Four in a row!
(c) Associated Press
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Something's wrong with this picture. For the second straight night, the "hard-hitting" Chicago Cubs could manage just one run and the "no starting pitching" Houston Astros got a gutty performance from a starting pitcher. Saturday night, it was Wandy Rodriguez who wriggled out of trouble for 6+ innings on his way to a 4-1 victory. The lone Chicago run came on a homer by Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano.
Rodriguez allowed nine hits but he struck out seven and walked no one. Zambrano, on the other hand, gave out six free passes - two of whom later scored - while giving up six hits. Chris Sampson, Doug Brocail and Jose Valverde finished off the Bruins with Valverde getting his 25th save.
Carlos Lee and Miguel Tejada were key in scoring the first three runs while David Newhan tripled and scored in the seventh to add some insurance.
Houston goes for the sweep Sunday afternoon in a 1:05 Central start. Ryan Dempster (10-4) throws for Chicago against Brandon Backe (6-9), coming off his best start of the season last Sunday against Washington.
AstrosDaily.com passes along our prayers and sympathies to the friends and family of Houston Chronicle sports reporter Neil Hohlfeld who died suddenly at age 56. Hohlfeld covered the Astros for much of the 1980s and 1990s and is remembered fondly by many in the Houston community.
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