Lee, Manzella lead Astros over Cubs 4-0

[October 04, 2010]  HOUSTON (AP) -- Carlos Lee homered and Tommy Manzella drove in two runs to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in their season finale Sunday.

The victory broke a three-game losing streak for the Astros, who matched their run total from the previous three games combined. They went 59-52 since June 1 after going 17-34 through May.

Nelson Figueroa (7-4) tossed six sharp innings of six-hit ball and struck out a season-high eight. He was pitching on three days' rest after Wandy Rodriguez could not make his scheduled start because of back spasms.

Brandon Lyon worked a perfect ninth to complete the shutout after Fernando Abad and Wilton Lopez combined for two hitless innings.

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (15-12) yielded nine hits and three earned runs with seven strikeouts in six innings.

Lee hit his 24th homer, a solo shot to the Crawford Boxes in left field to push Houston's lead to 3-0 in the third. Brett Wallace led off the fourth with his first career triple and scored on a single by Manzella.

Chris Johnson singled and scored on a single by Manzella to make it 1-0 in the first inning. A single by Figueroa and an error by catcher Koyie Hill allowed Humberto Quintero to score later in the inning and put Houston ahead 2-0.

Figueroa retired eight of his first nine batters before walking Blake DeWitt with two outs in the third. Darwin Barney singled after that, but Marlon Byrd, who finished 0 for 4, struck out to end the inning.

The Cubs got consecutive singles by Aramis Ramirez and Xavier Nady with one out in the fifth. Figueroa intentionally walked Hill to load the bases before striking out Dempster to escape that jam.

Chicago took the first two games in Houston and won eight of 12 series after interim manager Mike Quade took over.

NOTES: Houston RHP Jeff Fulchino is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on inflamed tissue in his right elbow Monday. ... Astros LHP Tim Byrdak has a sports hernia and will be examined Oct. 12 to see if surgery is needed. If it is, it will be done on Oct. 14. ... SS Starlin Castro was out of the lineup after improving his batting average to .300 on Saturday. He is the first Cubs rookie to finish a season with a .300 average since Bill Madlock hit .313 in 1974. ... Houston center fielder Michael Bourn missed his 13th straight game with a strained right oblique muscle.

[Associated Press; By KRISTIE RIEKEN]

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