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Astros drop series, lose ground in Wild Card race
- Updated: September 12, 2016
HOUSTON — The Cubs sucked the prime-time drama out of Sunday night in a hurry, jumping on Astros starter Mike Fiers for seven runs in 2 1/3 innings and cruising to a 9-5 victory at Minute Maid Park for their 32nd win in their past 43 games.
Jake Arrieta (17-6) held the Astros to three runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings, and the Cubs roared to a 9-1 lead after four innings. They scored four times in the third to take a 7-1 lead behind a solo homer by Jorge Soler and two-run single by Albert Almora Jr. , and Addison Russell cracked a long two-run homer to left in the fourth off Jandel Gustave to push the lead to 9-0.
“The offense really played up tonight,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “Really good at-bats against Fiers, who has really been good against this particular group. Every team I’ve ever had, he pitches well, so I was happy that we did that.”
The Astros scored twice in the sixth to chase Arrieta and got back-to-back homers from Yulieski Gurriel and Evan Gattis to start the ninth to cut the lead to 9-5.
The Cubs, whose magic number is now five, pushed their National League Central lead to 16 games over the Cardinals, while the Astros’ fourth loss in five games dropped them 3 1/2 games behind the Orioles and Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card race.
“That’s a difficult game when we can’t get into it,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Arrieta came in really hot and dominated at least the first three innings until [Jose] Altuve hit the homer. They came out swinging the bats well, and the leadoff walk starts the night and they really got to [Fiers] in the second and third. Disappointing to fall that far behind. Very proud of our guys for fighting back and making it semi-interesting.”
MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDFast start: After notching only two hits and one run in Saturday’s loss, it didn’t take long for the Cubs’ offense to get back on track Sunday. Kris Bryant put Chicago on the board early with a first-inning …
