Cubs take care of business in Houston, defeat Astros 7-1

The Cubs were supposed to win last night's game and they did win last night's game. Ted Lilly was sharp once again: 6.2IP, 3H, 0R, 4K; 1-4 3B, R. Lilly improved to 7-4 overall and 3-0 against the Astros this season. I have said it before, but Lilly has been pitching like the ace of this staff, this is great to see, considering how inconsistent some of our other starters have been this season. Lilly even got a triple! He swings like a girl, so this was quite shocking. The Cubs gave Lilly a big lead to work with and he shut down the Astros for an easy victory. The bullpen did their job as well, Aaron Heilman pitched 1.1IP and allowed no runs and no walks. Sean Marshall pitched the 9th, likely just to keep his arm fresh, he threw strikes, and allowed a meaningless solo-HR.

I thought the Cubs should hit Brian Moehler hard, and that is exactly what they did, scoring 5 runs on him in the first three innings. The Cubs got three runs in the first inning. Alfonso Soriano led the game off with a double (his only hit of the game) and came around to score on a Fukudome ground-rule double. Derrek Lee then hit an RBI single scoring Fukudome. Finally, Geovany Soto, who has been slumping all season, drove in Lee with a single. In the second inning, Lilly got things started with a triple, he then came around to score, when Fukudome reached second base on a throwing error. In the third inning, Mike Fontenot hit a solo-HR. Moehler only lasted these three innings. The Cubs offense looked as good as it has all season in the first three innings of this game, everyone knew it was over. The Cubs eventually tacked on two more insurance runs in the 6th inning when Andres Blanco hit a ground-rule double scoring Lee and Fontenot.

Furthermore, multiple Cubs had strong nights at the plate. Fontenot was 4-5, HR, 2R, he is now second on the team in RBI with 26. Derrek Lee had a very good night and is continuing his "hot streak", he was 2-3, RBI, 2R, 3BB, his Avg is up to .269. Although Lee is not hitting for much power right now, he is hitting, which is more than one can say about the rest of the Cubs' hitters. As much as I hate to say it, he needs to stay in the line-up while he is hitting like this, not to mention the fact he has been playing stellar defense of late. Fukudome had a good night as well going 2-4 2B, 2RBI, 2BB. He was very patient at the plate all night, when he is patient good things happen. Yesterday I wrote that Soto should start because he should be able to hit Houston's pitching and they play in a hitters park. Soto did not hit any homers, but he did go 3-5 (all singles) with an RBI. Yes he hit all singles, but at least he made contact, heck he even drove in a run, a rare feat for Soto this season. Even Andres Blanco got into the action going 2-4 2B, 2RBI, and is now hitting .250 this season. This may just be the end of Aaron Miles. Blanco is only hitting .250, but that is a heck of a lot better than Miles. Additionally, Blanco has proven to be a very good infielder. It is time for Jim Hendry to release Miles or at least see if some sucker will trade for him.

Finally, there were a a few negatives from last nights game.
1) Milton Bradley: 0-6 3K, GIDP. He broke a bat after one strikeout and struck out looking with the bases loaded in the 9th on a fastball right down the middle of the plate. I know it was his first start in a week and he was probably rusty, but he is always rusty! Nevertheless he looked terrible at the plate last night. At least he did not carry his offensive struggles into the field, he made a fine diving catch down the right-field line late in the game. His Avg fell to a Soto-like .208, which is completely unacceptable on June 10th.

2) The Cubs left 16 men on base. Yes, I realize they scored 7 runs, which is great, and we won the game. But still, 16 is a lot of men to leave on base, they could have scored 10 or 12 runs in this game easily. As a team, the Cubs have been struggling all season with RISP. Hopefully things are starting to change.

Up next: Tonight the Cubs play the Astros at 7:05pm on WGN. Carlos Zambrano (4-2, 3.72 ERA) vs Wandy Rodriguez (5-5, 2.97 ERA). Zambrano has pitched well his last couple of outings, I expect him to pitch well again tonight. Rodriguez got off to a hot start this season, but has cooled off as of late. He does however seem to always pitch well against the Cubs. He is a soft-tossing lefty, so I expect to see a lot of righties in the line-up for the Cubs, and maybe even Jake Fox at third base or in the outfield. I know Fontenot has been hot, but I would give Fox the start at third, at least just to see if he can play a whole game there.