Cubs Come Out on Top of Slugfest

After a pair of relatively low-scoring games, the Cubs‘ and Astros‘ offenses both broke out in a big way Wednesday night, hammering out a combined 17 runs on 27 hits, including 7 homers.  Thankfully, the Cubs accounted for 11 of those 17 runs, giving them an 11-6 victory.  8 of the Cubs’ 11 tallies came in the first two innings, the biggest blast being Mike Fontenot‘s three run second inning homer.  The game was for all intents and purposes over at that point, but the Astros, plucky buggers that they are, kept pounding away at Ted Lilly, ultimately roughing him up for 5 hits and 8 runs in 5 innings, including a rather troubling 4 homers.  The bullpen, thank goodness, only gave up 1 run the rest of the way, and the Cubs got out of Houston with a 2-1 series win and a share of the early NL Central lead (along with Pittsburgh).

The gaudiest line of a rather gaudy offensive night belonged to Aramis Ramirez:  4-6, 4 RBI, 1 run.  And Kosuke Fukudome…hey, I beat on him pretty good, so I have to give him his props when he has a solid night.  The centerfielder went 4-5 with a ribbie and a walk and, most importantly given his responsibilities as a #2 hitter, 4 runs.  Considering the offensive talent this team possesses, games like this should be common occurrences.

The Cubs will take a day off on Thursday before beginning a big weekend series in Milwaukee against the dreaded Brewers.  Eventually, I’m sure we’ll have a home game.