Wichtig » didnt play Saturday.Whoever lines up over center wont have the

CHICAGO -- Travis Wood and the rest of the Chicago Cubs pitchers are starting to turn the ninth spot in the batting order into a productive part of the lineup. Wood hit a fourth-inning grand slam off Jake Peavy and allowed two runs in six innings to lead the way in an 8-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field on Thursday. "Our whole staff has been hitting," Wood said, after his grand slam gave Cubs pitchers 19 RBIs for May, a National League record for one month according to the team. "We take pride in our hitting, being able to help ourselves out, just being able to handle the bat. "That way were not just a dead out." Wood wasnt the only Cubs player hitting home runs against the White Sox on a day with the wind blowing out 24 mph. Nate Schierholtz and Luis Valbuena each hit their sixth home runs of the year in an 11-hit effort by the Cubs offence, keying a fourth straight win overall and third consecutive convincing victory over their crosstown rivals. However, it was Wood (5-3) who broke open the game with his fifth career home run and second this year in the fourth inning with the Cubs leading 2-1. "Woody can flat-out hit," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "He hits any fastball. Theyve (pitchers hitting) all been a big key to these wins. "Theyre not just getting a single and driving a run in. Theyre getting two-run doubles and home runs, and were able to put games away." Welington Castillo and Valbuena started the fourth inning with singles and Jake Peavy hit Darwin Barney before Woods grand slam on a 2-1 pitch. It was the first grand slam by a Cubs pitcher since Jason Marquis hit one Sept. 22, 2008, in New York against the Mets and first by a Cubs pitcher in Wrigley Field since Burt Hooton hit one Sept. 16, 1972, against the New York Mets. "I dont like it," Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo joking about Cubs pitchers driving in 19 runs in May. "Its embarrassing all of us (position players)." Rizzo added: "Its great. Its unbelievable." The last time any teams pitching staff had more than the Cubs total of 19 runs batted in for a month was 1940 when the Detroit Tigers had a month with 20. Peavy (6-3) allowed six earned runs and eight hits in four innings. He also gave up four straight hits in the second inning for two runs that put the Cubs ahead for good as they went on to clinch this years Crosstown Cup -- the first time theyve won the series since 2007. It was Peavys worst start since giving up six runs April 9 at Washington in 5 1-3 innings. "I think man for man everybody in here will tell you we got outplayed," Peavy said. "We didnt play with the intensity we need to play with. We didnt make plays. We didnt make pitches. We didnt get hits. "We played, just not good ball baseball." With two outs in the second, Valbuena doubled, Barney singled him home, Wood singled and David DeJesus singled in Barney for a 2-0 Cubs lead. Schierholtz homered leading off the fifth against reliever Nate Jones for a 7-1 lead and Valbuena hit a leadoff homer off Brian Omogrosso in the eighth. "We came out this series, we struck the ball well, played great defence and the pitching has been outstanding," Wood said. "We played just great all-around baseball." Paul Konerko drove in the first two White Sox runs, one with a third-inning, two-out single and the other on a double in the sixth after Alex Rios had doubled. Alejandro De Aza drove in the final run with a ninth-inning single. The White Sox came into the series at .500 (24-24) for the first time since April 8 after winning five of six games. "Anytime you have three games like this at any point its discouraging," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "You know, again, youve got to regroup and go. "Weve show that we can play a lot better than this and were going to have to prove it again." NOTES: The Cubs called up right-hander Zach Putnam from Triple-A Iowa and sent down right-hander Alex Burnett, a former Baltimore pitcher whom they signed off waivers Monday. Putnam had one inning of scoreless relief. ... A day after hitting three home runs in one game, Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro was back on the bench with starting catcher Welington Castillo in the lineup. ... The Cubs came into the game with the third-most errors in the NL (39) and the White Sox with the most in the AL (35), and both teams committed errors in the first inning.Cheap Air Max Free Shipping . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Discount Air Max Sale . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Winchester, who was not penalized for the hit, appeared to make contact with Kellys head early in the first period of Thursdays game in Boston. http://www.cheapairmaxchinadiscount.com/ . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Cheap Air Max For Sale . -- In a span of seven Washington Redskins offensive plays, Justin Tuck sacked Robert Griffin III four times. Cheap Air Max 97 China Discount .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up.After Syracuses record-setting loss to Pittsburgh that ended the Oranges first season under Dino Babers, the coach revealed his immediate plans.I am going to be out Sunday recruiting, Babers said after Saturdays 76-61 loss at Heinz Field.Smart move.Babers was hired almost one year ago to replace Scott Shafer, whose final game at Syracuse was an emotional home win over Boston College that left the Orange with a 4-8 overall record and a 2-6 showing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Babers ended his first year at Syracuse with the same record and the team on a four-game slide.Theres room for more improvement on both sides of the ball.Five of Syracuses losses came against teams ranked this week in the AP Top 25 -- Clemson, Louisville, Florida State, Pittsburgh and South Florida. Those five outscored the Orange 282-123, and only one of Syracuses victories came against a team with a winning record.Syracuse embraced the new coaching regime and Babers uptempo offensive blueprint, finishing the season ranked 11th in passing offense (321.3 yards per game). But too many injuries on both sides of the ball, reminiscent of what happened to Shafer, and an inability to score despite some gaudy passing numbers, relegated the Orange to another losing season.Helped by that final crazy game against the Panthers , Syracuse finished its season ranked 89th in scoring nationally, averaging just 25.7 points per game. Coupling with a defense that was ranked 121st and allowed nearly seven yards per play was not a winning formula, especially with a run game that averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and was ranked 119th.Still, the players like what theyve seen, especially their upset win over then-No. 17 Virginia Tech, which will play Clemson for the ACC championship.People have truly changed the way they act on and off the field, said quarterback Zack Mahoney, a capable fill-in for injuured starter Eric Dungey .dddddddddddd People buy into coach Babers methods. I just hope that in the future we continue to push ourselves.The biggest question heading into the offseason is the health of Dungey, the cornerstone of the offense who missed four games last year with at least one concussion and the final three games this season after incurring a hard hit to the shoulder-head area in the first quarter of a 54-0 loss at Clemson. Dungey, who will be a junior next year, was on the sidelines throwing before each of the final two home games but did not play and also didnt play Saturday.Whoever lines up over center wont have the most important cog of this years offense -- wideout Amba Etta-Tawo. The Maryland transfer set school records in his final year of eligibility -- 94 catches for 1,482 yards (second nationally) and 14 TDs. Also departing is kick returner Brisly Estime, who led the nation with 17.7 yards per punt return.Defensively, the Orange allowed 501 yards per game, 35 TDs rushing, and 5.4 yards per rush, all school records. The good news is that the Oranges top three tacklers -- LBs Parris Bennett (110) and Zaire Franklin (101, 10 TFLs), and CB Daivon Ellison (90) -- return next season.There was growth, Babers said. Could we be better on defense? Yes, we could be better on defense. We can be better on offense. The one thing that happened this year that is a blessing is that a lot of guys got to play because of a lot of injuries.Normally, it looks bad one year. But the negatives from one year can be the blessings the next year. We have to roll through and see how it goes.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947 ' ' '