On a night where both offenses were next to nonexistent, the Houston Astros managed the lone run of the game to edge the Chicago Cubs, 1-0, on Tuesday night in Minute Maid Park.
Following a one-out single by second baseman Jimmy Paredes in the bottom of the third inning, left fielder Fernando Martinez reached first on a throwing error by Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger, advancing Paredes to third in the process. Center fielder Justin Maxwell then drove in the deciding run by lifting a sacrifice fly to right field.
Jordan Lyles (W, 4-11) started on the mound for Houston, setting the tone with five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five.
The Astros committed four errors in the field, but used six total pitchers on the night who combined to surrender only six hits in the shutout, striking out nine Cubs while walking only two.
The Cubs and Astros will reconvene for the rubber match of the series on Wednesday, with lefty Travis Wood (5-11, 4.42 ERA) starting for Chicago while Fernando Abad (0-3, 5.30 ERA) takes the hill for Houston.
First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. ET and will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.
Read more on the Astros at The Crawfish Boxes and SB Nation Houston. Head over to Bleed Cubbie Blue and SB Nation Chicago for more on the Cubs. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.