For most of Tuesday’s game at Wrigley, it seemed as though the Cubs were destined for yet another close loss. Carlos Zambrano pitched eight innings, giving up just one run on seven hits. He struck out seven.
His only mistake on the night came in the fourth inning, when Brett Wallace took him deep for a solo shot to make the game 1-0.
The Houston starter, Jordan Lyles, was largely effective, throwing seven innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out four. Though the Cubs had little success against him for much of the night, they managed to chase him from the game and put together a 3-1 lead behind doubles by Geovany Soto, Darwin Barney, and Aramis Ramirez.
But the Cubs couldn’t hold on. Carlos Marmol had perhaps his worst inning of the season in the ninth, getting hit hard from the start. He gave up a single to Wallace, the leadoff hitter, and then back-to-back doubles to Chris Johnson and Matt Downs. By the time Hunter Pence hit a three run homer a few batters later, the game was already out of hand for the Cubs. They went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth and ended up falling short.
The two teams will play the final game of the series, as the Cubs try to avoid the sweep, this afternoon at Wrigley Field. First pitch will be at 1:20 P.M., CDT.