Astros @ Cubs Preview 05/15/09

Patrick GaddyMay 15, 2009

@

2:20 PM ET, May 15, 2009
Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
HOU: Moehler (0-2) 8.44 ERA, CHC: Wells (0-0) 0.00 ERA

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The Astros and Cubs kick off a three game series starting today at Wrigley with a 1:20 scheduled start time.

The Cubs and Astros play 17 times this season, with the first five contests at Minute Maid Park … this is Houston’s first visit to Wrigley Field … the final six games of this season series will be played at the Friendly Confines … the Cubs’ final trip to Houston is for a three-game set, June 9-11.

The Cubs lead the season series four games to one, taking 2 of 3 to start the year down in Houston and sweeping a 2 game set just last week.

Regular Season Series

Chicago leads 4-1 (as of Fri 5/15)
Mon 4/6 CHC 4, @HOU 2
Tue 4/7 @HOU 3, CHC 2
Wed 4/8 CHC 11, @HOU 6
Wed 5/6 CHC 6, @HOU 3
Thu 5/7 CHC 8, @HOU 5
May 15, 2009 HOU (Moehler) @ CHC (Wells) 2:20 PM ET
May 16, 2009 HOU (Oswalt) @ CHC (Marshall) 1:05 PM ET
May 17, 2009 HOU (Paulino) @ CHC (Harden) 2:20 PM ET
Jun 9, 2009 CHC @ HOU 8:05 PM ET
Jun 10, 2009 CHC @ HOU 8:05 PM ET
Jun 11, 2009 CHC @ HOU 2:05 PM ET
Jul 27, 2009 HOU @ CHC 8:05 PM ET
Jul 28, 2009 HOU @ CHC 8:05 PM ET
Jul 29, 2009 HOU @ CHC 2:20 PM ET
Aug 31, 2009 HOU @ CHC 8:05 PM ET
Sep 1, 2009 HOU @ CHC 8:05 PM ET
Sep 2, 2009 HOU @ CHC 2:20 PM ET

Gameday Matchup

W-L NIGHT GRASS STK L10
HOU - 5th NL Central 16-18 10-14 16-18 W2 6-4
CHC - 4th NL Central 20-14 11-7 20-14 W4 7-3

Injury Report

HOUSTON

· Jose Valverde rp - May 15: 15-Day DL
· Brandon Backe sp - May 15: 15-Day DL
· Geoff Geary rp - May 15: 15-Day DL
· Doug Brocail rp - May 14: 15-Day DL

CHICAGO

· Milton Bradley rf - May 14: Suspension
· Aramis Ramirez 3b - May 14: 15-Day DL
· Carlos Zambrano sp - May 14: 15-Day DL
· Ryan Freel 3b - May 13: Day-To-Day
· Chad Fox rp - May 13: 15-Day DL
· Derrek Lee 1b - May 11: Day-To-Day

Gameday Line

FAVORITE OPEN CUR UNDERDOG O/U
@CHICAGO -170.0 150 HOUSTON 9

ATS Houston Chicago
Record: 13-18-0 (.419) 18-13-0 (.581)
As Favorite: 4-5-0 (.444) 17-10-0 (.630)
As Underdog: 9-13-0 (.409) 1-3-0 (.250)
At Home: 6-10-0 (.375) 10-6-0 (.625)
On Road: 7-8-0 (.467) 8-7-0 (.533)

Randy Wells

Randy, 26, makes his second start of the season, the first at home, after being recalled from Iowa May 8 … he was originally selected by the Cubs in the 38th round of the 2002 draft.

Wells allowed five hits and struck out five in five innings Friday, working out of a few jams in a 3-2 loss at Milwaukee.

Quote:

"I learned a lot," Wells said. "I don't have to throw 100 mph. If I paint at 91 and change speeds, I'll be more efficient."

The right-hander will make his first appearance versus Houston (16-18), which looks for a third straight victory after winning 5-3 at Colorado on Thursday.

The right-hander has no record with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/10.1 IP) in five major-league appearances (one start).

Is 43-26 with six saves and a 3.75 ERA (247 ER/ 593.1 IP) in 184 career minor-league games (82 starts). Has struck out 572 batters compared to just 191 walks in 593.1 career minor-league innings.

Was selected by Toronto in the major league portion of the 2007 Rule 5 Draft, but was returned to the Cubs organization April 16, 2008. Earned 2008 Pitcher of the Year honors at Triple-A Iowa.
Attended Southwestern Illinois Junior College.

Cubs vs. Astros RHP Brian Moehler

Milton Bradley (.250-4-1-0-0)
Mike Fontenot (.333-9-3-0-1)
Ryan Freel (.273-11-3-0-1)
Kosuke Fukudome (.333-9-3-0-0)
Koyie Hill (.000-1-0-0-0)
Micah Hoffpauir (.000-2-0-0-0)
Derrek Lee (.308-13-4-2-4)
Alfonso Soriano (.353-17-6-0-0)
Geovany Soto (.200-10-2-1-3)
Ryan Theriot (.286-7-2-0-1)

Cubs vs. Houston Astros

(Numbers before the name are for 2009, numbers after the name are for career.)

.111 18 2 0 1 Milton Bradley .278 90 25 4 16
.313 16 5 1 6 Mike Fontenot .284 67 19 2 10
.000 0 0 0 0 Ryan Freel .253 158 40 5 12
.385 13 5 1 1 Kosuke Fukudome .262 65 17 1 5
.143 7 1 0 0 Koyie Hill .200 15 3 0 0
.400 10 4 0 2 Micah Hoffpauir .375 16 6 0 2
.333 6 2 0 3 Reed Johnson .211 38 8 0 6
.154 13 2 0 2 Derrek Lee .290 404 117 16 58
.333 6 2 0 0 Aaron Miles .183 131 24 0 5
.000 0 0 0 0 Bobby Scales .000 0 0 0 0
.320 25 8 4 5 Alfonso Soriano .255 220 56 17 37
.154 13 2 0 0 Geovany Soto .213 80 17 3 12
.389 18 7 0 2 Ryan Theriot .288 139 40 1 13
.288 184 53 8 29 Cubs Batters vs. Astros
.262 172 45 8 19 Astros Batters vs. Cubs

0-0-0 0.00 0 0.0 0 Jose Ascanio 0-0-0 0.00 3 4.0 0
0-1-0 6.75 2 1.1 1 Neal Cotts 0-1-0 3.60 7 5.0 2
0-0-0 3.00 1 6.0 2 Ryan Dempster 4-10-16 4.43 42 128.0 63
0-0-2 3.00 4 3.0 1 Kevin Gregg 0-1-3 4.97 12 12.2 7
0-0-0 0.00 2 2.0 0 Angel Guzman 0-0-0 0.82 6 11.0 1
1-0-0 3.86 1 7.0 3 Rich Harden 1-0-0 4.97 2 12.2 7
0-0-0 0.00 3 2.2 0 Aaron Heilman 1-3-0 6.38 17 18.1 13
2-0-0 5.73 2 11.0 7 Ted Lilly 5-1-0 3.22 8 50.1 18
0-0-0 0.00 4 4.0 0 Carlos Marmol 2-1-0 1.41 21 32.0 5
0-0-0 0.00 0 0.0 0 Sean Marshall 1-4-0 3.77 6 28.2 12
0-0-0 4.50 1 2.0 1 David Patton 0-0-0 4.50 1 2.0 1
0-0-0 0.00 0 0.0 0 Randy Wells 0-0-0 0.00 0 0.0 0
4-1-2 3.77 5 45.1 19 Cubs Pitchers vs. Astros
1-4-0 5.67 5 46.0 29 Astros Pitchers vs. Cubs

About The Cubs Record (20-14)

Record by Month: April 10-11, May 10-3
Come-From-Behind Wins: 10
Losses After Leading: 6
Games Won in Last At-Bat: 3
Games Lost in Last At-Bat: 5
High-Water Mark: 6 over, 20-14
Low-Water Mark: 1 under, 10-11
No. of Times at .500 Mark: 6 (1-1, 2-2, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11)

Cubs Home Runs — Last Time It Happened

GAME-OPENING HOMER: Alfonso Soriano, 5/13/09 vs. San Diego (Chris Young)
GAME-ENDING WALKOFF HOMER: Aramis Ramirez, 4/18/09 vs. St. Louis (Dennys Reyes)
PINCH-HOMER: Bobby Scales, 5/12/09 vs. San Diego (Edwin Moreno)
GRAND SLAM: Derrek Lee, 5/3/09 vs. Florida (Ricky Nolasco)
PINCH-HIT GRAND SLAM: Derrek Lee, 5/19/07 vs. White Sox (Boone Logan)
INSIDE-THE-PARK HOMER: Geovany Soto, 5/19/08 @ Houston (Brian Moehler)
THREE-HOMER GAME: Alfonso Soriano, 9/6/08 @ Cincinnati
PITCHER HITTING HOMER: Carlos Zambrano, 4/28/09 @ Arizona (Esmerling Vasquez)
HOMER IN 1ST M.L. AT-BAT: Jim Bullinger, 6/8/92 @ St. Louis (Rheal Cormier)
HOMER IN 1ST CUBS AT-BAT: Henry Rodriguez, 3/31/98 @ Florida (Livan Hernandez)
SWITCH-HITTER — HOMERS BOTH SIDES OF PLATE: Mark Bellhorn, 8/29/02 @ Milwaukee

All stats compiled using MLB.com and ESPN.com