Piniella's lineup changes pay off with 8-5 win over Astros

Posted June 04, 2010 11:00 pm

By Bruce Miles

HOUSTON - Cubs manager Lou Piniella did as he promised Saturday night, and his moves looked like pure genius.

Well, maybe not that good, but the Cubs did beat the Houston Astros 8-5 to snap a four-game losing streak thanks to some managerial penmanship.

Piniella wrote the names of Tyler Colvin and Koyie Hill on the lineup card, and the two produced.

Colvin hit a double and a 2-run homer off Astros ace Roy Oswalt. Hill went 2-for-3, including a double in the eighth that brought home 2 big insurance runs.

"That's a good game for both those kids, and it's a good game for us," said Piniella, whose team improved to 25-30 with its biggest offensive outburst since it scored 14 against the Reds on May 7. "I'd like to see that a few times a week. We swung the bats good off of a good pitcher in Oswalt."

The Cubs also got some long-awaited production from the middle of the lineup. Aramis Ramirez homered in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1. He also had 2 singles and 2 RBI. Derrek Lee had a single and a double.

"We talked about the middle part of the lineup when they swing the bats," Piniella said. "Today, they swung it, and everything fell into place pretty good. So let's hope this is the start of something."

The Cubs rallied with 2 in the fourth after being down 2-1. Marlon Byrd doubled home a run in the sixth. In the seventh, Colvin homered into the upper deck in right with a man on against Oswalt. One day earlier, Piniella said he was going to start playing Colvin more.

"That was great; it was good to get a win and put some runs on the board," said Colvin, who is batting .300 with 6 homers. "I'm not going to hit too many home runs. I wouldn't get too excited about that."

As far as playing time, Piniella may find it hard to keep Colvin out of the lineup.

"Colvin, we're going to play," Piniella said. "I'm just going move him around. I'm going to be fair to everybody, but Colvin will be in the lineup most of the time."

The offensive outburst made a winner of starting pitcher Ryan Dempster (4-5), who worked 61/3 innings.

"We faced a real tough pitcher and scored a bunch of runs off him, so it was good," Dempster said. "Some guys had big days. It was good to see (Ramirez) break out like that and Koyie, too. Some clutch hits in clutch situations. It was cool."

One other change Piniella made was to put Byrd in the fourth spot, separating Lee and Ramirez, who had been slumping.

"I'd like to basically be able to trot a lineup out there and let these guys score some runs and win some baseball games," Piniella said. "It worked tonight, so I don't see why we need to change the middle. It was a good performance tonight offensively, and we got to build on it, that's all."

Bruce Miles' game tracker Cubs 8, Astros 5 Dempster doings: Ryan Dempster turned in the Cubs' 34th quality start, working 61/3 innings, giving up 6 hits and 3 runs. The Cubs are 19-15 in quality-start games, and the starters have an ERA of 2.21 in those starts. Walking man: Ryan Theriot drew his first walk since May 1. It came in the ninth after he was down 0-2. Theriot's on-base percentage is .305. "I made some changes the last few days, able to see some pitches," Theriot said. "I've been able to see the ball much, much better." Sweet relief: Carlos Marmol notched his 12th save. Sean Marshall earned his sixth hold with 11/3 perfect innings.

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