Trachsel Earns First Cub Win since '99, Cubs Get The Long Ball Working In Win Over Houston

The Chicago Cubs used a simple formula to regain the NL Central lead Thursday night. If only they can follow it in St. Louis this weekend.

Steve Trachsel earned his first win with the Cubs in eight years and Chicago hit four home runs in a 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros.
Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Daryle Ward and Cliff Floyd all homered for Chicago, which moved a half-game ahead of idle Milwaukee in the division race. The Cubs open a four-game series at third-place St. Louis on Friday night.

Trachsel (1-2) gave up two solo homers and seven hits in five innings for his first win since the Cubs acquired him from Baltimore on Aug. 31.

The 36-year-old right-hander pitched for the Cubs from 1993-99, and his last win with them came on Oct. 3, 1999. The 2,906-day gap between victories is the third-longest in team history.

Trachsel was pitching on three days' rest, and Cubs manager Lou Piniella got exactly what he needed from him. Scott Eyre, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol then combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit ball.

Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta homered for the Astros, who have dropped 10 of 15 games since Cecil Cooper replaced Phil Garner as manager on Aug. 27. Woody Williams (8-15) gave up four homers for the first time this season and lost his fourth straight start.

The Cubs staked Trachsel to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Soriano hit Williams' second pitch off the brick facade in left field, his 40th career leadoff homer. Soriano has eight leadoff home runs this season, tying the Cubs record set by Rick Monday in 1976.

Mike Fontenot followed with a single and Floyd walked before Ramirez hit a three-run shot to left. Ramirez has 23 home runs this season and five this month.

Chicago's defense helped Trachsel avoid early trouble.

Luke Scott tripled with one out in the Astros' second, his second triple of the series. Loretta walked before Eric Munson grounded into a double play. The Astros also put two on with one out in the third inning, but Chicago escaped with another double play.

Trachsel's confidence grew with every pitch.

Trachsel made his only costly mistakes in the fourth inning. Lee led off with his 28th homer and first since Sept. 1. With two outs, Loretta homered just inside the foul pole in left.

Williams retired 11 consecutive batters after the shaky start. Ward ended the streak with a two-out, solo homer in the fifth that stretched Chicago's lead to 5-2.

Eyre relieved Trachsel in the sixth and the Cubs ended another inning with a double play. Eyre has a 1.02 ERA since the All-Star break.

Floyd led off the seventh with a homer into the upper deck in right field. The only other time the Cubs hit four homers in a game this season was June 8 in a 9-1 win over Atlanta.

Last week, Piniella told Floyd the Cubs were going to need his bat down the stretch.

The Cubs improved to 5-18-2 in series when they lose the first game. ... Soriano has three leadoff homers in September. He's the only major league player to hit at least eight leadoff homers in four seasons. ... Ward replaced 1B Derrek Lee in the starting lineup. Lee was a late scratch because of a sore right knee.

Cubs Win! Cubs are a half-game in First Place! The Cubs have a Big Series coming up this weekend against their hated rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. Carlos Zambrano is pitching for the Cubs, while Adam Wainwright is pitching for the Cardinals, who are now eliminated from postseason play.

Rich Hill Pitches Cubs into A Tie For First Place

The Cubs' luck may have finally changed.

Ryan Dempster survived a nail-biting ninth and Cliff Floyd homered to back Rich Hill to boost the Cubs to a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros Wednesday night. Chicago is back in a tie for first place with the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

Rich Hill, who ranks last in the Majors in run support, got just enough. The left-hander struck out seven, walked three, and gave up three hits, including Mark Loretta's leadoff homer in the seventh, to post his 16th quality start of the season.

With the Cubs leading, 3-1, Mark Loretta singled to lead off the Astros ninth, but instead of a routine two, three-hopper to first baseman Derrek Lee, the ball deflected off the first-base bag into shallow right.

Pinch-hitter Mike Lamb then dropped an RBI triple into the gap in right-center to close to 3-2. One out later, Dempster walked pinch-hitter Orlando Palmeiro, prompting a visit from Piniella. Eric Munson was up, and Piniella's only message was that he was a perfect double play candidate.

Munson bounced the ball to Lee, who got off the bag quickly and made a perfect feed to shortstop Ryan Theriot, who then fired to Dempster covering at first.

The Cubs take on Houston in the finale of this series. Steve Tracsel is on the mound for the Cubbies, while Woody Williams is on the mound for the Houston Astros.

If the Cubs win tonight, they will have sole possession of first place in the National League Central, since the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers do not play tonight.

Cubs Bring Back Steve Trachsel in Trade With Orioles

Steve Trachsel helped the Cubs in the middle of a division chase in 1998 when the Cubs won the National League Wild Card. Here in 2007, Trachsel is in position to do the same thing again, only this time, the Cubs are in First Place.


Trachsel was acquired by the Cubs today for reliever Rocky Cherry and Minor League Third Baseman Scott Moore. Trachsel will give the Cubs the much needed extra arm in the stretch run of the season, Late August, Early September.

Hey Cubs fans, if the Name Steve Trachsel sounds familiar to you, consider this: Trachsel was on the mound in 1998 when "Big Mac", the now disgraced Mark McGwire hit his (at the time) record breaking 62nd homerun. The record has been broken since then, but Steve will always be known as the guy who gave up Number 62 to Mark McGwire.

Pitching used to be the Cubs weak point. Now they have plenty of it, but will it be enough to hold off the Cardinals and the Brewers for the Division? I think so.