Power, pitching put Cubs in first
HOUSTON -- Lou Piniella sounded a little greedy Thursday night after his Cubs beat the Houston Astros 6-2 at Minute Maid Park.
Or maybe he sounded like a man in need of just a little breathing room.
The victory gave the Cubs a record of 75-71 and put them one-half game up on the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the National League Central.
"Wouldn't it be nice if we could open up 3 or 3½?" Piniella mused. "It would seem like a whole lot. We've just got to keep playing. I thought we would have a pretty good idea of where we stood after this road trip, and right now we're holding our own quite well, and we need to do the same in St. Louis."
The Cubs won Thursday because starting pitcher Steve Trachsel held his own over 5 innings and won his first decision as a Cub since 1999. Trachsel gave up both Houston runs, on fourth-inning solo homers to Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta before he escaped trouble in the fifth.
Relievers Scott Eyre, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol shut the Astros down to send the Cubs to a four-game series in St. Louis on a high note.
It helped Trachsel that the Cubs hit Houston starter Woody Williams with 4 runs in the first, on a leadoff homer by Alfonso Soriano and a 3-run blast by Aramis Ramirez.
"I felt really strong coming out of the bullpen," said Trachsel, who is 1-2 with the Cubs. "I was actually kind of glad for more reasons than one that we scored 4 in the first because it took awhile to calm down, get the adrenaline level to calm down a little bit so I could have a little bit of control when I went out there."
The Cubs sent 10 men to the plate in their big first inning. After the Astros scored their pair in the fourth, they had runners on first and second with one out in the fifth.
Trachsel struck out the dangerous Lee on a splitter before getting Mike Lamb on a grounder back to the pitcher. Lamb's at-bat was preceded by a visit to the mound by Piniella.
"Lou came out and said, 'Hey, I'm going to give you a chance to win this game,' " Trachsel said. "I was a little bit surprised to see him. He was, 'This is your last batter, regardless.' I definitely wasn't going to walk him."
Piniella seemed pleased with the effort from Trachsel, who may be relegated to bullpen duty the rest of the way.
"Ideally, we were really looking for 6 (innings)," Piniella said. "We're not complaining."
The Cubs got solo homers from Daryle Ward in the fifth and Cliff Floyd in the seventh. Ward was subbing at first base for Derrek Lee, who has a sore knee. Floyd hit his second homer in two nights.
"I had to figure out what I was doing wrong, and it only took five months," joked Floyd, who has 7 homers. "But I tried to figure it out. I was a little closed off and really wasn't letting myself be free."
Piniella also praised the work of Eyre and Wood, who set the table for Marmol. Eyre and Wood have taken back seats much of the year to Marmol, Bob Howry and Ryan Dempster.
"We see those guys do it day in and day out," Wood said. "Everybody who hasn't been a part of that wants to be a part of that. Whenever it is we do get into games, you have to go out and get it done."
Cubs 6, Astros 2
At the plate: The Cubs hit 4 home runs, equaling their season high. Included was a game-starting homer by Alfonso Soriano. It was the 40th leadoff homer of his career and his eighth this year. That tied the Cubs' single-season record, set in 1976 by Rick Monday. Aramis Ramirez, Cliff Floyd and Daryle Ward also homered.
On the mound: Steve Trachsel, perhaps making his final start this year, survived 5 innings. He gave up 7 hits and home runs to Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta. Scott Eyre pitched a scoreless sixth. Since the all-star break, Eyre has a 1.02 ERA in 21 games. Kerry Wood pitched a perfect seventh before Carlos Marmol (1.31 ERA) closed it out with 2 innings.
-- Bruce Miles