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Astros-Cubs Preview

Aug 31, 2009 - 3:14 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Houston (62-67) at Chicago (65-62), 8:05 p.m. EDT

When the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros last met at the end of July, they were both in the thick of the NL Central race.

That's not the case anymore.

With their respective seasons slipping away, the Cubs and Astros open a three-game series Monday night at Wrigley Field.

Chicago (65-63) entered a four-game series against Houston (62-68) at Wrigley on July 27 leading the division by one-half game over St. Louis. The Astros lurked two games back of the Cubs.

Prospects looked bright for Chicago after it took three of four from the Astros and won three of its following five contests, but very little has gone right since.

The Cubs have lost 15 of 23 since Aug. 5 to fall 10 games back of the Cardinals. They still have an outside shot of making the playoffs via the wild card, but suffered a 4-1 loss to the New York Mets on Sunday to remain 5 1/2 games behind Colorado and San Francisco for that spot.

"I don't pay attention to (the standings)," manager Lou Piniella told the Cubs' official Web site. "If nobody gives us a chance, let's keep it that way."

Houston has fared even worse.

The Astros have dropped six of seven and are 11-17 since their last visit to Wrigley, falling 14 games behind St. Louis. They arrive in Chicago after being swept at Arizona and falling to 5-17 on the road since July 18.

"It's definitely a snowball," third baseman Geoff Blum said after Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks. "It seems to be accumulating. We're constantly finding ourselves in situations that we can't get out of."

Houston left fielder Carlos Lee went 1 for 12 in the series against Arizona. He'll try for a turnaround at Wrigley, where he's batting .333 with six home runs and 12 RBIs in 12 games since the start of last season.

Despite Lee's success on Chicago's North Side, the Astros have lost four of six games there this year.

Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee is a big reason for that. He's batting .442 with four home runs, 10 RBIs and a .531 on-base percentage in 14 home games against Houston since the start of last season, and .357 with a homer, double and three RBIs against Roy Oswalt (7-5, 3.86 ERA) since 2008.

Oswalt enters Monday's start after allowing three runs and a season high tying 10 hits in six innings of Wednesday's 3-2 loss to St. Louis, his first defeat since June 19. The Astros have eight wins in the right-hander's last 10 starts.

Oswalt is 0-1 with a 3.68 ERA in three starts against the Cubs this season, and 2-6 with a 3.77 ERA in his last 10 outings against them. In his last start at Chicago on July 28, a lower back strain forced him to leave after 1 2-3 innings.

The Cubs counter with Rich Harden (8-7, 3.99 ERA), who has been leading their rotation by going 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 50 innings over eight starts since the All-Star break.

The right-hander allowed two runs and five hits in six innings of a 9-4 win over Washington on Wednesday, but didn't receive a decision.

Harden is 1-1 with a 4.85 ERA in two starts against the Astros in 2009.