Cubs able to hold on, but bullpen still needed
Cubs manager Lou Piniella has been looking for the offense to give his club some breathing room.
Piniella wound up having to hold his breath Thursday night before finally exhaling as the Cubs emerged from Minute Maid Park with an 8-5 victory over the Houston Astros and a sweep of this two-game series.
The Cubs came back from a 2-1 deficit, but they had chances to put the Astros away by a bigger margin as the game wore on before finally pulling away in the ninth with 4 runs.
Piniella gladly will take the victory, as his team improved to 16-12 heading to Milwaukee for a three-game weekend series.
The danger in not being able to blow teams away is that Piniella runs the risk of burning out his key bullpen pitchers, particularly Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg.
Before Tuesday's furlough day at Wrigley Field, when most of the regulars sat, Piniella had used Marmol and Gregg five of the previous six days.
The Cubs had to use Marmol on Thursday, and they wound up using Gregg because veteran Chad Fox couldn't finish the bottom of the ninth, when the Astros made it too close for comfort with 3 runs. Gregg finished but didn't qualify for a save.
Before the game, Piniella said on his radio show that he is seeing "signs" of the offense improving.
"I'd like to see more patience," he said on the air. "Don't try to do too much if the pitcher isn't giving anything."
Cubs starting pitcher Ted Lilly fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. He threw his first 6 pitches for balls, walking Kaz Matsui before Miguel Tejada crushed one over the wall in left to erase a 1-0 deficit.
An RBI single by Milton Bradley and a sacrifice fly by Mike Fontenot put the Cubs back on top in the third. Soriano's homer to deep left-center made it 4-2 in the fourth.
Lilly (4-2) exited after 6 innings. Soriano keyed the ninth with a 2-run homer.
The Cubs again were without first baseman Derrek Lee, who missed his second straight game because of the bulging disc in his neck.
"I'm fine; it's no big deal," Lee told reporters.
"He's a little better today," Piniella told the media. "We'll see how he is tomorrow after a three-hour plane ride tonight."
Bruce Miles' game tracker
The countdown: Cubs starter Ted Lilly had pitch counts of 18, 18 and 19 over the first 3 innings. After a 17-pitch fourth, he helped himself by throwing only 8 pitches in each of his final 2 innings. He earned a quality start by giving up 2 runs in 6 innings.
Double his pleasure: Alfonso Soriano hit a pair of homers, a solo shot in the fourth and a 2-run job in the ninth. It was his 23rd multihomer game in his career and his first since last Sept. 6.
Welcome back? Veteran reliever Chad Fox returned to the big leagues after opening the season at Class AAA Iowa. Fox, who has an entire hardware store holding his right elbow together, gave up 2 hits and 3 runs, retiring one batter in the ninth inning.