SAN FRANCISCO -- In mid air, Dustan Mohr reminded himself of one fundamental baseball rule: Watch the ball until it's in your glove.
Mohr made a run-saving diving catch in the warning track dirt in the eighth inning of the San Francisco Giants' 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night.
Then, he moved from center field to right for the final inning and ended the game with a sliding catch that caused him to roll over the bullpen mound. After he lost a ball in the sun on Aramis Ramirez's single in the fourth, it became his mission to make up for it.
"I took two or three steps and knew I was going to get close," said Mohr, who ranked the first catch as the toughest play he's made. "I did everything I could to get there. I just wanted to make sure I watched the ball into my glove."
Rookie Noah Lowry (2-0) had another impressive start for San Francisco, even adding a second-inning single and a double in the fourth to give him four straight hits over his past two starts until a groundout in the sixth.
The Giants moved within two games of the Cubs in the NL wild card race, tied with San Diego.
A.J. Pierzynski had two hits and two RBI for the Giants, including his run-scoring groundout in the seventh for an insurance run. Pedro Feliz scored on the play after going from first to third on a groundout by Barry Bonds when the defense shifted toward right field for the slugger.
Lowry received a loud ovation when he gave way to new closer Dustin Hermanson with one out in the eighth, but the cheers for Mohr were even greater after he robbed Moises Alou of an extra-base hit with his big catch in left-center for the final out of the inning to keep Nomar Garciaparra from scoring the tying run.
The Giants' dugout erupted in celebration and players rushed out to congratulate him.
"I don't even know how to describe the feeling," Mohr said. "It took me some time to gather myself. I was excited. The team was excited. It was a big win."
Mohr also had a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 3-2, then singled to start the Giants' two-run eighth in which one of the runs was unearned. Mohr also got hit by a pitch in the left wrist in the fifth.
Lowry, a 23-year-old lefty making his fifth major league start, earned his first win last Tuesday night in an 11-0 victory over Cincinnati. He struck out six and walked one in 7 1/3 innings Sunday, allowing two earned runs on eight hits.
"I like the way things are going right now," he said. "I'm going to stick with the same game plan."
Hermanson finished for his first save of the season in his first chance.
Cubs starter Kerry Wood (6-5), making his sixth start since coming off the disabled list after missing almost two months with a right triceps strain, failed to get a strikeout for the first time in 155 major league starts -- "Pretty indicative that he didn't have his good stuff," manager Dusty Baker said.
Wood allowed four earned runs on nine hits in six innings, with three walks a day after Chicago rallied from a three-run deficit to help Greg Maddux win his 300th game.
"They just put the ball in play," Wood said. "I thought I had pretty good velocity on my fastball and they were hitting it."
San Francisco held Sammy Sosa 0-for-12 in the series, and the slugger is hitless in his last 15 at-bats. He's just 2-for-24 (.083) the last six games.
"The guys pitched him tough," said Giants bench coach Ron Wotus, who filled in after manager Felipe Alou had to leave early for personal reasons. "We're fortunate he didn't beat us in this series."
Baker said he's not concerned about Sosa and knows he will work himself out of the slump.
"Most of it is probably pitch selection," Baker said. "He needs to be more selective. You've seen the guy struggle before."
Wood retired the first two batters on three pitches, then allowed a single to left by Feliz to bring up Bonds, who walked. Pierzynski and Edgardo Alfonzo followed with RBI singles to give San Francisco a 2-0 lead.
The Cubs tied it in the second on three straight two-out hits, including Michael Barrett's RBI double and a run-scoring single by Ramon Martinez.
Felipe Alou left the game in the fourth inning to head home to Florida because his wife, Lucie, is having surgery. Alou didn't want to elaborate, but hoped to rejoin the team Tuesday in Pittsburgh if everything went well.
Garciaparra got the day off until pinch-hitting in the eighth. He is batting .357 (10-for-28) in seven games since joining the Cubs at the trading deadline.
Notes
- Giants RHP Jesse Foppert, out all season following elbow surgery, made his fourth rehab start with Class-A San Jose. Foppert made 57 pitches in 3 1/3 innings, didn't allow a hit or a run, walked two and struck out four in a game against Stockton.
- It was the 1,000th win by the current Giants ownership group headed by Peter Magowan since 1993.
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