Happy Labor Day to everyone!!

Roy Oswalt put in a dominant outing & pitched into the 9th inning during the Houston Astros’ 3-0 shutout win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon from Wrigley Field.

The Astros’ first scoring chance came in the top of the 2nd inning after Hunter Pence hit a 2-out double against Cubs starter Jason Marquis.

Jose Castillo then flied out to Jim Edmonds in centerfield to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs then had a scoring chance in the bottom of the 3rd inning after Geovany Soto hit a lead-off single against Astros starter Roy Oswalt.

Jason Marquis then laid down a sac bunt to advance Soto to 2nd base with 2 outs, but Alfonso Soriano’s outfield flyout ended the scoring threat.

Houston then took the lead in the top of the 4th inning after Miguel Tejada hit a lead-off triple against Marquis.

Lance Berkman then drew a walk to put runners at 1st & 3rd with nobody out for Geoff Blum.

Blum then hit a sac fly to Jim Edmonds in centerfield, scoring Tejada from 3rd base & giving the Astros a 1-0 lead.

Berkman was able to steal 2nd base on the play & scored on Hunter Pence’s RBI single to give Houston a 2-0 lead.

The Astros then put together their biggest scoring chance of the game in the top of the 5th inning after Darin Erstad reached 1st base safely on a 1-out throwing error by Cubs 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez.

Ty Wiggington then drew a walk, which put runners at 1st & 2nd with just 1 out for Miguel Tejada.

Tejada grounded out to Mark DeRosa at 2nd base, but was able to advance both Erstad & Wigginton into scoring position.

Lance Berkman was then intentionally walked to load the bases for Geoff Blum, who struck out swinging to end the scoring threat.

The Astros then struck for another run in the top of the 8th inning after Miguel Tejada & Lance Berkman hit back-to-back singles off Cubs reliever Jeff Samardzija.

Miguel Tejada then scored from 3rd base on a wild pitch from Samardzija & Berkman advanced from 1st to 3rd, giving Houston a 3-0 lead.

2 batters later, Geoff Blum walked which put runners at the corners with just 1 out for Jose Castillo, who flied out to Mark DeRosa in shallow right field.
Geovany Soto was able to gun down Hunter Pence at 2nd base which ended the inning.

Chicago then put together their best rally of the day in the bottom of the 9th inning after pinch-hitter Daryle Ward & Alfonso Soriano hit back-to-back 1-out singles off Oswalt.

Kosuke Fukudome then reached on a fielder’s choice, which put runners at 1st & 3rd with 2 outs for Derrek Lee.

Lee then flied out to Hunter Pence in deep right field to end the game.

Roy Oswalt (13-9) picks up the win for the Astros after pitching 8 1/3 shutout innings & allowed just 4 hits. It is the 2nd time over Oswalt’s last 4 starts that he’s recorded a shutout win, as the Houston ace pitched 8 shutout innings of 1-hit ball & struck out 10 batters against Arizona on August 17th.

Jason Marquis (9-8) takes the loss for the Cubs after allowing 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings despite striking out a season-high 8 batters.

Jose Valverde recorded the final out in the 9th inning for his 38th save of the season.

The Cubs will now try to snap their longest home losing streak in over a year on Tuesday evening at 7:05 PM cst, as ace Carlos Zambrano (13-5, 3.53) will be opposed by Astros righthander Brandon Backe (9-12, 5.42).

Zambrano was originally supposed to start on Sunday, but the Cubs opted to give him 2 extra days of rest due to a “tired arm”.

Carlos is hoping to repeat what he did in 2007, as he survived a terrible August & turned in a solid month of September with a 4-2 record in 6 starts & a 3.44 ERA.

Zambrano is 11-7 in 22 career starts against Houston with a 2.77 ERA, which includes a 1-1 mark this season in 2 starts with a 4.09 ERA.

Backe will appear at Wrigley Field nearly a month after his worst start of the season on August 6th when he allowed 9 runs on 11 hits & walked a season-high 6 batters in just 3 1/3 innings of work during the Cubs’ 11-4 win.

Signing off for now,