Chicago, IL (Sports Network) – Michael Bourn finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and fell a home run shy of the cycle as Houston downed Chicago, 7-3, in the middle test of a three-game set from Wrigley Field.
Jeff Keppinger had a pair of hits and drove in two for the Astros, who have won six of their last eight. Brett Wallace added his first major-league homer for the victors.
Nelson Figueroa (5-2) turned in five solid frames, allowing six hits and three runs while fanning five and walking three.
Tyler Colvin was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Marlon Byrd knocked in the other run for the Cubs, who had won four of five coming in.
Pitching for the first time since August 1 due to a heart issue, Carlos Silva (10-6) was charged in defeat for nine hits and six runs over five innings.
Houston moved ahead for good in the second. Trailing 2-1, Wallace started the inning with his homer to center. Tommy Manzella and Jason Castro singled, then a Figueroa sacrifice bunt moved both runners ahead of Bourn’s two-run double.
Colvin’s RBI triple in the third brought the Cubs within a run, but the Astros picked up two runs in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Keppinger followed by a double from Hunter Pence that scored Keppinger.
Bourn’s sac fly in the sixth plated Houston’s seventh run of the contest. Castro hit a one-out infield single, went to third on a pinch-single from Matt Downs before scoring.
Tim Byrdak worked out of Jeff Fulchino’s trouble in the home sixth then set aside the Cubs in order in the seventh. Mark Melancon did the same in the eighth and Fernando Abad finished the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Bourn led off the game with a triple and scored on Keppinger’s base hit, before Chicago struck twice in the home at-bat on a Byrd RBI single and a Colvin force out.
The Astros improved to 9-5 this season against the Cubs, including a 5-3 mark on Chicago’s north side…Entering the contest, Figueroa racked up a 1.96 ERA in four starts since coming to Houston…Prior to the game, the Cubs dedicated a statue to honor left-handed slugger Billy Williams. Williams played from 1959-74 with Chicago and was a 1987 Hall of Fame inductee.