“It’s good for us,” Bogusevic said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit. One of the good parts about being young is you’re not going to give up. We’re going to fight all nine innings and it doesn’t matter if we’re down one run or 10 runs, we’re going to keep going.”

J.B. Shuck singled with one out in the ninth off closer Carlos Marmol (2-4) before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Clint Barmes singled and Matt Downs drew a walk to load the bases and bring up Bogusevic.

“When you’re not sharp sometimes you get beat,” Chicago manager Mike Quade said referring to Marmol. “His slider wasn’t as good as it usually is, and his fastball command left him.”

Bogusevic, who called the hit a “thrill,” sped around the bases at first because he wasn’t sure he’d hit it out.

“I was (running fast) because I know that I’m the winning run and if it doesn’t get out, I’ve got to get myself into scoring position somewhere,” he said. “After I saw it land, I kind of slowed down a little bit to maybe soak it in a little bit.”

Houston reliever Aneury Rodriguez (1-4) struck out one in 2-3 innings for his first career win.

Astros’ manager Brad Mills was excited to see two of his young players come through in the victory.

“(Bogusevic) really did a good job,” Mills said. “That was just tremendous and I’m so thrilled for him and thrilled for Aneury Rodriguez to get his first win. Those things are cool.”

Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless eighth before Marmol blew his eighth save, which snapped a streak of nine straight saves for him.

“Bad day, you know,” Marmol said. “I’ve been pitching good. Hopefully that continues tomorrow and (I) forget about today.”

Tyler Colvin hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and Aramis Ramirez added a solo shot in the eighth as the Cubs built a 5-2 lead. Colvin, who has spent time in Triple-A this season and is hitting just .135, has homered three times in the last 13 games, including Tuesday’s blast that landed in the second deck in right field.

Houston starter Brett Myers yielded six hits and four runs in seven innings and hasn’t won since June 17.

“First inning I was struggling to get my rhythm,” Myers said. “Sixth inning, just one pitch cost me two runs. But that ninth inning made up for everything. I don’t even feel like I pitched tonight,”

Chicago starter Ryan Dempster allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings before being replaced by Wood.

Jimmy Paredes had two doubles and drove in a run for the Astros.

Ramirez’s 22nd homer came off reliever Wilton Lopez in the eighth inning and pushed the lead to 5-2.

Starlin Castro hit a leadoff single followed by a single by Darwin Barney. Ramirez hit the third single of the inning to score Castro and give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Carlos Pena walked before Marlon Byrd grounded into a double play and Barney scored to make it 2-0.

Jason Bourgeois drew a walk with no outs in the first for Houston before Carlos Lee walked with two outs. The double by Paredes, which landed in the corner of left field, scored Bourgeois, but Lee was out at home to leave it at 2-1.

Ramirez reached on an error by Clint Barmes and Pena walked in the third inning, but Myers didn’t allow another hit after the three first-inning singles until Barney singled with two outs in the fifth inning. Ramirez grounded into a force out to end that inning, before Pena doubled to start the sixth.

Then came Colvin’s two-out homer that scored Pena and pushed Chicago’s lead to 4-1.

Shuck doubled in the seventh inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Humberto Quintero to make it 4-2.

NOTES: Houston OF Jordan Schafer, on the DL since July 20 with an injured left middle finger, was cleared to start a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday. If his rehabilitation goes well, he could join Houston on Monday in Colorado. Schafer was acquired from Atlanta in the Michael Bourn trade. … Bud Norris starts for Houston in Wednesday’s finale against Chicago’s Casey Coleman. … Norris didn’t allow a run in seven innings in his last start, but did not factor in the decision. … Coleman was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to replace Carlos Zambrano in the rotation. Coleman is 2-4 with a 7.23 ERA in 11 games this season for Chicago.

___

Kristie Rieken can be reached at http://twitter.com/kristieAP.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Starlin Castro homered and Matt Garza pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 1-0 win over the sliding Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.

Castro’s solo homer leading off the eighth inning made a winner of Garza (5-8) as he combined on a four-hit shutout with Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol, who worked the ninth for his 22nd save.

Castro hit a full-count pitch over the left-field fence off Chris Resop (3-3) for his fourth home run of the season to give the Cubs their first four-game winning streak of 2011. The shortstop went 3 for 4 and is 9 for 14 in the first three games of the four-game series.

Garza was lifted after walking pinch-hitter Matt Diaz to start the eighth. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven for his first win in seven starts.

Marshall retired all three batters he faced in relief of Garza, leaving pinch-runner Xavier Paul stranded at second base when Neil Walker hit an inning-ending lineout. Marmol hit Derrek Lee with a pitch to start the ninth but escaped by striking out the final two batters.

Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He has a 1.97 ERA in nine starts against NL Central opponents this season.

The Cubs’ Carlos Pena reached base in all four plate appearances with two doubles and two walks. Darwin Barney also had two hits. Castro, Pena and Barney combined for all seven Chicago hits, while the rest of the lineup went 0 for 22.

Pedro Alvarez had two of Pittsburgh’s four hits but struck out in a nine-pitch at-bat against Marmol in the ninth inning with one out and a runner on second. The Pirates were shut out for the ninth time.

Pittsburgh’s best threat against Garza came in the first inning when Andrew McCutchen led off with a single, stole second and went to third on a groundout. However, Lee lined out to shortstop to end the threat.

Chicago’s best chances against Morton came in the second and sixth innings.

Pena doubled to lead off the second but was left stranded at second base. The Cubs then loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth before Marlon Byrd grounded out.

Chicago right fielder Tyler Colvin and manager Mike Quade were ejected by home plate umpire Bob Davidson in the middle of the fifth inning. Colvin got a quick thumb for arguing a called third strike on the inside corner from Morton and Quade got tossed after coming out from the dugout to argue.

 

Read more: National, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Cubs Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates, Starlin Castro, Starlin Castro Chicago Cubs, Matt Garza, Chris Resop, Carlos Marmol, Pirates Losing Streak Continues, Pro, MLB

(AP) — Starlin Castro homered and Matt Garza pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 1-0 win over the sliding Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.

Castro’s solo homer leading off the eighth inning made a winner of Garza (5-8) as he combined on a four-hit shutout with Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol, who worked the ninth for his 22nd save.

Castro hit a full-count pitch over the left-field fence off Chris Resop (3-3) for his fourth home run of the season to give the Cubs their first four-game winning streak of 2011.

The shortstop went 3 for 4 and is 9 for 14 in the first three games of the four-game series.

Garza was lifted after walking pinch-hitter Matt Diaz to start the eighth.

He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven for his first win in seven starts.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 3 (UPI) — Matt Garza teamed with two relievers on a four-hitter Wednesday and Starlin Castro hit a homer in the eighth to give the Chicago Cubs a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.

Garza (5-8) went seven-plus innings and allowed all the Pittsburgh hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Sean Marshall came in for Garza in the eighth to retire three straight batters after Garza had issued a leadoff walk.

Carlos Marmol worked the ninth, hitting Derrek Lee with a pitch to start the inning. Lee reached second on a sacrifice, but Marmol then struck out both Pedro Alvarez and pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit to claim his 22nd save.

Castro’s homer came on a 3-2 pitch off reliever Chris Resop (3-3). Starter Charlie Morton had given up five hits and struck out seven in seven scoreless innings.

Pittsburgh lost its sixth straight and has dropped eight out of nine. After climbing into first place in the National League Central last month, the Pirates have fallen 6 1/2 games behind Milwaukee and are below .500 for the first time since June 21.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two timely double plays made it a big night for the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen and Kerry Wood had a beauty.

Sean Marshall snuffed out a potential rally in the seventh inning and Wood reached behind his back to snare a grounder to start a 1-6-3 DP in the eighth as the Cubs ended a five-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory Sunday night, preventing a three-game sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals.

“The bullpen did all the work, man,” Chicago starter Ryan Dempster said. “They made some big pitches in some big situations. It was fun to see them do it.”

The Cardinals had runners on first and third with none out in the seventh and newly acquired Rafael Furcal pinch-hitting when Cubs manager Mike Quade went to Marshall. Furcal hit into a force out and another pinch-hitter, Ryan Theriot, grounded into a double play.

Albert Pujols singled with one out in the eighth before Wood, who falls off to the left side, reached his glove behind his back and snared Matt Holliday’s grounder up the middle to start the highlight-reel double play.

“It’s become a natural reaction,” Wood said. “He goes up the middle and he hit in the right spot and I got it.”

St. Louis has grounded into 116 double plays, most in the majors.

Starlin Castro and Marlon Byrd had key hits as the Cubs broke up Jake Westbrook’s perfect game with a four-run sixth.

Lance Berkman’s three-run homer in the bottom of the inning made it interesting for the Cardinals, who completed a disappointing 4-3 homestand against the two worst teams in the NL Central. They trail the first-place Brewers by 2½ games heading into a three-game series in Milwaukee on Monday.

“Two out of three from the Cubs is nothing to sneeze at,” Berkman said. “I think if you want to poo-poo the homestand, one of those games against the Astros we should have won, and it would have been three out of four.”

Alfonso Soriano homered for the second straight game and Dempster (8-8) pitched six-plus innings for the Cubs, who beat the Cardinals for the second time in seven meetings this season.

Soriano homered off Kyle McClellan, moved to the bullpen after the Cardinals acquired Edwin Jackson last week.

“I was looking for a fastball away and he threw me a cutter and I made a good swing,” Soriano said. “That was a big homer and a big win for us. Now, maybe we can relax a little.”

Furcal got a standing ovation before his pinch-hit appearance. Theriot, who lost his starting job when the Cardinals traded for Furcal, had been 6 for 7 in the series.

Westbrook (9-5) needed only 44 pitches to get through five innings, then labored through 33 pitches in the sixth and left trailing by four. After he retired his first 16 batters, five straight Cubs reached safely with two outs, and Westbrook was done after Chicago batted around.

“I felt strong and was making pitches, I just wasn’t able to make any after that,” Westbrook said. “It hurt us, hurt us big-time.”

Westbrook had been 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in his first three starts after the All-Star break.

Castro’s RBI double over center fielder Jon Jay’s head put the Cubs ahead. Carlos Pena drew a bases-loaded walk before Byrd finished the rally with a two-run single. Soriano, who hit a three-run homer in the first on Saturday, added a two-run drive for his 17th.

After managing just two hits off Dempster over the first five innings, the Cardinals climbed right back into it in the sixth on Berkman’s league-leading 28th homer to straightaway center.

Carlos Marmol worked the ninth for his 20th save in 27 chances.

Eighth-place hitter Koyie Hill walked on a full count with one out in the sixth for the Cubs’ first baserunner. Dempster’s two-strike sacrifice bunt gave them their first runner in scoring position and Reed Johnson’s sharp single to right with two outs ended the no-hit bid and put runners at the corners.

Daniel Descalso started at shortstop instead of Furcal, fatigued after a day of travel, plus just 6 for 38 for his career against Dempster, and made two exceptional plays early.

Descalso robbed Johnson to start the fourth on a grounder that deflected off third baseman David Freese’s glove, then snared Soriano’s grounder up the middle and made a strong throw to first from the grass to end the fifth.

Notes: The crowd of 43,960 was the Cardinals’ fifth sellout of the season. … Pujols is 17 for 52 (.327) against Dempster with seven homers, 14 RBIs, 11 walks and one strikeout. … The Cardinals also grounded into two double plays on Saturday. … The Cubs are 16-29 against the NL Central.

ST. LOUIS (AP)—Two timely double plays made it a big night for the Chicago
Cubs’ bullpen and Kerry Wood(notes) had a beauty.

Sean Marshall(notes) snuffed out a potential rally in the seventh inning and Wood
reached behind his back to snare a grounder to start a 1-6-3 DP in the eighth as
the Cubs ended a five-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory Sunday night,
preventing a three-game sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals.

“The bullpen did all the work, man,” Chicago starter Ryan Dempster(notes) said.
“They made some big pitches in some big situations. It was fun to see them do
it.”

The Cardinals had runners on first and third with none out in the seventh
and newly acquired Rafael Furcal(notes) pinch-hitting when Cubs manager Mike Quade went
to Marshall. Furcal hit into a force out and another pinch-hitter, Ryan Theriot(notes),
grounded into a double play.

Albert Pujols(notes) singled with one out in the eighth before Wood, who falls off
to the left side, reached his glove behind his back and snared Matt Holliday’s(notes)
grounder up the middle to start the highlight-reel double play.

“It’s become a natural reaction,” Wood said. “He goes up the middle and
he hit in the right spot and I got it.”

St. Louis has grounded into 116 double plays, most in the majors.

Starlin Castro(notes) and Marlon Byrd(notes) had key hits as the Cubs broke up Jake
Westbrook’s(notes) perfect game with a four-run sixth.

Lance Berkman’s(notes) three-run homer in the bottom of the inning made it
interesting for the Cardinals, who completed a disappointing 4-3 homestand
against the two worst teams in the NL Central. They trail the first-place
Brewers by 2 1/2 games heading into a three-game series in Milwaukee on Monday.

“Two out of three from the Cubs is nothing to sneeze at,” Berkman said.
“I think if you want to poo-poo the homestand, one of those games against the
Astros we should have won, and it would have been three out of four.”

Alfonso Soriano(notes) homered for the second straight game and Dempster (8-8)
pitched six-plus innings for the Cubs, who beat the Cardinals for the second
time in seven meetings this season.

Soriano homered off Kyle McClellan(notes), moved to the bullpen after the Cardinals
acquired Edwin Jackson(notes) last week.

“I was looking for a fastball away and he threw me a cutter and I made a
good swing,” Soriano said. “That was a big homer and a big win for us. Now,
maybe we can relax a little.”

Furcal got a standing ovation before his pinch-hit appearance. Theriot, who
lost his starting job when the Cardinals traded for Furcal, had been 6 for 7 in
the series.

Westbrook (9-5) needed only 44 pitches to get through five innings, then
labored through 33 pitches in the sixth and left trailing by four. After he
retired his first 16 batters, five straight Cubs reached safely with two outs,
and Westbrook was done after Chicago batted around.

“I felt strong and was making pitches, I just wasn’t able to make any after
that,” Westbrook said. “It hurt us, hurt us big-time.”

Westbrook had been 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in his first three starts after the
All-Star break.

Castro’s RBI double over center fielder Jon Jay’s(notes) head put the Cubs ahead.
Carlos Pena drew a bases-loaded walk before Byrd finished the rally with a
two-run single. Soriano, who hit a three-run homer in the first on Saturday,
added a two-run drive for his 17th.

After managing just two hits off Dempster over the first five innings, the
Cardinals climbed right back into it in the sixth on Berkman’s league-leading
28th homer to straightaway center.

Carlos Marmol(notes) worked the ninth for his 20th save in 27 chances.

Eighth-place hitter Koyie Hill(notes) walked on a full count with one out in the
sixth for the Cubs’ first baserunner. Dempster’s two-strike sacrifice bunt gave
them their first runner in scoring position and Reed Johnson’s(notes) sharp single to
right with two outs ended the no-hit bid and put runners at the corners.

Daniel Descalso(notes) started at shortstop instead of Furcal, fatigued after a day
of travel, plus just 6 for 38 for his career against Dempster, and made two
exceptional plays early.

Descalso robbed Johnson to start the fourth on a grounder that deflected off
third baseman David Freese’s(notes) glove, then snared Soriano’s grounder up the middle
and made a strong throw to first from the grass to end the fifth.

Notes: The crowd of 43,960 was the Cardinals’ fifth sellout of the season.
… Pujols is 17 for 52 (.327) against Dempster with seven homers, 14 RBIs, 11
walks and one strikeout. … The Cardinals also grounded into two double plays
on Saturday. … The Cubs are 16-29 against the NL Central.