GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: CHICAGO CUBS (73-71) at HOUSTON (63-81)

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NL AT HOUSTON - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: E Munson hit for D Borkowski.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, O PALMEIRO ON FIRST, M LAMB ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 3
HOUSTON 2 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: E Munson (.234, 4 HR, 15 RBI)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NL AT HOUSTON - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: E Bruntlett ran for O Palmeiro.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, E BRUNTLETT ON FIRST, M LAMB ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 3
HOUSTON 2 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: E Munson (.234, 0-FOR-0)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CHICAGO CUBS 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 0
HOUSTON 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 8 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CHN - RICH HILL, BOBBY HOWRY (8TH), RYAN DEMPSTER (9TH) AND JASON
KENDALL

HOU - MATT ALBERS, BRIAN MOEHLER (7TH), DAVE BORKOWSKI
(9TH) AND HUMBERTO QUINTERO

HOME RUNS: CHN - CLIFF FLOYD (6) OFF MATT ALBERS IN THE 2ND, 0 ON

HOU - MARK LORETTA (3) OFF RICH HILL IN THE 7TH, 0 ON</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CHICAGO CUBS 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 0
HOUSTON 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 8 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CHN - RICH HILL, BOBBY HOWRY (8TH), RYAN DEMPSTER (9TH) AND JASON
KENDALL

HOU - MATT ALBERS, BRIAN MOEHLER (7TH), DAVE BORKOWSKI
(9TH) AND HUMBERTO QUINTERO


WP - RICH HILL (9-8)
LP - MATT ALBERS (4-8)
SAVE - RYAN DEMPSTER (26)

HOME RUNS: CHN - CLIFF FLOYD (6) OFF MATT ALBERS IN THE 2ND, 0 ON

HOU - MARK LORETTA (3) OFF RICH HILL IN THE 7TH, 0 ON


TIME: 2:54 ATT: 33,115

PROBABLES: CHN - STEVE TRACHSEL (0-2, 10.13)
HOU - WOODY WILLIAMS (8-14, 4.93)</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">CHICAGO CUBS (3) VS HOUSTON (2) - FINAL

CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Soriano lf 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 .290
J Jones cf-rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .274
D Lee 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .312
A Ramirez 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .316
C Floyd rf 4 2 2 1 0 1 1 .290
F Pie cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .212
M DeRosa 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 .289
J Kendall c 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .288
R Theriot ss 2 0 1 2 1 0 1 .274
R Hill p 3 0 1 0 0 2 2 .140
B Howry p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-D Ward ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333
R Dempster p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 34 3 8 3 2 5 16

a-flied out to center for B Howry in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - M DeRosa (26, M Albers). 3B - C Floyd (1, M Albers). HR - C Floyd
(6, 2nd inning off M Albers 0 on, 0 Out). SF - R Theriot. RBI - C Floyd (41), R
Theriot 2 (44). 2-out RBI - R Theriot. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out
- J Kendall 1, A Soriano 1. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - R Theriot (26, 2nd base off D Borkowski/H Quintero). CS - D
Lee (5, 2nd base by M Albers/H Quintero).

FIELDING: Outfield assists - A Soriano (H Pence at 3rd base). DP: 2 (A
Ramirez-M DeRosa-D Lee, D Lee-R Theriot-R Dempster).


HOUSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
H Pence cf 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 .326
C Biggio 2b 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .252
L Berkman 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .276
C Lee lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .295
M Loretta ss 3 1 3 1 1 0 0 .280
J Anderson pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Wigginton 3b 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 .288
b-M Lamb ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .292
L Scott rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .257
H Quintero c 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .204
c-O Palmeiro ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .240
E Bruntlett pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .240
M Albers p 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 .083
B Moehler p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
a-C Burke ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .227
D Borkowski p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
d-E Munson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .233

Totals 32 2 8 2 4 7 16

a-fouled out to first for B Moehler in the 8th; b-tripled to deep center for T
Wigginton in the 9th; c-walked for H Quintero in the 9th; d-grounded to
shortstop for D Borkowski in the 9th.

BATTING: 3B - M Lamb (2, R Dempster). HR - M Loretta (3, 7th inning off R Hill
0 on, 0 Out). RBI - M Loretta (36), M Lamb (39). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - C Lee 2, M Albers 2. GIDP - T Wigginton, E Munson. Team LOB -
7.

BASERUNNING: SB - H Pence (10, 2nd base off R Hill/J Kendall).

FIELDING: E - C Biggio (10, ground ball).


----------------------------------------------------
CHICAGO CUBS - 020 100 000 -- 3
HOUSTON - 000 000 101 -- 2
----------------------------------------------------

CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era
R Hill (W, 9-8) 7 3 1 1 3 7 1 3.91
B Howry (H, 22) 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 3.42
R Dempster (S, 26) 1 2 1 1 1 0 0 3.97

HOUSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
M Albers (L, 4-8) 6 7 3 3 1 3 1 5.79
B Moehler 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 4.33
D Borkowski 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5.68

Pitches-strikes: R Hill 116-80; B Howry 13-10; R Dempster 18-10; M Albers
102-63; B Moehler 25-19; D Borkowski 18-9. Ground balls-fly balls: R Hill 7-7;
B Howry 0-2; R Dempster 3-0; M Albers 4-10; B Moehler 2-2; D Borkowski 0-3.
Batters faced: R Hill 26; B Howry 5; R Dempster 5; M Albers 25; B Moehler 8; D
Borkowski 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Mike Reilly. 1B--Jeff Kellogg. 2B--Eric Cooper. 3B--Andy
Fletcher.

T--2:54. Att--33,115.
Weather: INDOORS</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
CHICAGO CUBS 3
HOUSTON 2 FINAL</div>

 

Cubs move into tie for NL Central lead

<h3>CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 2</h3>By Andrew Ferraro
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


HOUSTON (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs are hoping this is thegame that gets lefthander Rich Hill back on track.

After giving up 14 earned runs in his last three starts, Hillpitched seven strong frames as the Cubs beat the Houston Astros,3-2, on Wednesday.


Cliff Floyd homered and tripled and Ryan Theriot drove in a pairfor the Cubs, who won for the first time in five tries here topull even in the National League Central with the MilwaukeeBrewers (74-71).


Hill, who gave up six earned runs at Pittsburgh last Friday andfive earned runs against Houston on September 2, allowed justone run and three hits, striking out seven and walking three.

Bobby Howry pitched a scoreless eighth despite giving up threehits and Ryan Dempster made it interesting in the ninth,allowing a run before inducing a double play to earn his 26thsave.


Hill (9-8) was hardly tested by the stumbling Astros, who havelost six of seven overall. After rookie Hunter Pence singled inthe first inning, Hill did not allow another hit until MarkLoretta reached on an infield single in the fourth.

Loretta broke up the shutout with a 348-foot solo blast to leadoff the seventh.


Rookie Matt Albers (4-8) pitched well for the Astros but tookthe loss after getting poor run support again. In Albers' lastfive starts, Houston has not scored more than four runs in anyof them.


Albers threw 102 pitches in six innings, allowing just threeruns while striking out three and walking one.


Hill on the other hand, got all the run support he would need inthe second inning when the first four batters of the inningplated a pair of runs.


First, Floyd led off with his sixth homer of the year beforeMark DeRosa and Jason Kendall followed with back-to-backsingles. With runners on first and third, Theriot reached outand hit a sacrifice fly to right.


Chicago extended its lead to 3-0 in the third when Floyd's linedrive to center was misplayed by Pence. It was ruled a tripleand Floyd scored two batters later when Theriot reached on aninfield single.

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHICAGO CUBS (3) AT HOUSTON (2) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHICAGO CUBS 2ND: C Floyd homered to right. M DeRosa singled to center.
J Kendall singled to right center, M DeRosa to third. R Theriot hit sacrifice
fly to center, M DeRosa scored. R Hill struck out bunting foul. A Soriano
popped out to shortstop. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 2, HOUSTON 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 4TH: C Floyd tripled to deep center. M DeRosa grounded out to
shortstop. J Kendall flied out to right. R Theriot reached on infield single
to shortstop, C Floyd scored. R Hill struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 7TH: M Loretta homered to left. T Wigginton struck out swinging.
L Scott flied out to right. H Quintero struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 1.

HOUSTON 9TH: R Dempster relieved B Howry. M Loretta singled to shallow
right. J Anderson ran for M Loretta. M Lamb hit for T Wigginton. M Lamb
tripled to deep center, J Anderson scored. L Scott grounded out to third.
O Palmeiro hit for H Quintero. O Palmeiro walked. E Munson hit for D Borkowski.
E Bruntlett ran for O Palmeiro. E Munson grounded into double play, first to
shortstop to pitcher, E Bruntlett out at second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 2.</div>

 

NL: CHICAGO CUBS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHICAGO CUBS (3) AT HOUSTON (2) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chicago Cubs Starting Lineups -- A Soriano LF, J Jones CF, D Lee 1B, A Ramirez 3B,
C Floyd RF, M DeRosa 2B, J Kendall C, R Theriot SS, R Hill LHP.

Houston Starting Lineups -- H Pence CF, C Biggio 2B, L Berkman 1B, C Lee LF,
M Loretta SS, T Wigginton 3B, L Scott RF, H Quintero C, M Albers RHP.

Umpires -- Mike Reilly (HP), Jeff Kellogg (1B), Eric Cooper (2B), Andy Fletcher (3B).

Gametime Weather: INDOORS.


CHICAGO CUBS 1ST: A Soriano popped out to first. J Jones singled to left.
D Lee struck out swinging. A Ramirez flied out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 1ST: H Pence singled to center. H Pence stole second. C Biggio
struck out swinging. L Berkman lined out to second. C Lee flied out to
center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, HOUSTON 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 2ND: C Floyd homered to right. M DeRosa singled to center.
J Kendall singled to right center, M DeRosa to third. R Theriot hit sacrifice
fly to center, M DeRosa scored. R Hill struck out bunting foul. A Soriano
popped out to shortstop. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 2, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 2ND: M Loretta walked. T Wigginton walked, M Loretta to second.
L Scott struck out swinging. H Quintero grounded out to third, M Loretta to
third, T Wigginton to second. M Albers struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 2, HOUSTON 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 3RD: J Jones popped out to second. D Lee walked. D Lee
caught stealing second, catcher to second. A Ramirez grounded out to third.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 2, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 3RD: H Pence struck out swinging. C Biggio grounded out to
shortstop. L Berkman flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
CHICAGO CUBS 2, HOUSTON 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 4TH: C Floyd tripled to deep center. M DeRosa grounded out to
shortstop. J Kendall flied out to right. R Theriot reached on infield single
to shortstop, C Floyd scored. R Hill struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 4TH: C Lee struck out swinging. M Loretta reached on infield
single to third. T Wigginton grounded into double play, third to second to
first, M Loretta out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3,
HOUSTON 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 5TH: A Soriano popped out to shortstop. J Jones lined out to
shortstop. D Lee grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 5TH: L Scott grounded out to second. H Quintero flied out to
center. M Albers lined out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3,
HOUSTON 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 6TH: A Ramirez flied out to center. C Floyd flied out to
center. M DeRosa doubled to left. J Kendall grounded out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 6TH: H Pence flied out to right. C Biggio walked. L Berkman
grounded into fielder's choice to third, C Biggio out at second. C Lee
grounded into fielder's choice to third, L Berkman out at second. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 7TH: B Moehler relieved M Albers. R Theriot grounded out to
first. R Hill singled to left. A Soriano struck out swinging. J Jones
grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 0.

HOUSTON 7TH: M Loretta homered to left. T Wigginton struck out swinging.
L Scott flied out to right. H Quintero struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 1.

CHICAGO CUBS 8TH: D Lee safe at first on error by second baseman C Biggio.
A Ramirez flied out to right. C Floyd struck out swinging. M DeRosa flied out
to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 1.

HOUSTON 8TH: J Jones in right field. F Pie in center field. C Burke hit for
B Moehler. B Howry relieved R Hill. C Burke fouled out to first. H Pence
singled to center. C Biggio singled to left, H Pence thrown out at third.
L Berkman reached on infield single to pitcher, C Biggio to second. C Lee flied
out to center. (0 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 1.

CHICAGO CUBS 9TH: D Borkowski relieved B Moehler. J Kendall flied out to
center. R Theriot walked. D Ward hit for B Howry. D Ward flied out to center.
R Theriot stole second. A Soriano flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 1.

HOUSTON 9TH: R Dempster relieved B Howry. M Loretta singled to shallow
right. J Anderson ran for M Loretta. M Lamb hit for T Wigginton. M Lamb
tripled to deep center, J Anderson scored. L Scott grounded out to third.
O Palmeiro hit for H Quintero. O Palmeiro walked. E Munson hit for D Borkowski.
E Bruntlett ran for O Palmeiro. E Munson grounded into double play, first to
shortstop to pitcher, E Bruntlett out at second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 2.</div>

 

Cubs move into tie for NL Central lead

<h3>CHICAGO CUBS 3, HOUSTON 2</h3>By Andrew Ferraro
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


HOUSTON (Ticker) - The Chicago Cubs are hoping this is the gamethat gets lefthander Rich Hill back on track.


After giving up 14 earned runs in his last three starts, Hillpitched seven strong frames as the Cubs beat the Houston Astros,3-2, on Wednesday.


Cliff Floyd homered and tripled and Ryan Theriot drove in a pairfor the Cubs, who won for the first time in five tries here topull even in the National League Central with the MilwaukeeBrewers (74-71).


Hill, who gave up six earned runs at Pittsburgh last Friday andfive earned runs against Houston on September 2, allowed justone run and three hits, striking out seven and walking three.

"Yeah, this is a huge, huge win and it was time for me to stepup," Hill said. "In my previous two outings, I don't feel thatI was throwing the ball all that poorly, but I didn't get theresults.


"I just wanted to come out there today and keep a good mentalframe of mind."


Bobby Howry pitched a scoreless eighth despite giving up threehits and Ryan Dempster made it interesting in the ninth,allowing a run before inducing a double play to end the contestand earn his 26th save.


"This is the kind of game that should really get us back ontrack," Chicago manager Lou Piniella said. "You have to thinkthat the worm has turned. We got out of a real jam there in theninth. I mean they had a runner on third, the tying run, withno one out.


"I really think this will get us going."


Hill (9-8) was hardly tested by the stumbling Astros, who havelost six of seven overall. After rookie Hunter Pence singled inthe first inning, Hill did not allow another hit until MarkLoretta reached on an infield single in the fourth.

Loretta broke up the shutout with a 348-foot solo blast to leadoff the seventh.


Rookie Matt Albers (4-8) pitched well for the Astros but tookthe loss after getting poor run support again. In Albers' lastfive starts, Houston has not scored more than four runs in anyof them.


Albers threw 102 pitches in six innings, allowing just threeruns while striking out three and walking one.


"I felt good and I just wanted to forget about my last outing(seven earned runs at Milwaukee on September 5)," Albers said."I just put that out of my mind and decided to throw strikes andgo as deep in the game as I could.


"I did all right but (Hill) was pretty lights out tonight."

Hill on the other hand, got all the run support he would need inthe second inning when the first four batters of the inningcombined to plate a pair of runs.


First, Floyd led off with his sixth homer of the year beforeMark DeRosa and Jason Kendall followed with back-to-backsingles. With runners on first and third, Theriot reached outand hit a sacrifice fly to right.


After the game, Piniella told reporters that he told Floyd theveteran outfielder was his "pick to click" for the game.

"Yeah, and he put a lot of pressure on me with that," Floydsaid. "I felt really good in there tonight and I have beenworking really hard to get it back. Right now I am just tryingto get my swing back. We needed this one bad and we knew whathappened in Pittsburgh today (a 7-4 win over the Brewers).

"It's scoreboard-watching time."


Chicago extended its lead to 3-0 in the third when Floyd's linedrive to center was misplayed by Pence. It was ruled a tripleand Floyd scored two batters later when Theriot reached on aninfield single.


"We had a chance in this one," Astros interim manager CecilCooper said. "It was pretty exciting and I thought we reallyhad a shot at it. Albers did a real good job for us tonight andif he keeps pitching like this, he is going to be OK."