Chicago Cubs defeat Houston Astros 4-2 – MLB Update
Aramis Ramirez hit his 18th homer of the season on Friday, July 22 to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 4-2 at Wrigley Field.
It was the Astros who got an early lead of 2-0, but the Cubs’ offence refused to bog down. The hitters found an opportunity in the fifth to execute the best of hits to win the game.
Carlos Zambrano started the game well with his scoreless innings that he pitched, allowing only a hit to Jose Altuve. The Astros’ starter, Bud Norris, did his job well to pitch a scoreless inning to keep the game level.
However, no sooner as Zambrano came in the second inning than he saw the Astros’ hitters doing something extraordinary. Clint Barmes went for a hit to score the first run of the game, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead.
As if that was not enough, Michael Bourn came with another run in the fourth inning that saw Zambrano give up no less than three hits. It appeared to be difficult for him to contain the Astros’ hitters, but the Cubs had their share of surprise ready for
their rivals.
Norris, who was pitching very well right into the fourth inning failed to show his efficacy in the fifth when Alfonso Soriano had a big hit to score the first for the Cubs, followed by another run coming off Starlin Castro’s bat. The score tied, Ramirez
had a bigger surprise.
Ramirez hit a big two-run homer to take the score up to 4-2, something that Norris might not have anticipated. "I didn't execute that pitch to Ramirez," Norris said. "Trying to get a fastball up and in, definitely left it out and over, and that's what a
good hitter does to it."
"We were down 2-0 in that inning," Ramirez said. "It was a big inning for us. I'm glad I came through. Anytime you get men on base you should capitalize it, you should score some runs.”
That mistake cost the Houston Astros. "We weren't able to capitalize," Astros’ manager Brad Mills said. "We had 10 hits, but it seemed like they didn't come quite when we would have liked if we had our choice."
Once the Cubs got the lead in the game, Zambrano pitched with more force to maintain it. James Russel relieved Zambrano in the seventh and pitched a shut-out inning followed by John Gabrow’s scoreless eighth that he tossed.
Closer Sean Marshall went for a stronger ninth inning to pack up the game with a 4-2 victory for the Cubs, having a wonderful start in the three-game series with the first win.
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