Chicago Cubs defeat Houston Astros 4-3 – MLB Update
Kerry Wood pitched an effective ninth and Geovany Soto had two RBIs on Monday, August 15 to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 4-3 at Minute Maid Park.
Chicago Cubs have won 12 of the last 15 games they have played.
But despite the two runs that Lopez gave, in the team manager’s view, his presence compensated Marmol’s absence.
Henry Sosa began the game by being dispatched on the mound. The Houston Astros’ starter could not, however, be effective enough to have a scoreless first as the Chicago Cubs’ offence seemed well determined to make a strong start.
Carlos Pena doubled to deep centre to bring in early two runs for the Cubs in the 2-hit two-run first. It was Rodrigo Lopez who maintained the lead by being well-placed to pitch a solid inning against the Astros’ hitters.
Rodrigo Lopez also had over five good innings to assist in the team’s victory. "I felt good," Lopez said. "I made a couple mistakes here and there, but I was able to get out of some jams. I thought I threw a good pitch, but it was a double. I let the bullpen
take care of it, and I was OK with that."
Although Henry Sosa allowed two runs to the Cubs’ Pena, his second inning remained quite effective, barely allowing the Cubs’ hitters to score. While he remained solid, Rodrigo Lopez was equally strong in the innings that he tossed.
It was in the fourth that Matt Downs doubled to shallow left to bring the Cubs’ lead down to 2-1 in the 2-hit fourth inning. Henry Sosa was quick to capitalise on it and kept the Cubs’ offence at bay with his scoreless fifth inning.
However, Geovany Soto had a big hit in the sixth inning to pile up the lead to 4-1 for the Chicago Cubs against seemingly struggling Henry Sosa. His hit gave the team a safe lead that was to be defended by the Cubs’ bull-pen.
Matt Downs was quick to have driven in two runs in the sixth to bring the Cubs lead down to 4-3. However, Jeff Samardzija pitched the seventh shut-out as Sean Marshall went for a scoreless eighth to keep the Cubs lead intact.
It was Kerry Wood who came and threw an amazingly strong ninth to turn the 4-3 lead into victory for the Chicago Cubs as the Houston Astros’ hitters found it difficult to even have a single hit in the inning.
With this win, the Cubs now have a 1-0 lead in the three-game series. It would be interesting to see how the team maintains its momentum in the second game of the series.
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