Micah Hoffpauir.

Hoffpauir just missed clearing the bases with a foul ball down the right field line, but wound up striking out to end the inning.

The Tigers then again took the lead in the bottom of the 5th on Gerald Laird’s solo homer (3rd of season) off Harden, which made it a 2-1 game.

The rally continued after Adam Everett immediately followed Laird with a walk.

2 batters later, Placido Polanco singled to put runners on 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera then grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Chicago then rallied to tie it in the 6th after Milton Bradley drew a lead-off walk from Porcello.

Jake Fox then singled, which ended Porcello’s evening & forced Jim Leyland to use lefthander Nate Roberson out of his bullpen to face Kosuke Fukudome.

Fukudome singled, which loaded the bases with nobody out for Geovany Soto.

Detroit once again went to their bullpen & called on righthander Zach Miner to face Soto, who struck out looking.

Mike Fontenot then grounded safely into a fielder’s choice, which scored Bradley from 3rd base to tie it 2-2.

With 2 outs & runners on 1st & 3rd, Alfonso Soriano flied out to Curtis Granderson in centerfield to end the inning.

The Tigers then put together a big inning in the bottom of the 6th after Marcus Thames drew a 1-out walk from Harden, which occured after Geovany Soto dropped a foul ball that was hit right in front of the Cubs’ visiting dugout.

2 batters later, Brandon Inge walked to put runners on 1st & 2nd with just 1 out, which forced Lou Piniella to go into his bullpen & call upon righthander Aaron Heilman to face Magglio Ordonez.

Ordonez nearly got robbed on a nice diving attempt by Milton Bradley in right field, but the ball hit his left wrist before hitting the grass for a single, which loaded the bases with just 1 out for Gerald Laird.

Laird then smoked a liner right to Jake Fox at 3rd base, who caught it for the 2nd out.

Fox almost made another defensive gem after diving to stop a grounder by Adam Everett, but threw late to 1st which allowed Thames to score from 3rd base & give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

That brought up Curtis Granderson, who drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Brandon Inge from 3rd, which gave Detroit a 4-2 lead.

Placido Polanco then hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Chicago once again put together another rally in the 7th after Ryan Theriot drew a lead-off walk from Miner.

Derrek Lee then singled to extend his hitting streak to 21 games, which knocked Miner out & brought in lefty Bobby Seay from the Detroit bullpen to face Micah Hoffpauir.

Hoffpauir then flied out to Curtis Granderson in centerfield, which brought in righthander Brandon Lyon to face Milton Bradley.

Lyon then walked Milton Bradley, which loaded the bases with just 1 out for Jake Fox.

Fox then hit a sacrifice fly to Magglio Ordonez in right field, which scored Theriot from 3rd & made it a 4-3 game.

With 2 outs & runners on 1st & 2nd, Kosuke Fukudome then grounded out to Miguel Cabrera at 1st base to end the inning.

The Tigers tried to add onto their lead in the 8th after Magglio Ordonez hit a lead-off single against Cubs reliever Jose Ascanio.

Marcus Thames then reached 1st base safely on a bunt single, but pinch-runner Josh Anderson was thrown out trying to advance to 3rd on the play.

Adam Everett then singled to put runners on 1st & 2nd with just 1 out, which sent Piniella to the mound to put in lefty Sean Marshall.

Marshall did his job, as he struck out Curtis Granderson to leave it up to Placido Polanceo.

Carlos Marmol then entered the game & issued a walk to Polanco, which loaded the bases with 2 outs for Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera then drew a bases-loaded walk, which forced in Laird from 3rd base & gave Detroit a 5-3 lead.

Marcus Thames then struck out looking to end the inning.

Chicago started a final rally in the 9th after Derrek Lee drew a lead-off walk from Detroit closer Fernando Rodney.

Micah Hoffpauir then singled, which put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Milton Bradley.

Bradley then struck out, which nearly resulted in a broken bat over the knee.

Jake Fox then hit a deep outfield flyout, but was retired by Curtis Granderson in right center.

That left it up to Kosuke Fukudome, who struck out looking to end the game.

Zach Miner (5-1) gets the win for Detroit & a blown save (2nd of season) after allowing Mike Fontenot’s game-tying groundout in the 6th inning.

Rich Harden (4-4) takes the loss for the Cubs after allowing 4 runs (2 earned) while walking four & striking out three in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Fernando Rodney allowed a hit & a walk during the 9th inning, but worked out of it to earn his 15th save of the season.

The Tigers will look to complete the 3-game sweep on Thursday afternoon at 12:05 PM cst, as righthander Armando Galarraga (3-7, 5.62) will face Cubs southpaw Ted Lilly (7-4, 3.04).

Galarraga will seek his 1st win since April 26th & is 2-3 in 7 home starts with a 5.35 ERA.

Lilly has allowed just 1 earned run over his last 13 2/3 innings on the road & is 2-2 in 4 career starts at CoAmerica Park with a 3.86 ERA.

Before Wednesday’s game, the Cubs put outfielder Reed Johnson on the 15-day DL (back) & activated utility man Ryan Freel.

Freel is hitting just .167 in games with Chicago & has driven in 1 run.

Signing off for now,

Matt T for Cubshub.com