In Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs built an early 4-0 lead & cruised to an easy 10-2 win over the Atlanta Braves from Turner Field.

Chipper Jones then grounded out to 1st base, which advanced Escobar to 2nd base with 2 outs for Brian McCann.

McCann ended the scoring threat with his groundout to Mark DeRosa at 2nd base.

The Cubs were then able to score a pair of runs in the top of the 2nd inning after Jim Edmonds & Mark DeRosa drew back-to-back walks off Braves starter Charlie Morton.

Geovany Soto then hit an RBI double to score both Edmonds & DeRosa, giving Chicago a 2-0 lead.

The Cubs were then able to double their lead in the top of the 3rd inning after Aramis Ramirez hit a 1-out single off Morton.

Jim Edmonds then followed with an opposite-field 2-run homer (16th of season) to give Chicago a 4-0 lead.

The Cubs had a chance to score an additional run after Mark DeRosa drew a 1-out walk against Braves reliever Buddy Carlyle.

DeRosa then stole 2nd base & advanced to 3rd base on a throwing error by Brian McCann  during Geovany Soto’s at-bat, who flied out to Gregor Blanco in right field.

Ryan Theriot then struck out looking to end the inning.

Atlanta’s biggest scoring threat of the game came during the bottom of the 3rd inning after Gregor Blanco drew a 2-out walk from Marquis.

Yuniel Escobar then singled & Chipper Jones drew a walk to load the bases with 2 outs for Brian McCann.

On a full count pitch, Marquis got McCann to fly out to Ryan Theriot in shallow left field to  end the scoring threat.

The Braves then ended the shutout in the bottom of the 4th inning after Omar Infante hit a 1-out double against Marquis.

Mark Kotsay then hit an RBI double to score Infante from 2nd base & made it a 4-1 Cub lead.

Kelly Johnson then flied out to Alfonso Soriano in left field & pinch-hitter Greg Norton grounded out to Mark DeRosa at 2nd base to end the inning.

The Cubs were then able to break the game open in the top of the 5th inning after Aramis Ramirez drew a 1-out walk off Braves reliever Vladimir Nunez.

Jim Edmonds then hit an RBI double to score Ramirez from 1st base & give Chicago a 5-1 lead.

Mark DeRosa followed with an RBI double to score Edmonds from 2nd base, which gave the Cubs a 6-1 lead.

After Geovany Soto singled to load the bases with 1 out, Ryan Theriot stayed out of a doubleplay & scored DeRosa from 3rd to give Chicago a 7-1 lead.

The Cubs added another run in the top of the 6th inning on Aramis Ramirez’s 2-out RBI double to give Chicago a 8-1 lead.

Atlanta’s 2nd & final run of the game came during the bottom of the 6th inning on Omar Infante’s 1-out RBI single.

Chicago scored for the final time in the top of the 9th inning after Mark DeRosa hit a lead-off single against Atlanta reliever Francisley Bueno.

Geovany Soto then followed with a 2-run homer (18th of season) to give the Cubs a 10-2 lead.

3 batters later, Bueno was then tossed from the game after throwing a pitch over the head of Alfonso Soriano, who would later hit into a doubleplay against Braves reliever Blaine Boyer to end the inning.

Jason Marquis (8-7) gets the win for the Cubs after pitching 5 1/3 innings & allowing 2 runs on 6 hits.

Chad Morton (3-7) takes the loss for the Braves after allowing 4 runs on 4 hits in just 2 1/3 innings of work.

Neal Cotts, Jeff Samardzija & Bob Howry combined to shut out Atlanta for the final 3 2/3 innings of the game.

The Cubs will now look to sweep as Game 2 of the doubleheader will start at 6:15 PM cst from Turner Field, as righthander Rich Harden (1-1, 2.10 in 5 starts with Cubs) will be opposed by Braves rookie righthander Jorge Campillo (7-4, 2.83).

Harden will be looking for his 2nd win at Turner Field this season, as he did beat the Braves back on May 17th (as a member of the Oakland Athletics) after allowing just 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings of work during the Athletics’ 5-4 win.

Campillo is 3-o in 5 starts since the All-Star break with a 2.17 ERA & will make his 1st career start against the Cubs on Wednesday evening.

Signing off for now,