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Cubs pound Brewers as Baker's future remains uncertain

MILWAUKEE -- Dusty Baker's days as the Chicago Cubs
manager may be numbered. He hopes a last-ditch effort from
Aramis Ramirez and Glendon Rusch will be enough to save his job.

Ramirez had three hits, including a monster home run, and Rusch
filled in admirably for an injured Mark Prior as the Cubs posted
an 11-4 triumph over the Milwaukee Brewers.

It was the fourth victory in the last five games for Chicago,
which has drastically underachieved all season. The situation
has become so embarrassing that Cubs general manager Jim Hendry
announced this week that he would use the All-Star break to
re-evaluate the coaching staff.

But with Baker's job in limbo, the Cubs responded with stellar
play over the last three games, scoring 21 runs and collecting
36 hits.

"He better be here (after the break)," Chicago right fielder
Jacque Jones said. "I wouldn't be here if he wasn't the manager
here, and I know a lot of guys in this clubhouse feel the same
way."

Juan Pierre had two hits and three RBIs on Sunday while Jones
added three hits for Chicago, which took a 4-2 lead in the
fourth inning and never looked back.

Ramirez, who botched a pair of relatively easy foul pops at
third base in the top of the inning, opened the bottom of the
frame by crushing the first pitch from Doug Davis (5-6) well
over the center field wall for his 16th homer, forging a 2-2
tie.

Often criticized for their inability to play "small ball," the
Cubs followed Ramirez's mammoth blast by manufacturing a pair of
runs to take the lead for good.

"We've had stretches like this, but then we've regressed," said
Pierre, who is batting .467 (21-for-45) over his last 10 games.
"Hopefully, we don't do that. I see things going in a positive
direction here."

Michael Barrett walked and Jones hit a ground-rule double to
right field. After Matt Murton lofted a sacrifice fly to give
Chicago a 3-2 lead, Ronny Cedeno plated Jones with a perfectly
executed squeeze play.

The two-run cushion was more than enough for Rusch (3-7), who
yielded just two runs and four hits in five innings. Filling in
for Prior, who was scratched from his scheduled start with a
strained left oblique muscle, Rusch walked two and struck out
five to win for the first time since June 3 at St. Louis.

"(Injuries) are something we have been dealing with and we just
have to persevere through, and hopefully, when everybody is back
healthy, we can play better as a team," Rusch said.

"Losing Prior put us behind the eight-ball," Baker said. "We
got some early runs, got some runs added on and finished strong
for the break. It's always good to go in with a winning
streak."

Davis struggled with his command all day and fell to 5-5
lifetime against the Cubs. The lefthander worked just 5 1/3
innings, allowing seven runs, seven hits and six walks.

"His command was off. A lot of leadoff walks, nothing good is
going to come of that," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "The
break is coming at a good time for us. We've got some guys
struggling, but we'll be ready to come back out there on
Friday."

Carlos Lee blasted a two-run homer and Rickie Weeks added a solo
shot for the Brewers, who concluded a 4-3 homestand.

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