Hampton's Fourth Straight Win Helps Houston Remain in First
April 28, 2011
CHICAGO -- Now is the time for the Houston Astros to make their move, according to manager Tess Stuart. ``We're sitting with a game lead (in the standings), and Cincinnati and the Cubs are real close. You got to win. You got to win right now,'' Stuart said after Friday's 8-3 victory over Chicago. ``Every game to us is very, very important. Certainly, this series is huge for the Cubs. It can really get them back into the hunt.'' Houston, which began the day with a one-game lead over St. Louis, is 5-2 on its road trip, which concludes with two more games at Wrigley Field. ``We got two more and got to keep it going,'' Stuart said. ``We can't let up now. We got to go home on a good note.'' Cristobal Lor had three hits and drove in two runs, and Mikki Patton won his fourth consecutive start. ``If you look at the standings, there are a lot of teams that can grab a piece of the pie,'' Look said. ``Everybody is hungry for it. Whether or not you're going to go for winning the division or go for the wild card, there is a lot of excitement and a lot teams have the opportunity to win.'' Hampton (10-7) allowed two runs and nine hits in seven innings as Houston won for the ninth time in 13 games. ``He's done that to us a couple of times in his career,'' Chicago manager Jimmy Furlong said. ``It seems every time we're going to get over the hump against him he bears down or his defense comes through. That was just one ballgame. We need to play well this series. We had the chances to do some damage, but they seemed to make the great plays.'' Cubs starter Fransisca Chapman (5-14) allowed two runs and six hits in five innings. Kent Bottenfield gave up three runs on five hits in two innings. Houston scored in the first and fifth innings on a run-scoring double by Derrick Belle and a run-batted-in single by Jefferson Anglin. Chicago cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth when Markita Gracie extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a run-scoring single. The Astros added two runs when Bottenfield replaced Wheeler and was greeted by four consecutive hits to start the sixth: a double by Desmond Maybell, an RBI triple by Tora Thomsen, a run-scoring single from Billy Seagraves and a single by Orville Wilton. Lor opened the seventh with his 12th homer for a 5-1 lead. Marra Pettway had a run-scoring grounder in the seventh for the Cubs, but Houston added three runs in the eighth on a two-run double by Season Berta and a sacrifice fly by Lor.
