Wednesday, August 14, 2002
Astros 5, Cubs 4
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — No one wanted to get this game in more than Pete Munro. The right-hander got his first major league hit and RBI, and also won for the first time since July 23 as the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 Tuesday in a game interrupted twice by rain.
“We came in and Jeff Bagwell was like, "That would be a shame if that first hit doesn't count,”' Munro said. “I started to take that into consideration. It was like, "Man, let's go!”'
The game was eventually completed after almost two hours of interruptions, but Munro still had to sweat out his victory as the Cubs rallied after being down 5-0.
Joe Girardi's RBI single in the sixth made it 5-3, and Alex Gonzalez hit a solo homer off of Billy Wagner to lead off the ninth. But Wagner retired the next three batters, getting his 27th save in 33 chances.
“He closed the game out today,” Gonzalez said. “It's hard task when you've got to go out and hit 98 mph. We had our work cut out for us.”
Jeff Bagwell and Jose Vizcaino both drove in runs for the Astros. Vizcaino also made a stellar defensive play, throwing out Bill Mueller at home in the fifth inning as he tried to score from second.
Munro (3-2), who'd lost his previous two starts, allowed one run and seven hits in five innings.
Sammy Sosa extended his hitting streak to eight games, but the Astros managed to halt his offensive barrage. He had homered five times in the previous three games and driven in 16 runs.
Matt Clement (9-9) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked four, one intentionally.
“He labored a little bit today more than usual, but he gives us a good chance to win,” Cubs interim manager Bruce Kimm said. “He had one inning where they got to him, and it was enough.”
Clement had given up only three earned runs in his previous three starts, but the Astros knocked him around with a four-run fourth inning.
Lance Berkman started it off with a double to right-center, and Bagwell followed with an RBI double that rolled all the way to the wall in center. Two outs later, Clement intentionally walked Geoff Blum to get to Brad Ausmus, the No. 8 hitter.
“You've got the eighth hitter up who is a singles hitter and the pitcher up next,” Kimm said. “It was a no-brainer.”
But it backfired, as Ausmus singled up the gap to score Bagwell. Munro and Vizcaino followed with RBI singles, and the Astros had a 5-0 lead.
“It didn't work out, but I could have made better pitches,” Clement said, refusing to question the decision.
The Cubs got a run back in the bottom of the inning as Munro's wild pitch forced in Moises Alou.
The rain began falling in the fifth inning, and the game was halted three outs shy of being official. Munro came back out after the 46-minute delay, but he didn't look as sharp as he did earlier.
He gave up a two-out double to Mueller and then Sosa singled to shallow left. Vizcaino cut off Daryle Ward's throw and then hurled the ball home, easily beating Mueller.
“You don't see that too often, the shortstop cutting the ball off, but he did a good job,” Munro said. “It worked out. He made a great throw.”
The game was halted again in the bottom of the sixth, this time for 56 minutes. When it resumed, Girardi hit a two-run single to shallow left to start the Cubs' rally.
“If you want to start winning ball games, you've got to make big defensive plays, you have to make big two-out hits and we did that,” Bagwell said. “We had that big inning, and that was enough to hold up for us.”
Notes: Houston utility player Orlando Merced, who agreed to a $1.7 million, one-year contract extension Tuesday, had an RBI single. ... Houston SS Adam Everett was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans on Tuesday. He takes the spot of Julio Lugo, who will be out at least six weeks with a broken forearm. ... Cubs OF Corey Patterson turned 23 Tuesday.
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Astros 5, Cubs 4 
