Game Ninety-Six - Cubs 1 Astros 2
WP - Geoff Geary (2-1) LP - Bobby Howry (3-3) Save - None

Lou Piniella's crew did not start the second half the way their manager wanted them to. The Cubs offense was overly aggressive at the plate and wasted a very good outing on the road by Ted Lilly. Lilly made only one mistake on the night; he allowed his 22nd home run of the season to Carlos Lee in the 7th inning that tied the game. The monster shot to left cleared the railroad tracks above the Crawford Boxes. The original Cub Killer has hit 3 home runs this season against Cubs' pitching and 25 in his career. Lilly allowed just 3 hits before the 7th inning and a total of 6 on the night with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts.

The Cubs offense looked flat and they came out swinging against Brian Moehler. The soft tossing righty retired the Cubs on just 4 pitches in the 1st inning and threw a total of 87 in 7 innings. The Cubs success in the first half was based a lot on plate discipline and on Friday night they reverted back to their free-swinging ways.

The Cubs managed only 1 run, a solo home run by Jim Edmonds leading off the 5th inning and totaled only 4 hits on the night. Brian Moehler and Geoff Geary retired the last 13 batters they faced after a double by Mike Fontenot in the 5th.

The winning run came in the bottom of the 9th after Miguel Tejada led off the inning on a ground rule double to right center on a 1-2 pitch from Bobby Howry. Hunter Pence followed with a bloop single into left center and Tejada beat the throw from Jim Edmonds.

With the loss, the Cubs slipped to 7 games under .500 on the road at 20-27.