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Astros rout Cubs

Apr 13, 2011 - 6:47 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Hunter Pence's two-run RBI double in the eighth helped cap off an Astros' 11-2 rout over the Cubs to split the first two games of a three-game set.

Pence finished the game 3-for-5 while knocking in four runs.

Brett Myers (1-0) earned his first win of the season after two no-decision appearances with seven strong innings where he allowed one run on eight hits and no walks while striking out five.

James Russell (1-1), making his first major league start because of Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner both being on the disabled list, lasted only 1 2/3 innings, allowing five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits.

"I got some unlucky breaks," Russell said. "A couple of mishaps got in the way."

Houston took the lead early when a Pence single scored Michael Bourn from second after Bourn and Angel Sanchez started the game with back-to-back bunt singles.

Sanchez and Pence then scored when Bill Hall hit a base hit into left field that was misplayed by Alfonso Soriano allowing Pence to take home when Hall avoided a tag by Darwin Barney in a rundown to give Houston a 3-0 lead.

A fielder's choice grounder to shortstop by Bourn scored Humberto Quintero, who led off the second inning with a double. Bourn then stole second and third base before scoring on an infield single by Pence to jump to a five-run lead.

Sanchez hit a single in the fourth that scored Myers and Bourn to continue the onslaught.

Houston finished its scoring in the eighth with an RBI pinch-hit single by Jason Bourgeois that scored Quintero after a leadoff triple. Pence's bases loaded double and Carlos Lee's RBI ground out made it an 11-1 game.

"We played well at everything tonight," Myers said.

A seventh inning, leadoff home run by Tyler Colvin and a Starlin Castro ground out that scored Geovany Soto from third in the ninth accounted for the Cubs' runs.

The Cubs had plenty of chances to catch up in the game but squandered them by stranding runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth, and eighth innings. Altogether they hit 1-for-15 in those opportunities and left 10 men on base.

Game Notes

Marlon Byrd extended his hitting streak to nine games with his single in the first inning...Byrd went 3-for-3 before leaving the game for a defensive substitution...Myers has gone six-plus innings in 35 of his 36 starts as an Astro.