Anguish

CHICAGO -- The Florida Marlins wore black caps Wednesday, befitting their role as spoilers against those lovable losers, the Chicago Cubs.\nBut give the Marlins credit: For bad guys, they're pretty darned good.\nAnd they're headed to the World Series, culminating a wild ride for a team that began the season with few fans and modest expectations.\nJosh Beckett, working on two days' rest after pitching a two-hit shutout Sunday, came out of the bullpen to stymie Chicago again and help Florida win 9-6 in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series.\nFans at Wrigley Field can blame the Cubs curse, a subpar showing by Kerry Wood and the souvenir-seeking spectator, who some thought played a role in his team's collapse in Game 6.\nThe Marlins and their 72-year-old manager, Jack McKeon, prefer to think they were simply the better team. And they'll be a handful in the World Series for the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees, who play the deciding game of the AL Championship Series today.\nIn keeping with the way the Marlins won all season, they had plenty of heroes responding to the winner-take-all pressure of Game 7.\nBeckett provided the biggest boost. Showing no signs of weariness from throwing 115 pitches in Game 5, the right-hander came on to start the fifth inning with the Marlins ahead only 6-5. He pitched four innings and allowed just one baserunner -- on pinch-hitter Troy O'Leary's home run.\nCabrera hit a three-run homer and made several fine catches in right field, a position he played for the first time Saturday. Playoff hero Ivan Rodriguez scored twice and doubled home a run, giving him 10 RBIs in the series, a record. Even Derrek Lee and Alex Gonzalez, both batting below .150 in the series, contributed run-scoring hits.\nBrad Penny, bumped from the rotation after a poor showing in Game 2, pitched a perfect fourth after starter Mark Redman departed trailing 5-3. Ugueth Urbina threw a hitless ninth.\nWhen Jeff Conine caught a flyball in left field for the final out, the Marlins mobbed each other in jubilation as the Wrigley crowd of 39,574 fell silent. Then came scattered boos -- likely for the Cubs -- followed by polite applause -- likely for Florida.\nThe Marlins know they disappointed a lot of people by winning. Center fielder Juan Pierre estimated "97 percent of the world" wanted the Cubs to win.\nThe Cubs haven't been to the World Series since 1945, but to see the Marlins celebrate a pennant was almost as surprising. They began the year with just one winning season in their tumultuous 10-year history, and they changed managers in May on the way to a 19-29 start.\nBut rookies Dontrelle Willis and Cabrera helped revitalize baseball in South Florida, and the bandwagon grew rapidly during their September surge to win the wild-card race.\nThe Marlins came from behind to eliminate NL West champion San Francisco in the division series. Now they're only the fourth team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the NL or AL championship series.\nWednesday, the Marlins came from behind for the sixth time in their seven playoff wins. They won for the third time in four games at Wrigley Field. And this time they needed no help from any Cubs fans, totaling eight hits and seven runs against a laboring Wood, who threw 112 pitches in 5 2-3 innings.\nThe Marlins improved their all-time record in postseason series to 5-0. They won the only other Game 7 they played in the 1997 World Series. And now they're headed to Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park for another Series beginning Saturday.\nFlorida, which had been outscored 12-0 in the first inning in the series, started fast against Wood.\nPierre tripled on an 0-2 pitch leading off, Rodriguez walked on the ninth pitch he saw, and Cabrera homered on a 1-2 pitch for a 3-0 lead.\nIt was the third home run in the league championship series for Cabrera, a rookie record.\nRedman began the game with an ERA of 1.32 in two starts against the Cubs this season, but he failed to hold the lead. Eric Karros singled in the second, took third on a double by Alex Gonzalez and scored on a groundout. Wood worked the count to 3-2, then sent the crowd into a frenzy with a two-run homer, the seventh of his career but his first in postseason play.\nIn the third inning Redman hit Sammy Sosa with a 3-2 pitch, and Moises Alou homered to put the Cubs ahead 5-3.\nFlorida rallied in the fifth, taking advantage of Wood's wildness. Pinch-hitter Briank Banks and Luis Castillo walked, and Rodriguez doubled home a run for his 10th RBI in the series, a record. Cabrera's RBI groundout tied the game, and Lee put Florida ahead to stay with a two-out RBI single.