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Piniella loses home debut as Cubs manager

Apr 9, 2007 - 11:32 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Adam Everett made it a disappointing day for Lou Piniella.

Everett slugged a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning to lift the Houston Astros to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Entrusted with trying to end nearly a century of frustration for the Cubs, Piniella is in his first season as manager. During pregame introductions, the Cubs' new fiery leader received the latest ovation from the fans at Wrigley Field.

"We battled back to tie the score," Piniella said. "They got two quick runs on us, what can you do. It was a good ball game we just lost it."

Piniella's team showed fight, battling back from a 3-0 deficit after six innings. But Everett's first homer of the season in the eighth put Houston in front for good.

"This is a big win for our team," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "When Adam (Everett) hit the ball everyone on the bench went wild, it was unusually loud for an in-season game."

Morgan Ensberg started the eighth for the Astros with a double off Bob Howry (0-2). After Jason Lane struck out, Everett sent a 3-2 pitch from the veteran righthander over the left field wall, giving the Astros a 5-3 lead.

"I fell behind two quick strikes and just told myself to put the ball in play," Everett said. "I got a good pitch to hit and at first I thought it would be a sacrifice fly but the ball just kept going."

"I heard the 40,000 fans booing me, that is just part of the job," Howry said. "If you do bad they will boo you, it's all part of the game."

Everett's blast made a winner of Chad Qualls (1-1), who surrendered an unearned run in the seventh.

Rick White pitched the eighth and Dan Wheeler, who is replacing ineffective Brad Lidge as the Astros' new closer, worked a perfect ninth for his first save.

"I am temporarily moving Lidge out of the closers role and will use him in the middle part of the game," Garner said. "I want to get him on track where he can more consistently come in and slam the door. I will close a lot with (Dan) Wheeler but might use (Chad) Qualls at times. I will not do bullpen by committee, that has not been a successful formula as far as I am concerned."

"This is never easy," Wheeler said. "Brad is going through some tough times but he still has tremendous stuff. He still has the will to be a dominant closer in this game."

The contest also marked the home debut for Cubs lefthander Ted Lilly, who signed a four-year, $40 million contract as a free agent. He gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, walking one and striking out five.

"I felt good physically but I was a little too amped up and I wasn't in control of myself as I was in my first start," Lilly said. "It was almost one of those days where you are out there trying to hard."

Things got off to a rough start for Lilly, who surrendered back-to-back doubles to Craig Biggio and Chris Burke to open the first inning. Carlos Lee, who signed a six-year, $100 million contract as free agent, doubled ahead of Ensberg's run-scoring single in the fourth to give the Astros a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, the Cubs loaded the bases against Woody Williams, who worked his way out of trouble by getting Mark DeRosa to bounce into an inning-ending forceout.

Berkman's sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Astros a 3-0 lead.

After managing just three singles against Williams through five innings, the Cubs pulled within 3-2 in the sixth on Aramis Ramirez's run-scoring base hit and Michael Barrett's RBI double.

Williams left after six innings, allowing two runs and six hits. The veteran righthander, who signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal as a free agent, walked one and struck out two.

The Cubs tied it in the seventh on second baseman Biggio's throwing error. Biggio bounced a throw to first in the dirt with two out, allowing Alfonso Soriano to race around from second.