Cubs use Peralta's errors to beat Tigers 4-3

CHICAGO — It was another difficult day during a frustrating season for the Chicago Cubs. Only this time, it had a happy ending.

Darwin Barney had three RBIs and the Cubs used shortstop Jhonny Peralta's two throwing errors in the eighth inning to push across the winning run in a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

"It's just nice to get the breaks," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said, "and then a lot of times you'll get errors or miscues by the way you run the bases."

With two outs and two on, Tony Campana hit a grounder to Peralta, whose throw pulled Ramon Santiago off the bag at second. Starlin Castro then hit another grounder to Peralta and the veteran infielder threw wide of first, allowing Barney to scamper home.

"It's kind of hard," said Peralta, who was reinstated from the paternity list before the game. "When that situation happens, obviously I don't feel good about what happened. I tried to make it the best I could do."

Tigers reliever Phil Coke (1-3) was ready when reporters entered the visiting clubhouse, showing a replay of Castro's ball that showed Prince Fielder kept his foot on the base when he pulled in Peralta's second errant throw.

"I knew for a fact the guy was out at first base, because there's no way that his body came off the bag with the ball not in his glove," Coke said. "There's no way. He's pushing off of the bag to get to the ball."

Carlos Marmol (1-2) got the last two outs of the eighth for the victory and Shawn Camp finished for his first save as the Cubs snapped a seven-game losing streak against Detroit in their first matchup since the Tigers swept a three-game series at Comerica Park from June 23-25, 2009.

Barney had a run-scoring groundout and a clutch two-run double, helping the Cubs build a 3-0 lead hours after they fired hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. James Rowson, the organization's minor league hitting coordinator, was promoted to replace Jaramillo on an interim basis.

"It's unfortunate," Barney said. "You never like to see somebody go, but we want to move forward. We've got to focus on trying to win ballgames, and we're going to miss Rudy."

Longtime manager Jim Leyland and the Tigers returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since 2006 and found a receptive audience at the cozy neighborhood ballpark. There were dueling chants of "Let's go Tigers" and "Let's go Cubbies" among the crowd of 41,164, and Detroit jerseys and T-shirts were common in the stands and concourses.

Fielder also played his first game on Chicago's North Side since he signed with the Tigers over the winter. The big first baseman spent his first seven major league seasons with Milwaukee and was reunited Tuesday with Sveum, who agreed to become the Cubs' manager in November after a six-year run on the Brewers' coaching staff.

"He's one of my favorite, if not my favorite guy I've ever coached," Sveum said.

With the wind blowing in on an unseasonably cool night in Chicago, Fielder and fellow Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera each received a Wrigley refresher course when their long fly balls in the sixth each died in the outfield. Paul Maholm grinned as he walked off the mound following Fielder's inning-ending drive, but Detroit was just warming up at the plate.

"That's Wrigley Field," Leyland said. "Some days it blows out, some days it blows in. Thursday afternoon it could be blowing out. That's part of the game."

The Tigers put the first two batters on in the seventh, chasing Maholm from the game. With one out and the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago hit an RBI single off Casey Coleman and Austin Jackson singled in a pair to tie it at 3.

Jackson's clutch hit was his second in as many games. He also hit a tying two-run double off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of Detroit's 7-6 victory at Cincinnati on Sunday.