2012 final series: Houston Astros outrival the Chicago Cubs in the first game
When the Houston Astros kicked off the last series of 2012 Major League Baseball season against the Chicago Cubs, they had already lost 106 games. Cubs, on the other hand, were coming with 99-loss. Houston Astros were determined to end the season with a
positive note: They quite succeeded in it.
In the first game, the Astros beat the Chicago Cubs by 3-0, leading to the Cubs’ 100th loss of the season, making it the third worst finish in the latter’s franchise history. It was Lucas Harrell, having a relatively good season as starter, who
kept the Chicago Cubs batters at bay.
Harrell came down hard on the Cubs’ offence, outmanoeuvring all the batters as he pitched six solid innings, having had seven strikeouts, surrendering only two hits with 3.76 ERA. Cubs’ Jason Berken, though, was subject to big hits by the Astros batters.
In his 4.2 innings, Berken allowed two runs, giving four hits with 4.82 ERA, having only two strikeouts to his credit.
It was Fernando Martinez who smashed third homer in his third consecutive game to give the team 1-0 lead in the second inning. As the Cubs batters tried to level the score or edge past the Astros, it was Harrell who kept his ascendancy on the mound.
Matt Dominguez hit an RBI tripled to left field in the fourth inning to double the Astros’ lead in the game, complicating it further for the Cubs, and moving to the latter’s now seemingly unavoidable 100th loss.
It was Scott Moore whose RBI single in the eight against Shawn Camp virtually sealed the Astros victory as the Cubs continued to struggle. With the 3-0 lead in the game by eighth, the Astros then brought in Fernando Rodriguez in the eighth, who had two strikeouts
to maintain the team’s lead.
Wesley Wright came in the ninth, pitching as effectively as he had been throughout the season, to end the game with the Astros’ 3-0 win. This was formally the 100th loss of the Cubs in the 2012 season.
"It didn't quite seem like a playoff atmosphere," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "There was a little bit of sleepwalking at the plate. Are guys ready to get out of here? I don't know. I won't put words in anybody's mouth. We didn't take out at bats like we
wanted to stick around."
For the Astros, it was Lucas who was the ultimate winner.
"Lucas, we were only going to go five innings with him. We weren't going to take him over 100 pitches," interim manager Tony DeFrancesco said. "He really pitched well with confidence, he fell behind early and all of a sudden he got locked in. A two-hit shutout
here is a pretty special game."
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