Myers Beats Cubs With Help From Video Review
CHICAGO (AP) -- Brett Myers benefited from a reversed homer call to beat the Chicago Cubs again and Clint Barmes had a two-run single to help the Houston Astros to a 3-2 victory Sunday.
With Chicago down by a run in the eighth and Starlin Castro on first, Carlos Pena's drive to left was initially ruled a two-run homer. The call was overturned after umpires reviewed video of the play. Pena was given a double and Castro was put on third base, then Marlon Byrd flied out to end the threat.
Myers (6-13) held Chicago to two runs -- one earned -- over 7 2-3 innings under a steady drizzle on a cool day at Wrigley Field. He improved to 13-3 lifetime against the Cubs.
Myers outpitched Ryan Dempster (10-13), who overcame a shaky start to throw seven solid innings. Dempster held the Astros to two runs and seven hits but lost his season-high fifth straight decision.
J.D. Martinez drove in Houston's other run and singled twice. Brian Bogusevic singled and doubled.
Myers was in control until the eighth inning.
The inning started off in strange fashion when Darwin Barney's medium-depth fly to right was missed by Bogusevic and rolled to the warning track. Barney reached third standing up on a three-base error.
After Castro walked, pinch-hitter Aramis Ramirez hammered a drive to the right-field wall that Bogusevic tracked down with a nice running catch, scoring Barney. Myers struck out Bryan LaHair before Pena hit a flyball to left that was originally ruled a two-run homer after appearing to strike the wall behind the basket in front of the fence and bounce back onto the field.
After Houston manager Brad Mills protested, the umpires reviewed video of the play and determined that Pena's ball struck the front of the basket. Pena was sent to second and Castro to third.
Cubs manager Mike Quade ran onto the field to argue and was eventually ejected by third-base umpire Marty Foster. Byrd flied out against reliever Mark Melancon to end the inning.
There was a rain delay of 1 hour, 7 minutes after the eighth.
Melancon got four outs for his 18th save, getting the last out before the delay and striking out the side in the ninth.
Coming off a 128-pitch, six-walk start in his previous outing, Dempster struggled through a 33-pitch first inning. Martinez hit an RBI single and Barmes singled home two runs in Houston's three-run opening frame. Dempster gave up three hits and walked two in the inning.
NOTES: Castro doubled to lead off Chicago's first, becoming the first Cubs shortstop to reach safely in 31 straight games since Woody English, who had streaks of 34 games in 1929 and a 32 games in 1930. DJ Lemahieu's second-inning error gave the Cubs 127 miscues on the season, one more than last season and the team's most since they had 139 errors in 1999. Entering Sunday's game, the Cubs have committed at least seven more errors than every other team in baseball. Casey Coleman will look to snap a five-game losing streak when he starts Chicago's series opener against Milwaukee's Chris Narveson on Monday night. Houston's J.A. Happ try to avoid moving into a tie for the NL lead with 16 losses when he starts Monday's series opener in Cincinnati.
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