Houston Astros defeat Chicago Cubs 4-3 – MLB Update
Brian Bogusevic had another day to relish on Wednesday, August 17 as his two-run double gave the Houston Astros 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs at Minute Maid Park.
The underperforming Astros displayed a wonderful game to win their first back-to-back games.
Bogusevic was overjoyed due largely to his grand slam only a night ago that gave the Astros an unlikely victory. "It feels good," Bogusevic said. "We've been struggling the last couple weeks and to win two in a row and win a series is kind of a little boost
for us."
Budd Norris pitched five innings and gave up three runs, but the team manager did not show any disappointment about that.
For the Cubs, the result was indeed not assuring. "We missed opportunities all day long," manager Mike Quade said. "Casey wasn't really sharp, but he kept us hanging around and the bullpen did another great job, but you just can't have that many opportunities
go by and not take advantage of them.”
Chicago Cubs’ starter Casey Coleman tossed some good pitches in the initial three innings whereby none of the Houston Astros’ hitters was able to go for any run. While Norris had a good two innings to pitch, the third did not go perfectly well.
It was Aramis Ramirez who homered to centre to score for the Chicago Cubs, giving the team 2-0 lead by the end of the third inning. The Astros did not leave behind as their offence resplendently shone just like they did in the previous game.
Brian Bogusevic had a two-run double to level the score for the Astros by the end of the third inning, throwing an exciting ingredient into an already wonderful mix. However, Geovany Soto had a one-run homer that gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead by the end of fourth.
From the performance that the Astros’ offence had put lately, it was expected they would repeat it again and so they did. Matt Downs had a two-run single in the fourth that took the Astros to a comfortable 4-3 lead as the bottom of fourth came to its end.
Bud Norris pitched a shut-out fifth to maintain the lead and John Grabow was called in to replace Coleman. Grabow was solid enough to throw good inning. David Carpenter tossed the sixth for the Cubs to maintain the 4-3 lead.
Entering into the ninth whereby Houston still had the lead, the closer Mark Melancon gave up two hits but allowed no run to wrap up the game with a 4-3 victory for the Houston Astros.
The Astros managed to put in a stunning performance as they beat the Cubs for a much needed victory.
Tags: