Astros 9, Cubs 7 in 11 innings
W: Wright (4-3) | L: Wood (4-3) | S: Valverde (39)
The road warrior Astros put another L on the frontrunning Cubs at their own crappy yard, finally achieving victory in 11 innings after a huge two-run bomb from Geoff Blum.
Brandon Backe started and ran into trouble early. After the Astros went 1-2-3 in the 1st, Soriano led off with a solo shot for the early lead, and Backe loaded the bases before a comebacker double play got him off the hook.
In the second, Blum walked with one out and Hunter Pence smashed a liner off of Zambrano’s foot that richoched into right field for an odd double. David Newhan’s grounder then tied the game at one all.
Backe got through the second inning with no damage thanks to another double play. The third inning was scoreless as was the top of the fourth, but the Cubs unloaded two solo shots off Backe in the bottom half to take a 3-1 lead.
In the fifth, Humberto Quintero slammed a Zambrano offering to the right-center gap for a double, and a Backe sacrifice bunt sent him to third. Michael Bourn walked and stole second, followed by another walk to Ty Wigginton to load the bases. Zambrano was clearly struggling at this point, much to the delight of Astros fans. Miguel Tejada then sliced a liner past first to score two and tie it back up, but Zambrano bore down and retired Lance Berkman and Blum to avoid further damage.
Backe started the fifth by allowing a pair of singles, then a deep fly to Pence that had the Wrigley faithful crying yard, but they were disappointed as the Aramis Ramirez drive fell short. That was enough for Cecil Cooper however, as Backe hit the showers after he labored through 4.1 innings, coughing up three solo homers and six other hits. He was bailed out of a even worse stat line by Fernando Nieve, who relieved and promptly coaxed a double play ball to keep the game tied at 3.
Cubs manager Sweet Lou Piniella decided to pull his ace Zambrano after the 5th and give the ball to Bob Howry. Thanks, Lou. Pence led off the sixth with a long, high drive that took Cubbies Sexy Bitch centerfielder Jimmy Edmonds all the way to an ivy facial as Thunderpants raced around like a Spaz and wound up at third while Edmonds was deciding which ball to throw back. Seems there was a stray ball stuck in the green plants adoring the outfield fence that came loose during the play. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Edmonds planted it there in case he needed it for one of his Sportscenter highlight catches. Anyway, the next batter Newhan stroked a single scoring Spaz with the go ahead run. Q followed with another single, and pinch-hitter Reggie Abercrombie attempted to bunt them over but Howry would have none of that, he walked him instead to load the bases. Bourn was next up, and with the infield drawn in, he hit a shot off of Howry’s glove into center field to score two. Sweet Lou had seen enough and yanked Howry from the game and brought in Michael Wuertz. Wiggy foiled the plan by drawing a walk to re-load the bases. Things were looking real nice for the good guys right about now as Miggy stepped up to the plate, but run-scoring 6-4-3 DP followed by a grounder to first let Wuertz escape further damage. When the smoke cleared, the Astros held a 7-3 lead.
That didn’t last long. The normally reliable Tim Byrdak took to the hill in the bottom of the sixth and walked the Sexy Bitch leading off the inning. A pair of doubles later, Chris Sampson was summoned from the bullpen to limit the damage. He recorded three outs, but not before allowing a single that scored the third run of the inning. 7-6 Astros.
In the seventh, the Astros had a couple reach base but failed to score. Doug Brocail was sent to mow down the Cubs in the bottom half, but he allowed a solo homer to Edmonds to tie the game.
Carlos Marmol entered the game and shut down the good guys in the eighth. Brocail remained in the bottom half and struck out the first batter, then walked the bases full. This is not good. A slick 5-4-3 twin-killing saved his ass.
The Astros couldn’t touch Marmol in the ninth, either. Pence did reach on a muff by Errormiss Ramirez. Wesley Wright was entrusted to keep the score tied and take it to extra frames. He did just that, working around a leadoff walk to close out the 9th.
Free baseball for the stuffed to capacity bleacher creatures known as Cubbie fans. Kerry Wood pitched the 10th, and despite another error by the iron glove/arm at 3B, kept the Astros off the bases. In the bottom half, Wright again walked the leadoff man and followed that by allowing a single. Cubbie fans sensed victory, but the rookie Wright quieted the idiots with a couple of fly balls to center and a huge strikeout.
On to the 11th. Wood remained in the game but ran into trouble by walking Lance Berkman with one out. Blum then launched his bomb to the right field fans just so they would make BudGirl happy and throw it back. Wood stayed in and retired the side despite another error by, you guessed it, Errormiss. His third in three innings. Let’s hope the streak continues tomorrow.
Astros closer Jose Valverde has been a busy man lately, and he came through again. A punchout of Errormiss recorded one out, but a single brought the tying run to the plate. Former Astro Heavy D pinch-hit and lofted a fly to left for the second out. Valverde then blew away the rookie Soto for his league leading 39th save.
The Game Zone was rocking tonight to the tune of 24 pages, don’t miss it!