Houston Astros at Chicago Cubs

· Major League Baseball

Houston Astros

7-17, 3-8 Away

Final
2 - 7

Chicago Cubs

14-9, 8-3 Home

Tauchman homers twice as Cubs win 7-2, drop Astros 10 games under .500 for first time since 2016

Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the first off J.P. France (0-3) and Tauchman hit a three-run drive. Tauchman added a solo homer in the eighth against Seth Martinez and tied his career high of four RBI.

“I was just fortunate to put a couple of good swings on it,” Tauchman said after a pair of opposite-field drives to left. “We’re having fun right now and played good ball."

Bellinger left after the fifth inning with bruised right ribs. He appeared to get hurt running into the center-field wall after a ball in the fourth. X-rays showed no sign of fracture and is to be evaluated further Wednesday.

Houston has lost three straight and six of seven. At 7-17, the last-place Astros are 10 games under .500 for the first time since an 18-28 start in 2016.

“I sense guys are tired of the situation we’re in. We’ve just got to get over the hump,” first-year manager Joe Espada said. “The effort is there, but we’ve got to be better.”

Jordan Wicks (1-2) allowed two runs and five hits in a season-high six innings with no walks and four strikeouts. Chicago has won seven of 10.

“It was frustrating for me,” Wicks said of his first four starts. “I felt like I put a lot of stress on the bullpen. ... To go six tonight was awesome.”

France (0-3) gave up five runs, five hits and four walks in five innings.

“It’s hard to recover when you’re down five,” Espada said. “He kept it close after that.”

Jake Meyers had a solo homer for Houston.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: LHP Framber Valdez (elbow soreness) could rejoin the rotation this weekend when the club plays a two-game series against Colorado in Mexico City. … RHP Cristian Javier flew to Houston on Tuesday for further evaluation of the neck soreness that landed him on the 15-day injured list.

Cubs: The club placed RHP Kyle Hendricks (low back strain) and LHP Drew Smyly (right hip impingement) on the 15-day injured list and designated INF Garrett Cooper for assignment. Chicago recalled RHP Hayden Wesneski, LHP Luke Little and INF Matt Mervis from Triple-A Iowa. … OF Ian Happ was back in the lineup after missing two straight games with left hamstring tightness.

Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti (0-2, 7.08 ERA) faces fellow RHP Jameson Taillon (1-0, 1.80) on Wednesday, Taillon’s second start this season after recovering from a strained back.

How can I watch Houston Astros vs. Chicago Cubs?

TV Channel: Astros at Cubs 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on TBS.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Cubs: 59.3%

Astros: 40.7%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	McCormick grounded out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Peña lined out to second.
	9th Inning	Diaz struck out swinging.
	8th Inning	Hoerner flied out to center.
	8th Inning	Amaya flied out to second.
	8th Inning	Mervis grounded out to pitcher.

Statistics

HOU		CHC
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
11	Ground Balls	7
5	Strikeouts	10
2	Runs Batted In	7
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
6	Hits	6
0	Stolen Bases	1
1	Walks	7
0	Catcher Interference	1
2	Runs	7
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
33	At Bats	29
1	Home Runs	3
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
7	Runners Left On Base	13
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	1
17	Fly Balls	12
0	Caught Stealing	1
121	Pitches	169
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
11	Total Bases	16
34	Plate Appearances	37
162.0	Projected Home Runs	486.0
3	Extra Base Hits	4
2.2	Runs Created	5.9
.182	Batting Average	.207
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.333	Slugging Percentage	.552
.182	Secondary Average	.586
.206	On Base Percentage	.361
.539	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.913
0.6	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.6
2.2	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	6.7
21.0	Batter Rating	46.0
33.0	At Bats Per Home Run	9.7
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.50
3.56	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.57
.152	Isolated Power	.345
0.20	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.70
.029	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.189
.000	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.379
4.0	Runs Produced	14.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.4	Patience Ratio	0.7
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.2
72.3	MLB Rating	88.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0