The Houston Astros came away victorious for the third consecutive game on Tuesday night, as right-hander Bud Norris carved up Chicago Cubs hitters in a 3-0 win at Wrigley Field.
Though he has been wildly inconsistent over his young career, the 27-year-old Norris tossed six innings of four-hit ball to earn his seventh victory of the season. Aside from the fact that his final numbers in 2012 will hardly do him any favors, Norris still closed the year on a 13⅓-inning streak where he did not allow a single run and yielded just six hits.
Offensively, catcher Jason Castro led the way with his sixth home run of the season after a second-inning blast off Chicago starter Chris Volstad. Castro's bomb was soon followed by an RBI single from the bat of Tyler Greene that put Houston ahead by two runs, in a game where Chicago batters could only muster four total hits.
Looking to pull off a three-game sweep and conclude a dismal campaign on a high note, Houston will send Edgar Gonzalez to the mound on Wednesday to face Chicago's Travis Wood in the final game of the season.