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Fukudome, Lee lift Cubs over Astros

Apr 5, 2008 - 9:46 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs' offense finally awakened.

Kosuke Fukudome's two-run double highlighted a five-run seventh inning Saturday as the Cubs rallied for a 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros.

After Friday's 4-3 defeat to the Astros - Chicago's third in four games to start the season - manager Lou Piniella ripped his team, saying it needed to start scoring more runs.

The Cubs responded with 14 hits Saturday, scoring seven runs in their last three at-bats to erase a 5-2 deficit.

"It was a great come-from-behind win, a great team win," Piniella said.

Fukudome's double off reliever Oscar Villarreal - which snapped a 5-5 tie - was his second big hit during the Cubs' season-opening homestand. On Opening Day, the Japanese rookie belted a game-tying three-run home run in the ninth inning.

Otherwise, Chicago's offense had been quiet - until Saturday.

Derrek Lee had four hits for the Cubs, including a solo homer in the third inning and an RBI single in the seventh that tied the contest.

"The weather was better, and that is maybe what we were looking for," Lee said. "We all swung the bats better. I hit it where they pitch it, and that's what I tried to do today. I was glad to see them falling for hits."

Chicago starter Jason Marquis struggled in his first outing of the season, yielding five runs - four earned - and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Carlos Lee's solo homer put Houston ahead, 3-2, in the fourth - and the Astros extended their lead to 5-2 in the sixth on RBI doubles by Darin Erstad and Lee.

"I left some pitches up and my teammates had to bail me out," Marquis said. "I had to work too hard to get out of some innings."

But Houston starter Roy Oswalt (0-2) could not protect a three-run lead, yielding six runs - five earned - and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings. Three of Derrek Lee's hits came off Oswalt.

"He is a good hitter and I have had trouble getting him out my whole career," Oswalt said. "He always seems to know what is coming."

Kevin Hart (1-0) followed Marquis and recorded the win, allowing only one hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Cubs began their comeback in the sixth when Lee led off with a double and scored one out later on a passed ball.

After Lee's single tied the contest in the seventh, Villarreal relieved Oswalt and walked Aramis Ramirez. Fukudome hit a line drive to left field that got past Carlos Lee, allowing two runs to score.

"I got a good jump on the ball but it was slicing away from me," Carlos Lee said. "It was in an area where I had to make a decision. I slid to short hop it and it hit the top of my glove."

Mark DeRosa's RBI double capped the uprising in the seventh, giving Chicago an 8-5 lead. The Astros scored twice off Bob Howry in the eighth, but Reed Johnson's run-scoring single in the bottom half made it 9-7.

Kerry Wood tossed a perfect ninth, giving him saves in the Cubs' first two wins of the season.