While it wasn’t as nearly as dramatic as yesterday’s thrilling comeback, the Chicago Cubs erased an early deficit & won their 6th straight game by beating the Colorado Rockies 5-4 on Saturday afternoon from Wrigley Field.

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster got into some 1st inning trouble after issuing back-to-back 2 out walks to Todd Helton & Ryan Spilborghs.

However, Dempster ended the threat by striking out Ian Stewart with 2 runners on.

Chicago had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the 1st inning after back-to-back 1 out singles by Ryan Theriot & Derrek Lee off Colorado starter Glendon Rusch.

Aramis Ramirez then flied out to Sean Smith in right field, with Theriot tagging to 3rd base on the play.

Geovany Soto then was robbed of a hit by a great diving catch from Smith in right field to end the scoring threat.

Reed Johnson also displayed some great defense in center field, as he made a nice diving catch to rob Chris Iannetta of a lead-off hit to start the 2nd inning.

Dempster experienced more control problems in the top of the 2nd after he issued a 1-out walk to Jeff Baker.

Omar Quintanilla then hit a 2-run homer to right field for the 1st of his major league career, which gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead.

The Cubs immediately answered back in the bottom of the 2nd inning after Kosuke Fukudome’s lead-off single against Rusch.

3 batters later, Chicago displayed some clutch 2-out hitting as Ryan Dempster belted an RBI double, scoring Fukudome from 1st base to make it a 2-1 Rockies lead.

Alfonso Soriano then delivered the go-ahead 2-run homer (12th of season) to the right center field bleachers, giving the Cubs a 3-2 lead.

Dempster got into more trouble in the top of the 3rd inning after issuing a lead-off walk to Todd Helton & hitting Ryan Spilborghs.

Dempster then settled down & struck out the side to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs added another run to their lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning after Aramis Ramirez’s 1-out double off Rusch.

Geovany Soto then followed with an RBI double, which scored Ramirez from 2nd base & gave the Cubs a 4-2 lead.

Kosuke Fukudome then grounded out to Jeff Baker at 2nd base, but was able to advance Soto to 3rd base with 2 outs for Mark DeRosa.

DeRosa ended the inning with a strikeout.

Chicago added yet another run in the bottom of the 4th inning after Reed Johnson’s lead-off ground rule double against Rusch.

Ryan Dempster then laid down a sac bunt to advance Johnson to 3rd base with just 1 out for Alfonso Soriano.

Soriano delivered with an RBI single, which scored Johnson from 3rd base & gave the Cubs a 5-2 lead.

Colorado crept a bit closer in the top of the 5th inning on Todd Helton’s solo homer (6th of season) which touched a fan in the bleachers & came back onto the field of play. There was no initial argument from Cubs player or skipper Lou Piniella, so the call stood making it a 5-3 Cub lead.

Chicago had a chance to add onto their lead in the bottom of the 6th inning after a 1-out double by Mike Fontenot.

Alfonso Soriano then flied out to right center field, but was able to advance Fontenot to 3rd on the play for Ryan Theriot.

Theriot ended the scoring threat by grounding out to Ian Stewart at 3rd base.

Chicago had yet another chance to score more runs in the bottom of the 7th inning after Geovany Soto’s 2-out double off Colorado reliever Jorge De La Rosa that scampered into the Cubs’ bullpen area down the left field line.

Kosuke Fukudome ended the scoring threat with a strikeout.

Neal Cotts gave up a lead-off walk to Todd Helton to start the top of the 8th inning, which brought Cory Sullivan up as the game-tying run.

Cotts struck out Sullivan, which ended his outing.

Cubs reliever Bob Howry came on & struck out Garrett Atkins before getting Chris Iannettea to fly out to Reed Johnson in left center field, who nearly collided with Alfonso Soriano on the play but held onto the ball to end the inning.

The Cubs had a chance to add a key insurance run in the bottom of the 8th inning after a 1-out walk to Reed Johnson from Rockies reliever De La Rosa.

Johnson then took 2nd base on a De La Rosa wild pitch & advanced to 3rd base on Mike Fontenot’s infield groundout.

Alfonso Soriano was then hit by a pitch, which brought up Ryan Theriot with runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs.

Theriot drew a walk, which brought up Derrek Lee with the bases loaded.

Lee struck out looking to end the scoring threat.

With Kerry Wood receiving the day off, Carlos Marmol came on to close for the first time since last Sunday’s heartbreaking extra-inning loss to Pittsburgh.

Marmol struck out Jonathan Herrera before getting aided by a fantastic defensive play from Kosuke Fukudome, who leaped up right in front of the ivy brick wall in right field to rob Omar Quintanilla of an extra-base hit.

Fukudome’s defensive gem would turn out to be huge, as Scott Podsednik hit a solo homer (1st of season) to make it a 5-4 Cub lead.

That’s the closest that Colorado would get, as Marmol struck out Wily Taveras to end the game.

Despite pitching just 5 innings, Ryan Dempster (7-2) picks up the win for the Cubs & is a perfect 7-0 at Wrigley Field this season.

Glendon Rusch (1-3) takes the loss for the Rockies after giving up 5 runs on 9 hits in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Carlos Marmol retired 3 of his 4 batters faced in the 9th inning to earn his 3rd save of the season.

The Cubs will now look to finish up a perfect homestand & earn their 7th consecutive win Sunday afternoon at 1:20 PM cst against the Rockies, as rookie Sean Gallagher (2-1, 4.50) will be opposed by Rockies righthander Ubaldo Jimenez (1-5, 5.37)

Gallagher is 2-0 in 3 home starts this season with a 3.12 ERA & is coming off his best major league start, as he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits in 7 strong innings against Los Angeles on May 27th.

Jimenez is 0-4 in 7 road starts this season with a 6.95 ERA. In 2 career starts against the Cubs, Jimenez is 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA, which is his highest earned run average among all opposing teams in baseball.

Signing off for now,