Cubs outlast Astros

By Justin Albers
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- I guess I was wrong when I said that the Cubs didn't care about the season anymore. It was apparent on Tuesday night that they still have some fight in them, even after a very long season. Juan Mateo was the first of 10 starters for the Cubs, eventually Rich Hill was the winning pitcher making him 3-5 on the season. For the Astros Roger Clemons was the starter, striking out 5 and giving up 5 runs in 6 innings of work. Mateo may be a much younger and less experienced player then Clemons, but on Tuesday night he outpitched him. It was a brilliant sight to see.
The Cubs started the scoring early when Cesar Izturis drove in Juan Pierre in the 1st inning. Then in the 2nd Ronny Cedeno hit his 4th home run of the season off of Clemons. In the 4th inning Aubrey Huff tied the game on a 2 run double to deep left center. Mateo would not get rattled though as he finished the 4th and the 5th innings flawlessly.
In the 5th inning Jacque Jones got ahead in a count against Clemons 3-1 and made the best of hit. Jones hit a shot to straight center field 440 feet to earn himself a 3 run homer. Jones had been struggling of late, but he finally got his 20th home run of the season.
The Cubs 5-2 lead was short lived when Adam Everett and Orlando Palmeiro both hit 2 run doubles in the 6th inning. The 7th and the 8th innings were quiet and it looked the the Cubs were going to blow another game. In the top of the 9th Matt Murton hit a home run to center to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
The game continued on with 7 consecutive scoreless innings until it reached the 18th and the clock read 1:30 a.m. Matt Murton came up huge again in the 18th when he hit a 2 run double to give the Cubs an 8-6 victory. Wow, what a ballgame.