The Houston Astros vaporized the Chicago Cubs yesterday at Minute Maid Park with the Astros earning the win 8 to 1. It was one heck of a game that devotees with Astros tickets will definitely cherish.
Astros pitcher Bud Norris (5.63 ERA) got the win, while Randy Wells (4.10 ERA) took the loss for the Cubs. Bud Norris went 6 innings for the Astros, allowed 4 hits, no home runs and no earned runs with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. Also pitching for the Astros was Wilton Lopez (3.86), Brandon Lyon (3.63), and Fernando Abad (0.00). The Cubs’s starter Randy Wells went 5.2 innings, allowed 5 hits, one home run and 3 earned runs with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts. James Russell (4.34), Brian Schlitter (12.00), Bob Howry (7.71), and Justin Berg (5.24) also pitched for the Cubs. With the win, Norris’s record goes to 3-7, while Wells is at 5-8.
Carlos Lee provided much of the offense for the Astros with an incredible 4 runs batted in. In addition to the 8 runs, the Astros scored 13 hits and committed one error. Hunter Pence led the Astros in hitting with 3 hits, followed by Jason Castro’s 2 hits, and Carlos Lee with 2. Carlos Lee had a tough day at the plate, leaving 4 runners on base. Ryan Theriot had the most hits for the Cubs (3), followed by Starlin Castro (2). Aramis Ramirez could not get much going at the plate as he left 4 runners on base. The Cubs got one run, 7 hits and no errors.
Umpiring duties were performed by Victor Carapazza, Greg Gibson, Brian Knight and Gerry Davis. There were 28,046 Astros ticket holders in attendance at Minute Maid Park.