Longtime Cub nemesis Carlos Lee was at it again on Thursday afternoon, as he hit two home runs to help the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1 from Minute Maid Park.

The Cubs pushed across an early run in the 1^st, as Ryan Theriot drew a lead-off walk from Astros starter Bud Norris.

Starlin Castro then hit into what looked to be a doubleplay ball, but Angel Sanchez let it skip past him & into shallow right field.

That put runners on 1^st & 2^nd for Tyler Colvin, who drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out for Aramis Ramirez.

Ramirez hit an opposite-field sac fly to Hunter Pence in right field, as it scored Theriot from 3^rd & gave Chicago a 1-0 lead.

With runners on 1^st & 3^rd with just 1 out, Xavier Nady struck out swinging.

That left it up to Kosuke Fukudome, who drew a walk to load the bases once again for Jeff Baker.

Baker struck out swinging to end the inning.

Houston tried to strike a rally of their own in the bottom half of the 1^st, as Michael Bourn got it started with a lead-off walk against Chicago starter Randy Wells.

Angel Sanchez then reached on a fielder’s choice, as Aramis Ramirez fielded his grounded & threw to Jeff Baker in time to force out Bourn at 2^nd base.

Lance Berkman also drew a walk, which put runners on 1^st & 2^nd with just 1 out for Hunter Pence.

Pence flied out to Tyler Colvin, who made a nice catch on the warning track in left center.

That advanced Sanchez to 3^rd base, which left it up to Carlos Lee.

Lee then grounded out to Derrek Lee at 1^st to end the scoring threat.

Chicago then tried to add onto their lead in the 3^rd, as Starlin Castro hit a lead-off single against Norris & stole 2^nd base during Tyler Colvin’s at-bat.

Colvin also drew a walk, which put runners on 1^st & 2^nd with nobody out for Aramis Ramirez.

Ramirez hit into a double-play, which advanced Castro to 3^rd base with 2 outs for Xavier Nady.

Nady grounded out to Chris Johnson at 3^rd base to end the inning.

The Astros again tried to tie it up in the 4^th, as Lance Berkman drew a lead-off walk from Wells.

Hunter Pence followed with a single to center, which put runners on 1^st & 2^nd with nobody out for Carlos Lee.

Lee popped out to Jeff Baker at 2^nd base, which brought up Chris Johnson.

Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice, as Pence was forced out at 2^nd base.

That put runners on 1^st & 3^rd with 2 outs for Jason Castro, who struck out swinging to end the scoring chance.

Houston got a scare in the 5^th, as Bud Norris limped around after barely beating out Randy Wells on a infield grounder to 1^st base.

After a few warm-up pitches, he remained in the game.

Ryan Theriot & Starlin Castro later delivered back-to-back 1-out singles, which set up an RBI chance for Tyler Colvin.

Colvin then popped up to Jason Castro right in front of the Cubs’ on-deck circle, which left it up to Aramis Ramirez.

Ramirez grounded out to Angel Sanchez at shortstop to end the inning.

The Astros rallied to take the lead in the 6^th, as Lance Berkman drew a lead-off walk from Wells.

Hunter Pence then lined an RBI double down the left-field line, which scored Berkman from 1^st & tied the game 1-1.

Carlos Lee put his team ahead with one mighty swing, as he smashed a 2-run homer (13^th of season) off the left-field foul pole to give Houston a 3-1 lead.

Jason Castro & Anderson Hernandez kept the inning alive, as they both hit back-to-back 1-out singles off Wells.

Jason Michaels then made a pinch-hit appearance & flied out to Tyler Colvin in centerfield, as it was unable to advance any runners.

Lou Piniella then removed Wells & put righthander James Russell from the bullpen to face Michael Bourn, who fouled out to Xavier Nady in foul territory along the left-field line.

Houston was able to extend their lead in the 7th, as Lance Berkman hit a 1-out double off Chicago reliever Brian Schlitter.

Hunter Pence then hit a deep flyout to Tyler Colvin in centerfield, but it also advanced Berkman to 3rd base.

Carlos Lee provided yet another long ball, as his 2-run shot (14th of season & 2nd of game) to deep left made it a 5-1 Astro lead.

For Lee, it’s his first multi-homer game since August 23rd, 2007 against the Washington Nationals.

The Astros added a couple of more runs in the 8th, as Jason Bourgeois greeted Cubs reliever Bob Howry with a lead-off triple.

After Michael Bourn grounded out to Jeff Baker at 2nd base, Angel Sanchez drove Bourgeois home with an RBI single to make it 6-1 Houston.

Lance Berkman also singled to put runners on 1st & 2nd for Hunter Pence with just 1 out.

Pence kept the hit parade going with an RBI single to score Sanchez from 2nd base & make it a 7-1 game.

Pedro Feliz then made a pinch-hit appearence & grounded out to Howry, but did advance both Berkman & Pence into scoring position for Chris Johnson.

Johnson produced a run without swinging the bat, as Howry threw a wild pitch to enable Berkman to score from 3rd & make it a 8-1 Astros lead.

Justin Berg then entered the game & got Jason Castro to ground out to Baker, which ended the inning.

Bud Norris (3-7) gets the win for Houston after pitching 6 innings & allowed just 1 run on 4 hits while walking three & striking out seven.

Randy Wells (5-8) takes the loss for Chicago after allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 5 2/3 innings of work, which included a season-high 5 walks.

The Cubs will have an off day on Thursday & will travel to Coors Field to battle the Rockies beginning Friday evening at 8:10 PM cst, as Ryan Dempster (8-7, 3.71) goes against Jeff Francis (3-3, 4.56).

Dempster has struggled mightly at Coors Field, as he has a 11.37 ERA there in 8 appearences.

Francis has pitched well as of late for the Rockies, but hasn’t won at home since June 13th & has a 8.77 ERA in 5 career starts against the Cubs without a win.

Carlos Zambrano will re-join the team during the weekend series in Colorado, as he’s expected to make a public apology to his teammates prior to Friday’s game for his actions during a dugout incident with Derrek Lee on June 25th during the Cubs’ 6-0 loss to the White Sox.

Signing off for now,

Matt T for Cubshub.com