Lee, Manzella lead Astros over Cubs 4-0
HOUSTON
Carlos Lee homered and Tommy Manzella drove in two runs to lead
the Astros to a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in their season
finale Sunday.
The victory broke a three-game losing streak for the Astros, who
matched their run total from the previous three games combined.
They went 59-52 since June 1 after going 17-34 through May.
"I wish we had a few more games," manager Brad Mills said.
Nelson Figueroa (7-4) tossed six sharp innings of six-hit ball
and struck out a season-high eight. He was pitching on three days'
rest after Wandy Rodriguez could not make his scheduled start
because of back spasms. He got Houston's last two wins of the year
after also pitching six shutout innings in his previous start, a
2-0 win over the Reds on Wednesday.
"It felt great," Figueroa said. "I wanted to go out there and
put my best effort out to help the team win and give the fans
something to look forward to for next year."
Brandon Lyon worked a perfect ninth to complete the shutout
after Fernando Abad and Wilton Lopez combined for two hitless
innings.
"It was good to see the bullpen do a great job," Mills said.
"That was special to see those guys continue to throw the ball
like they have."
Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (15-12) yielded nine hits and three
earned runs with seven strikeouts in six innings.
"I just got outpitched," Dempster said. "Figueroa threw the
ball really well and pitched deep. It would have been nice to go
out on a winning note in the last game of the year, but at the same
time it doesn't take away from how we've played down the stretch."
Lee hit his 24th homer, a solo shot to the Crawford Boxes in
left field to push Houston's lead to 3-0 in the third. Brett
Wallace led off the fourth with his first career triple and scored
on a single by Manzella.
Chris Johnson singled and scored on a single by Manzella to make
it 1-0 in the first inning. A single by Figueroa and an error by
catcher Koyie Hill allowed Humberto Quintero to score later in the
inning and put Houston ahead 2-0.
Figueroa retired eight of his first nine batters before walking
Blake DeWitt with two outs in the third. Darwin Barney singled
after that, but Marlon Byrd, who finished 0 for 4, struck out to
end the inning.
The Cubs got consecutive singles by Aramis Ramirez and Xavier
Nady with one out in the fifth. Figueroa intentionally walked Hill
to load the bases before striking out Dempster to escape the jam.
Chicago took the first two games in Houston and won eight of 12
series after interim manager Mike Quade took over.
"I'm just greedy," Quade said. "You get two, and it's great
to win a series, but you'd like to come out and win for the club,
win for Demp and all the rest of them. I wish we had done a little
more offensively. But Figueroa pitched great."
NOTES: An emotional Geoff Blum said after the game that the
Astros will not pick up his option for 2011. ... Houston RHP Jeff
Fulchino is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on inflamed
tissue in his right elbow Monday. ... Astros LHP Tim Byrdak has a
sports hernia and will be examined Oct. 12 to see if surgery is
needed. If it is, it will be done on Oct. 14. ... SS Starlin Castro
was out of the lineup after improving his batting average to .300
on Saturday. He is the first Cubs rookie to finish a season with a
.300 average since Bill Madlock hit .313 in 1974. ... Houston
center fielder Michael Bourn missed his 13th straight game with a
strained right oblique muscle.