Another strong outing for Silva in Cubs 7-2 win

Silva may prove to be more valuable to the Cubs than gold if Friday's performance continues to repeat itself.

Carlos Silva, the 31-year-old pitcher acquired from Seattle in December along with cash in exchange for Milton Bradley, delivered his second straight quality start in a 7-2 victory over the punchless Houston Astros before 37,291 at Wrigley Field.

Silva allowed only 2 runs (none earned) on 5 hits, struck out five and walked none in 7 innings. In 13 innings over 2 starts, Silva has recorded 8 strikeouts without a walk and allowed only 1 earned run on 8 hits.

Such consecutive strong outings are a boon to the Cubs (5-5) after exchanging Bradley's bloated contract for that of Silva, who finished 1-3 in an injury-plagued 2009 season and 4-15 in 2008.

"I was very, very excited and nervous to pitch my first game here," Silva said of his Wrigley debut as a Cub. "Since the first game in spring training we've been working a lot and we're still working on it. Hopefully, we can keep making adjustments and keep (me) a better pitcher."

The strong outing impressed his manager. Lou Piniella praised Silva in his postgame interview before a question was asked.

"Well, that's the second impressive game in a row for Silva. Really nice pitching," Piniella said. "Seven good innings of baseball and our bats came alive later in the seventh and put 6 runs on the board."

Trailing 2-1, the Cubs sent 10 men to the plate in the seventh inning. Marlon Byrd led off with a double and Alfonso Soriano staved off the boobirds by doubling off Houston starting pitcher Felipe Paulino to tie the game at 2-2.

"When I'm doing well the fans love me; when I'm doing bad the fans hate me," Soriano said with a tone of acceptance. "I guess I've just got to be more consistent and do my job."

Mike Fontenot and Koyie Hill each walked to load the bases and chase Paulino (0-1) in favor of lefty reliever Tim Byrdak. Ryan Theriot made something happen one out later. He directed a push bunt down the first-base line, which went for hit and allowed Soriano to score the go-ahead run from third base.

"The first baseman was over quite a bit toward second and gave me a big area to shoot at with a left-handed pitcher," Theriot said. "Right there you're just trying to get that run in at any cost and it worked out."

Kosuke Fukudome's sacrifice fly to center made it 4-2, and Derrek Lee put the game seemingly out of reach by working the count full before he blasted his second home run in as many days - a 3-run shot to left-center on a slider from Jeff Fulchino - to stake the Cubs to a 7-2 cushion.

"The way we've been playing it seems like a 5-run lead is not a lot, so nothing's safe," Lee said.

But the beleaguered bullpen held firm against Houston, the weakest-hitting team (.217) in the National League. John Grabow pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Carlos Marmol struck out the last two hitters he faced in the ninth to complete the victory over the Astros (1-9).

<p class="factboxheadblack">Jerry Fitzpatrick's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Cubs 7, Astros 2</p>

<p class="News"><b>Streakers spotted:</b> Ryan Theriot and Derrek Lee extended their team-best hitting streaks to seven games in their final at-bats in the seventh inning. Theriot is hitting .367 (11-for-30) during the streak with 3 walks, 4 steals, 7 runs and 3 RBI. Lee is hitting .417 in his last seven games and has reached base in all nine contests in which he has played this season. </p>

<p class="News"><b>More than just an arm:</b> Pitcher Carlos Silva's RBI double in the third inning marked his first basehit since June 21, 2006, when he singled against Houston while a member of the Minnesota Twins. It was his fourth career hit and second career double and RBI. </p>

<p class="News"><b>The quote:</b> Lou Piniella on where recent call-up Jeff Gray slots in the bullpen order: "These guys can slot in anywhere they want as long as they pitch. How's that? I'm open to anything. If you get people out, you can slot yourself any way you want. In fact, I won't have to pick up the phone. They can call me."</p>

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