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Plenty of milestones in Cubs 4,000th win

There were a couple of milestones worth noting Saturday at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs beat the Houston Astros 2-1, sending the Astros to their 100th loss of the season. For the Cubs, the victory was their 4,000th at Wrigley Field, making them the third team to win at least 4,000 games in one home ballpark, joining the Red Sox (Fenway Park) and the Yankees (original Yankee Stadium).

When the trivia questions come up, note that the winning pitcher for the Cubs Saturday was Rodrigo Lopez.

“I’m in the books,” he said when informed.

More important, Lopez lasted 6 innings at the end of a week that saw the Cubs play three extra inning games, two in 11 innings and Friday in 12.

“I know the bullpen has been used the last couple days,” said Lopez, who improved to 6-6 with a 4.71 ERA. “Definitely that was a personal goal, as well, since I spent a few outings without going 6 strong. I’m glad that I could go 6 innings and help my team to win.”

The save went to lefty Sean Marshall, who came on in the ninth, loaded the bases but got a strikeout and a groundout to end the game. Manager Mike Quade stayed away from regular closer Carlos Marmol, who worked 2 innings Friday and 1 inning Thursday.

“You look at the thing, and you’re like, ‘You could go to Marmol again, you could go to (Jeff) Samardzija again,’” Quade said. “We just made a decision to stay away from them for a game. Everybody picked up each other, and they did a good job. We really needed 6 out of Rodrigo. That was huge.”

Earning playing time:Bryan LaHair started in right field, and he continues to make the case for playing.He walked in the first inning, hit a solo homer (his second) in the fourth and walked again in the sixth.LaHair, called up from Class AAA Iowa Sept. 2, has hit safely in 10 of 11 games with a plate appearance, going 13-for-30 (.433) with 7 walks, 7 runs, 4 doubles, 1 triple and 5 RBI. He has an on-base percentage of .541 and a slugging percentage of .833. His homer Saturday was to straightaway center field. #147;I wasn#146;t sure what my role was going to be,#148; he said. #147;I take every day one day at a time and just try to put together good at-bats.#148;Castro keeps streaking:Starlin Castro doubled in the fifth inning. It was his 194th hit of the season. Castro has reached base in 30 consecutive games. He is the first Cub to reach in 30 straight as a shortstop since Ernie Banks did it in 1960. First baseman Derrek Lee reached base in 31 straight games in 2009. #147;I know his drive to drive to 200 (hits) is exciting for him,#148; Mike Quade said. #147;I knew he had a long string of reaching base. I didn#146;t know it was up to 30. If you#146;re in the same conversation with Ernie Banks, I don#146;t think I can embellish on that at all. That#146;s really something. He#146;s done a great job offensively all year. It#146;s really something to see a kid that young so accomplished at this point in his career.#148;