Marcus Giles slides home
© AFPCHICAGO (AFP) - Atlanta's Marcus Giles alertly tagged up from second base on a sacrifice fly and took advantage of a pair of errors to score the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.
After Zambrano took a 5-1 lead into the seventh, the Cubs surrendered single tallies in the seventh and eighth.
The Braves then scored three times in the ninth, capitalizing on a shaky outing by closer Ryan Dempster.
The loss was the Cubs fourth straight loss and 19th in 24 games in May.
"We gave them runs and you can't give them runs," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "Two runs on walks, one run because we couldn't turn a double play, a ball that is lost in the sun so they get a hit. Then the sacrifice fly. We gave them four or five runs."
Blowing a save for the second time in four days, Dempster gave up two straight hits to start the frame before issuing two walks, including one to Edgar Renteria that brought Atlanta within 5-4.
After Dempster struck out Chipper Jones for the first out of the ninth, Andruw Jones lifted a flyball to right field for a sacrifice fly that tied the game by scoring pinch-hitter Brayan Pena.
However, Giles also tagged up on the play and broke for home when second baseman Neifi Perez was unable to catch the throw from the outfield and unleashed a wild throw of his own that went over catcher Michael Barrett's head.
Perez was charged with two errors on the play and Dempster finished with two earned runs allowed in his second straight appearance.
The meltdown ruined another strong outing by Zambrano. One of the few bright spots during the team's struggles, the righthander lost out on a bid to win his fourth consecutive outing.
"We just stick together as a team through hard times," Zambrano said. "There is no finger pointing in our clubhouse. We just have to stay close and work our way out of this."
Wild from the start, Zambrano overcame four walks in the first inning. He lost his no-hit bid in the seventh when right fielder Jacque Jones lost pinch hitter Wilson Betemit's flyball in the sun for a double.
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