For one afternoon, the Stros shook off the weight of a disappointing season and hammered the cocky Cubs with five yaks in winning easily at Wrigley on Friday afternoon, 15-7.
Things got a little chippy again between the Cubs’ Michael Barrett and Roy Oswalt just five days after Oswalt was ejected for beaning Barrett with a pitch in the back following a Cubs’ homer. Both benches emptied after Barrett confronted Oswalt as he stepped into the batter’s box in the second. After the umpires clearly warned Barrett to knock it off, he continued baiting Oswalt as he ran back to the dugout after grounding out. Later the Cubs’ Kent Mercher intentionally hit Oswalt with a pitch, but the umpiring crew again did not eject anyone.
Inasmuch as Oswalt was ejected a week earlier without even a warning, the umpires need to get their criteria together for throwing players out of games. Sheesh!
At any rate, Oswalt (15-9) allowed six runs in eight innings for the win on a hot and muggy afternoon at Wrigley, but he retired 13 batters in a row from the fourth inning until giving up a single and a two-run homer to Nomar Garciaparra with two outs in the eighth.
The Stros jumped on the Cubs’ Kerry Wood for four runs in the first and never looked back, whacking him for eight runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, including four of the taters. Beltran led the way with two yaks and four RBI, and since coming to the National League in June, he is 11-for-21 with seven homers and 11 RBI in five games at Wrigley Field.
I think the Cubs need to pitch around that guy.
Bags and Berkman hit back-to-back solo shots off Wood, and JK added another yak as the Stros cranked out 17 hits for a gaudy 37 total bases. The win was the ninth for the Stros in their last 12 games.
In a personnel note, the Stros mercifully released David Weathers after the game, who came over from the Mets in the Hidalgo salary dump. Weathers looks washed up, although his runs saved against average is not as bad as some of the Stros’ bullpen. However, Weathers is earning over $3 million, and the Stros are not interested in retaining him at anywhere near that compensation level. So, it was time for a divorce.
The Rocket takes the hill on Saturday as the Stros try to maintain the momentum of their best play since their great start in April.