Chicago @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 5, 2010 ) Chi. Cubs 8, Houston 5
If their track records against today's opponents are any indication, Chicago's Randy Wells and Houston's Brett Myers could be in for quite a pitchers' duel this afternoon at Minute Maid Park.
Wells and Myers are scheduled to square off in the rubber game of the three-game set, and judging by their past performance against their respective National League Central rivals, runs will be at a premium.
The 27-year-old right-hander Wells hasn't yet allowed an earned run in 20 2/3 innings against the Astros. He is 2-0 in three starts against them - all in 2009 - and has given up just 17 hits and one unearned run.
He could use another one of those sterling performances today. After starting the season 3-0, Wells (3-3, 4.40 ERA) had a rough May and has lost his last three decisions.
Wells had put together a string of three consecutive quality starts before he was bombed for five runs and six hits without recording an out May 28 against St. Louis.
He bounced back from that nightmare outing to throw five scoreless innings against the Pirates on two days rest Monday, giving up three hits and three walks but taking a no-decision in a 2-1 loss.
Myers (3-3, 3.04 ERA) had a similar experience his last time out. He racked up a season-high 10 strikeouts and allowed only one earned run on four hits in seven innings Tuesday against Washington, but three unearned runs left him with a no-decision in Houston's 8-7 win.
Myers has been durable, having gone at least six innings in all 11 of his starts, but he has been the victim of some bad luck. He has seen two quality starts turn into losses and three more end with no-decisions.
He's has plenty of good luck against the Cubs, though, posting a 7-3 record and a 2.63 ERA in 13 appearances - nine starts - against them. Myers hasn't faced the Cubs since 2008, when he beat them twice while pitching for the Phillies.
Myers catches a Chicago club that showed signs Saturday of snapping out of the offensive slump that has plagued it for more than a week.
Over their previous seven games - five of them losses - the Cubs hit .192 and pushed across only 12 runs. But Chicago broke out for 12 hits in an 8-5 win Saturday, snapping a four-game skid in the process.
The most promising aspect of that offensive performance was the production in the middle of the Cubs' lineup, as slumping corner infielders Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez put together multi-hit games.
Lee went 2-for-5 to break out of a 1-for-17 slump, and Ramirez had his first three-hit game of the season to raise his average 13 points after it had dipped to .158 following a 2-for-28 stretch. He also hit his fifth home run of the year. Lee has hit Myers extremely well, going 15-for-29 with three homers against him, and Ramirez is 8-for-28 with two homers at his expense.
Houston's Jeff Keppinger extended his hitting streak to seven games with a solo homer in the third inning Saturday. Keppinger has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games, and he's hitting .358 during that span.