Carlos Marmol shaky in the 9th inning, but Cubs hold on to win 8-7 over Mets; Kim and David DeJesus to hold ALS awareness day July 14th

The Cubs beat the New York Mets 8-7 in the first game of the three-game series at Citi Field.  Travis Wood started for the Cubs and allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and walked four and struck out three over six innings pitched.

Travis Wood earned his fourth straight win Friday night against the Mets (photo from Chicago Tribune)

Wood earned his fourth straight win tonight, even though Carlos Marmol made it interesting in the ninth inning when he gave up a home run and loaded the bases with three straight walks and also gave up a two-run single.  But thankfully Lucas Duda then lined out to Marmol, who was able to turn it into a game-ending double play. 

Anthony Rizzo, Reed Johnson, and Jeff Baker all hit home runs in the game.  Rizzo went 4-for-5 tonight, including his 3-run home run, which was immediately followed by Jeff Baker's solo home run in the 5th inning.

Anthony Rizzo was 4-for-5 with a 3-run homer in Friday's game against the Mets (photo from cubs.com)

The Cubs scored five runs, seven hits and 2 HRs in the 5th inning and also set a season high of 18 hits and are no longer in last place in the NL Central, which is nice to see!  Let's keep this "Anthony Rizzo momentum" going!

Anthony Rizzo is congratulated by Darwin Barney after his three-run homer in the fifth inning against the Mets (photo from Chicago Tribune)

The Cubs announced today that Ryan Dempster will come off the disabled list and start on Sunday in the finale against the Mets.  Dempster has been on the DL for 22 days with a sore right lat (shoulder).

"He says he feels as good as he has all year," manager Dale Sveum said.  "It's just a matter of durability issues.  But the guy keeps himself in phenomenal shape.  That's part of the decision.  If it was somebody else besides Ryan Dempster, you probably wouldn't even have been thinking about this."  Dempster will be limited to between 70-80 pitches.

In other Cubs news, David DeJesus' wife, Kim, will be hosting an ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) awareness day outside the main gate of Wrigley Field on Saturday, July 14th.  She will be selling mystery baseballs before the 12:05pm game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Each ball will sell for a $50 donation and will be wrapped so it will be a fun surprise to see which autographed ball you get.  Every player on the team has signed 12 balls.  ALS bracelets will also be available for a small donation.  All proceeds will go towards ALS research.

Here are a couple photos of the balls (that Kim DeJesus (‏@KimDeJesus9) posted on twitter):

Anthony Rizzo's autographed baseballs for the ALS mystery baseball event on July 14th

One of twelve signed Bryan LaHair baseballs to be sold at the ALS event on July 14th

Also, after the game on the same day, David DeJesus will be holding an autograph signing at the Cubs store across from Wrigley Field.  For a minimum donation of $20, you can meet David and get an autograph from the Cubs outfielder, with all proceeds benefitting ALS research.

Tomorrow the Cubs and Mets will play game two of the series at 3:10pm CT.   Jeff Samardzija will start for the Cubs and try for his seventh win of the season.