Jeff Samardzija made his first start of the second half on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, hoping to even the series against the Miami Marlins.
The Cubs led 5-1 in the eighth when a deluge forced the umpires to stop play and eventually call the game after a 1 hour, 17-minute delay.
Samardzija was lifted after five innings, allowing one run with nine strikeouts. James Russell got the win in relief after the Cubs scored four in the eighth off Josh Johnson and reliever Mike Dunn.
"I thought we played great," Samardzija said. "I was happy we kind of battled through there and kept just one run on the board. Previously this season there were times I let it get away from me, and in turn the game gets away from me. You get a couple great plays like (Darwin) Barney made and a home run by (Starlin Castro) and you're in the game. A total team effort today."
Manager Dale Sveum said Samardzija did what he needed to do, despite not being as efficient with his pitches.
"The outs came a little tough for him today, but he battled and did a great job," Sveum said.
The Cubs have won 13 of their last 18 games heading into the finale of the homestand on Thursday.
Miami manager Ozzie Guillen chided Cubs fans before the game, noting how quiet they were on Tuesday.
"It was fun when they booed me yesterday, because I know they are still alive, because it was kind of quiet for a little while," he said. "Then when I go out to send the (relief) pitcher, they start booing me and I said 'Yes, they are still alive. Good to see you guys again.'
"It was awesome. That's Chicago. What do you expect? They know I'm a White Sox. There's no in-between here. You're in or you're not. I love it."
Mark Buehrle also noted it was as quiet as he'd remembered it, though all of his previous trips were Cubs-White Sox games. The Cubs were down early by a 7-0 score on Tuesday, which might have been a factor.
Jose Reyes' solo home run in the third gave the Marlins an early lead, before Castro tied it in the fourth with a leadoff homer off Johnson.
The Cubs went ahead on Geovany Soto's RBI single in the seventh, and added three more runs on a two-run pinch double by Jeff Baker and a sacrifice fly by David DeJesus.
The downpour came with the Marlins batting in the eighth. They played through it for a while, but it eventually became so tough to see that the umpires called for a delay.
psullivan@tribune.com
