Astros drop their second to the Cubs

This has been a tough series for the Astros as they drop their second in a row to the Cubs at Wrigley Field this afternoon. The Astros were not able to muster enough offense to help Wandy and gave up three runs late to fall 5-1.

Wandy pitched a decent game, pitching well enough to win but the offense was no where to be found today. Carlos Lee went 3-4 with the lone RBI but there wasn’t much after that. Michael Bourn went 1-4 but was caught stealing, only the sixth time this season and Jose Altuve extended his hit streak to three, going 1-4. Cubs’ pitcher Randy Wells did a good job of keeping the Astros off balance, going six innings striking out four and the Cubs used four relievers to close it out from there.

Wandy Rodriguez pitched well enough today to put the Astros in position to win going 7.0 innings, giving up two solo shots while striking out seven. The bullpen, more specifically Sergio Escalona and Fernando Rodriguez, faltered and put this game out of reach by giving up three runs in the eighth. One run was due to a throwing error by third baseman Chris Johnson, who has really regressed since last season.

The Astros had their chances today, getting three more hits than the Cubs and getting six more runners in scoring position but could not capitalize. The amazing part is that 10 batters came to the plate for the Astros with a runner in scoring position, so it is hard to point the finger at one player today who is at fault for the loss.

The Astros continue to have no luck at the catcher position as Carlos Corporan was removed from the game after being hit by a pitch in the ankle in the ninth inning. Corporan was actually starting to hit a little better, sporting a batting average of .286 over the past week. Now while this won’t set the world on fire, it was the most production the Astros have had from the position since J.R. Towles‘ April when he hit .364. I would think Humberto Quintero would get the starting nod tomorrow with Jordan Lyles looking to get his first major league win.