A sign that tonight is not your pitcher’s night may be giving up six hits in the first inning. Another sign may be that eight of nine batters got to bat in the first inning. Or maybe when the opposing pitcher triples.
All of those things happened to Houston Astros starter Brian Moehler (2-4), as the Chicago Cubs won 7-1.
Moehler, who had two solid outings against the Pirates and Rockies, struggled against the Cubs on Monday night. The Astros starter only pitched three innings allowing eight hits, five runs, walking two and striking out three.
The Astros (25-31) won five of their last seven games entering this game. Houston fell to 2-6 against the Cubs and 11-25 against teams above .500. The Astros lost five straight games against teams above .500.
While Moehler struggled, Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly (7-4) pitched a strong game. Lilly pitched six-and-two-thirds scoreless innings, only giving up three hits and two walks. In the second inning, Lilly contributed with his bat, getting a triple into right-center.
Aaron Heilman added a scoreless inning and a third in relief.
The Cubs (29-26) have won four of their last five games and four of their last five against the Astros. While the Cubs scored seven runs they could have scored more, as they left the bases loaded three times.
From the first inning, things immediately went the Cubs way. Three of their first four batters got on base. Alfonso Soriano led off the game with a double. After Ryan Theriot flied out, Kosuke Fukudome hit a ground-rule double to right scoring Soriano. Derrek Lee singled and scored Fukudome.
Lee scored on a Geovany Soto single, giving Chicago a 3-0 lead. Andres Blanco got the Cubs last hit of the first with a single. Mike Fontenot ended the inning by being thrown out at home by Michael Bourn.
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