“We need to do this more often,” Pence said.
Indeed. The Astros put an end to a frustrating first third of the season, using 16 hits including four home runs to cover up some messes in other phases of the game and blast the Chicago Cubs 12-7 on an ideal hitting day at Wrigley Field.
Every starter had a hit as the offense erased a shaky performance from both starting pitcher Aneury Rodriguez and the defense in the first four innings. Aided by several misplays in the sun-soaked cheap nfl jerseys outfield, Chicago built a 6-3 lead in a game and was cruising toward winning a game that appeared to be first-to-21 with the win blowing out.
But Michael Bourn tripled and scored on Clint Barmes’ second home run of the season in the fifth inning. Then Hunter Pence found a similar spot in left-center field for his seventh home run of the year and the Astros’ first set of back-to-backs since last May.
And after Sergio Escalona began what was a much-needed tremendous day for the bullpen with a scoreless fifth in relief of an ineffective Aneury Rodriguez, J.R. Towles homered down the left field line to give the Astros a lead they would build on rather than lose.
“Barmes was the big hit to wake us up,” Pence said. “Once he put us within one, then we just never stopped from there.”
They need to do this more often.
It was just win No. 20 in the first 54, putting them on pace for a 60-102 record, but it featured season highs in hits, home runs and with nine, extra-base hits.
“It’s been a rough year, and it’s not been easy,” Barmes said. “It’s been really hard to go out every day and grind through some of the losses that we’ve taken. I think there’s a lot to be said for the guys in this clubhouse who expect to win, and we’re in games every day.
“It was definitely a game that was needed for us.”
As much as the offense revitalized in the opener of the three game set, the bullpen may have needed it more.
Enerio Del Rosario was the star out of the bullpen, retiring the first five batters in the Cubs order on the brutal day for pitching – both with the wind and with outfielders constantly battling the sun. None of those five hit the ball in the air, and after a single from the injured Alfonso Soriano’s mid-game replacement Blake DeWitt, Del Rosario got a soft liner from Tony Campana to end the seventh.
Wilton Lopez tossed a scoreless eighth with some good defense behind him, and Mark Melancon gave up a run in the ninth as the Astros conceded two bases for outs after a leadoff double.
“You walk out with the heat and the wind blowing out, and you knew that it might be a long one, and sure enough it was,” manager Brad Mills said. “And that makes it even more impressive what our bullpen was able to do.”
By the time Melancon was in there, they could afford to shrug over one run. The Astros got a pair in the top of the seventh on a key error on Brett Wallace’s grounder and a Chris Johnson double. And that lead grew to six at its apex when Jeff Keppinger put an end to any drama for a dwindling crowd of Chicagoans and rapidly growing crowd of gulls with a three-run shot in the ninth.
It was Keppinger’s first since returning from the disabled list and gave him three hits on the day, joining Bourn and Pence in that category. Every starting position player had a hit with Lee and Johnson contributing two apiece.
“Everybody was contributing and getting big hits in big situations,” said Towles, whose go-ahead shot was certainly among the biggest.
They need to do that more often.
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