Home Run Lifts Cubs Past Braves

K signs everywhere. Fans, nearly 40,000 strong, roaring as if they were watching the playoffs, not a regular-season game in May. This is what Kerry Wood has brought to the Chicago Cubs.

He didn't pitch them to a victory Friday -- they had to go to the 11th inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3, long after Wood had departed -- but he kept them close, while his mere presence rocked Wrigley Field.

"It's always electric when Woody pitches. He brings in the people to watch and why not?" said Brant Brown, who won the game with a two-run homer in the 11th.

"He pitched a great game, kept us close. And even though he didn't get the 'W,' somebody else did."

What Wood got in just his ninth major league start were 13 strikeouts in seven innings. He was making his first appearance at Wrigley since he tied a major league record by fanning 20 Houston Astros May 6.

"To me it really wasn't that different from last time. The fans were just into the game from the first pitch," Wood said. "It's fun, it's a blast. I'm having a good time."

The crowd of 38,010, in a postseason-like frenzy, roared in anticipation every time Wood got two strikes on a batter and then erupted when the strikeout was recorded.

Wood struck out two an inning for the first six, and it wasn't difficult to keep count. K charts and cards sprung up all over the picturesque park - on rooftops overlooking the field, behind the third base dugout and in the bleachers.

"The stands are full and every time he gets a strikeout, it gets really loud. It's awesome," Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said. "It just gets you juiced."

Wild high, Wood walked six, two of which led the Braves' runs. He gave up five hits in his 126-pitch outing and left trailing 2-1 after a pitching duel with Atlanta's Tom Glavine, the winningest left-hander in baseball the last 10 years.

"I wasn't worried about taking the loss. Glavine was great. I probably deserved it," Wood said.

"He handles himself so well out there and that's probably the thing I'm most impressed with," Glavine said.

"You just hope the phenomenon surrounding him doesn't hurt him. There's pressure on him now to go out and strike out 20 every time he pitches and throw a shutout. And if he doesn't, everybody wants to know what's wrong. That's an awful lot of pressure to put on a 20-year-old kid."

In the 11th, Jason Hardtke walked off John Rocker (1-1) and moved to second on a sacrifice by Scott Servais. Brown then drove an 0-1 pitch over the ivy in center for his fourth homer of the season.

Terry Adams (33) pitched two innings of hitless relief for the victory in the three-hour, 23-minute game. It was only the second win in eight games for the Cubs.

Curtis Pride hit his first homer, leading off the ninth against reliever Rod Beck, to tie the game at 3-3.

The Cubs had rallied for two in bottom of the eighth to take a 3-2 lead against Glavine on Servais homer' and an error on Atlanta second baseman Keith Lockhart.

Glavine allowed 10 hits, walked two and struck out three in eight innings.

Walt Weiss walked in the third, went to third on a single by Keith Lockhart and scored on Chipper Jones' fielder's choice for a 1-0 Braves lead.

The Cubs tied it against Glavine in the bottom half on a single by Servais single, Wood's perfect sacrifice and a two-out run-scoring hit by Manny Alexander.

Michael Tucker worked Wood for a walk with one out in the fourth and scored from first when Andruw Jones lined a double just inside the left field line.

In the eighth, Servais hit his third homer. Brown walked, Alexander dropped down a bunt, and when catcher Javier Lopez threw late to second both runners were safe. Minutes later, an alert Lopez threw to second and caught Brown in between second and third and he was tagged out sliding into third.

But Alexander took second on the play and scored as Mickey Morandini's hard grounder went through Lockhart's legs to make it 3-2.

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