Cubs aim to rebound in Houston

Sep 12, 2007, 15:26 GMT

- The Chicago Cubs were knocked out of the top spot in the NL Central standings, and will try to regroup when they continue a three-game series against the Houston Astros this evening at Minute Maid Park.

The Cubs were tied with Milwaukee for the lead in the Central standings before suffering a 5-4 loss in 11 innings to the Astros in the series opener on Tuesday. The Brewers defeated Pittsburgh last night to take a one-game lead in the division standings.

As for the Cubs, Mark DeRosa homered and Jacque Jones had three hits and scored a run in Chicago's fourth loss in six tries. Chicago starter Jason Marquis allowed four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits with a strikeout over five-plus innings for the no decision.

Ryan Dempster gave up Luke Scott's game-winning triple in the bottom of the 11th inning to absorb the loss.

Rich Hill gets the nod for the Cubs on Wednesday and he is 8-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 28 starts this season. Hill is 2-1 in his last five trips to the hill, but was handed the loss on September 7 in a 6-1 setback at Pittsburgh. He was reached for six runs and nine hits over six frames.

Hill, a left-hander, is 1-0 with a 3.77 earned run average in four career games -- two starts -- against Houston.

Scott was the hero for the Astros last night, while Hunter Pence had a pair of hits and two runs batted in for Houston, which ended a five-game losing streak that included getting swept over the weekend by the New York Mets. Brandon Backe started for Houston and allowed four runs on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts over five innings. Brad Lidge earned the win after two scoreless innings of relief.

Houston will hand the ball to Matt Albers on Wednesday. Albers, who is 4-7 with a 5.88 ERA in 27 games (14 starts) in 2007, is coming off a poor outing at Milwaukee on September 5. He was reached for seven runs in just three innings of a 14-2 drubbing at Miller Park.

The right-handed Albers is 0-0 with an 8.10 ERA in three career appearances against Chicago.

Houston leads the 2007 season series with the Cubs by a 7-6 count. The Astros posted a three-game sweep of Chicago at home from August 6-8 this season.

© 2007 The Sports Network