Cubs' Soto gets his home run the hard way
Geovany Soto didn't get the automatic home run he deserved, but it didn't make a difference last night as the visiting Chicago Cubs beat Houston, 7-2.
Geovany Soto didn't get the automatic home run he deserved, but it didn't make a difference last night as the visiting Chicago Cubs beat Houston, 7-2.
Soto was credited with an inside-the-park homer in the fourth inning despite replays showing that it should have been an automatic home run. The ball bounced just to the right of the yellow line on the wall in left-center. Astros centerfielder Michael Bourn scooped it up and threw it home, but Soto scored easily before the throw got there.
Aramis Ramirez singled and Kosuke Fukudome walked before the hit. Ramirez added an indisputable two-run homer to the back row of the leftfield stands in the ninth inning.
It was the second straight night that major league umpires botched a home run call. New York Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado was robbed of a three-run homer Sunday night. Delgado's ball was originally ruled a home run but the call was reversed, turning it into a long foul ball. The replay showed it should have been a home run.
Delgado ended up with an RBI single.
Ted Lilly (5-4) allowed four hits and two runs with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings for his fourth straight win. Astros starter Brian Moehler (1-1) took the loss.
In other games:
* At San Diego, Albert Pujols hit two mighty home runs, and Cesar Izturis and Ryan Ludwick also went deep in leading St. Louis past the Padres, 8-2.
* At Denver, Clint Barmes homered and Yorvit Torrealba added a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth, leading Colorado to a 4-3 win over San Francisco.
Noteworthy
* Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy could be headed for the disabled list due to soreness in his pitching elbow. *