Chris Volstad shines as Chicago Cubs beat Houston Astros 4-1 – MLB Update
Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 4-1 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas on Monday, September 10 in the opening game of their three match series.
Cubs dominated their opponents in almost all aspects of the game. Their pitching rotation in particular executed their game plan to perfection to create all sorts of problems for the Astros’ batting line-up. Starting pitcher Chris Volstad produced another
magical performance, giving up just four hits and a run in five sharp innings to grab his third win of the season.
With a poor 3-10 record so far, Volstad is having a disastrous season. Surely, he will be looking to learn from his mistakes to turn thing around in the next season. Relief pitchers Miguel Socolovich, James Russell, Jaye Chapman combined to give just one
hit in three innings as the Cubs established complete control over the contest.
"Those guys are starting to understand how close that 100 losses is," Cubs’ manager Dale Sveum said. "That's the goal. That's the talk now and obviously they're responding now."
"I feel like since I've come back, I've been a different pitcher, starting with that L.A. game," Volstad said. "I feel good. I've just got to continue it and keep it going -- that whole consistency thing."
"We had opportunities in the first and the fifth," Justin Maxwell said. "We had (Volstad) on the ropes all night, but we weren't able to push many across."
Closer Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth for his 19th save of the year. Right fielder Dave Sappelt had an excellent game with the bat as he drove in crucial runs for his team. Showing great composure and temperament, he doubled to left in
the second inning to put Cubs on the board.
Sappelt later scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning and also added a double to deep left centre in the seventh inning to stretch the Cubs’ lead to 4-1.
Cubs will be very pleased with the quality of their game-play in series opener. Surely, they will be hoping to carry over the momentum in Game 2 to take a decisive 2-0 series lead.
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