Final
Sampson, Scott lead Astros past Cubs
Apr 11, 2007 - 12:20 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Chris Sampson gave the Houston Astros a surprising lift. Jason Marquis did not fare as well for the mistake-prone Chicago Cubs.Sampson allowed three hits over five scoreless innings and Luke Scott had three RBI as the Astros held on for a 4-2 victory over the Cubs.
Making his fourth major league start, Sampson (1-0) walked one and struck out three. He was replaced prior to the sixth inning due to a strained calf muscle and is considered day-to-day.
"Coming out of the box I kind of tweaked a calf," Sampson said. "In the bottom of the fifth I had to cover first base and that bothered me. I told Phil (Garner) when he came out that I could pitch but I couldn't really run, so he decided not to chance it and turned the game over to the bullpen."
Signed to a three-year, $21 million contract as a free agent, Marquis allowed four runs - three earned - and four hits in five innings. The righthander walked four and struck out three.
"I thought I threw some quality pitches," Marquis said. "The pitch to Scott was out off the plate and he hit it with his arms extended, (Lance) Berkman's was a broken-bat so I thought I made some quality pitches. They just did a good job of hitting them."
Marquis hardly was helped by his defense as the Cubs committed three errors - all by former Gold Glove-winning shortstop Cesar Izturis.
Alfonso Soriano, inked by the Cubs to an eight-year contract worth $136 million in the offseason, also had his first gaffe of the season in center field.
Soriano misjudged a line double off the bat of Scott in the first inning that went for a two-run double. Houston scored three times in the frame.
"It was a hard line drive and it was difficult to tell that if I went straight back, I could have caught it or not," Soriano said. "Maybe if I had a better jump, who knows? It's just real tough to tell."
Izturis' error on a grounder by Craig Biggio led to Scott's run-scoring groundout in the fifth, which allowed the Astros to grab a 4-0 lead.
"You can't blame the field that's just making excuses," Izturis said. "You know it is just part of the game, you come back tomorrow, forget about today and get a W."
Despite the miscues, the Cubs attempted to rally from a 4-0 ninth-inning deficit against new Astros closer Dan Wheeler.
Wheeler gave up two runs and four hits in the ninth. But with two runners on, he got pinch hitter Matt Murton to pop out to first to end it.
"I told the GM (Jim Hendry) today that if it stays 40 degrees, we will have trouble winning ballgames," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.
Derrek Lee and Cliff Floyd each had two hits for Chicago, which has its first three-game losing streak under Piniella.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
HOUSTON 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 7 1
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 7 3 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: HOU - CHRIS SAMPSON, RICK WHITE (6TH), CHAD QUALLS (8TH), DAN
WHEELER (9TH) AND BRAD AUSMUS
CHN - JASON MARQUIS, ANGEL GUZMAN (6TH), SCOTT EYRE
(9TH) AND MICHAEL B
Apr 10 5:10 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MARK DEROSA SCORED DERREK LEE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, M DEROSA ON FIRST, C FLOYD ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: HOUSTON 4
CHICAGO CUBS 2 BOTTOM, 9TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: C IZTURIS (.240, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Astros vs. CubsApr 10 5:08 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY DERREK LEE SCORED JACQUE JONES.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D LEE ON FIRST, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: HOUSTON 4
CHICAGO CUBS 1 BOTTOM, 9TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A RAMIREZ (.419, 1-FOR-3)
Astros vs. CubsApr 10 4:55 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
HOUSTON 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 6 0
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 (BOT 7)
CURRENT PITCHERS: HOU - RICK WHITE
CHN - ANGEL GUZMAN
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: C FLOYD (.286, 1-FOR-2)
M BARRETT (.208, 0-FOR-2)
M DEROSA (.269, 0-FOR-2)
Apr 10 4:17 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY LUKE SCOTT SCORED CRAIG BIGGIO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C LEE ON SECOND, L BERKMAN ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: HOUSTON 4
CHICAGO CUBS 0 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: C BURKE (.192, 0-FOR-2)
Apr 10 3:40 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY LUKE SCOTT SCORED CRAIG BIGGIO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C LEE ON SECOND, L BERKMAN ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: HOUSTON 4
CHICAGO CUBS 0 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: C BURKE (.192, 0-FOR-2)
Astros vs. CubsApr 10 3:40 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
HOUSTON 3 0 0 0 3 4 0
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 (TOP 5)
CURRENT PITCHERS: HOU - CHRIS SAMPSON
CHN - JASON MARQUIS
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: C BIGGIO (.250, 0-FOR-2)
M ENSBERG (.240, 1-FOR-2)
L BERKMAN (.200, 1-FOR-1, BB)
Apr 10 3:25 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
HOUSTON 3 0 3 4 0
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 (BOT 2)
CURRENT PITCHERS: HOU - CHRIS SAMPSON
CHN - JASON MARQUIS
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A RAMIREZ (.429, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
C FLOYD (.250, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
M BARRETT (.227, 0 HR, 4
Apr 10 2:46 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
HOUSTON 3 3 4 0
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: HOU - CHRIS SAMPSON
CHN - JASON MARQUIS
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A SORIANO (.219, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
J JONES (.231, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
D LEE (.414, 0 HR, 3
Astros vs. CubsApr 10 2:33 PM
Related News
- A few more thoughts about the Cubs’ offseason inactivity thus far Dec 26
- Cub Tracks’ box set Dec 26
- Astros Crawfish Boil: December 26, 2023 Dec 26
- BCB After Dark: Happy Holidays! Dec 26
- Merry Christmas from BCB! Dec 25
- Outside The Confines: Merry Christmas Dec 25
- Baseball history unpacked, December 25 Dec 25
- ‘Twas the night before Cub Christmas, 2023 Dec 24
- Everystros LV Dec 24
- Cub Tracks has garlic in its soul Dec 24
- Cubs historical sleuthing: Early 1940s edition Dec 23
- Cubs historical sleuthing: Ticket edition Dec 23