Caught in a rain delay but not ready to leave the game, Jered Weaver had to improvise.After play was halted in the sixth inning, Weaver put some heat packs on his arm, threw his No. 42 jersey in the dryer because there wasn’t a spare around, then played catch in the hallway outside the clubhouse.Weaver was good enough to lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to a 4-3 victory against the White Sox on Friday night Weaver stayed in the game, but gave up a two-run homer to Adam Dunn only two batters after retaking the mound.The Angels bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 25 1/3 innings behind Weaver (4-0) to seal the victory.Fernando Rodney worked out of trouble with two on and one out in the eighth and Jordan Walden worked a perfect ninth to preserve the win for Weaver, the first in the majors to reach four wins.Maicer Izturis had three hits and drove in two runs Friday to help Angels win their third straight and seventh in the past nine games.Weaver (4-0) allowed three runs on four hits to earn the victory. Two of the runs were earned. The 2010 strikeout leader added four to his 2011 total and leads the majors with 31 this season.Filling in for the injured Jake Peavy, Phil Humber (1-1) took the loss. He was charged with four runs over his five innings of work, but only two of the runs were earned. Humber struck out four and gave up six hits, but was hit hard all night.Weaver retired the first six batters he faced, but found trouble in the third inning. He hit A.J. Pierzynski in the back on a 1-2 pitch to lead off and Alexei Ramirez blooped a single into shallow center field to put runners on first and second.Brent Morel then botched a bunt, popping out to catcher Hank Conger. Juan Pierre followed with a fly out to left field, but Weaver couldn’t escape unscathed. Gordon Beckham ripped a 1-1 pitch into left field to drive in Pierzynski. Weaver rebounded to strike out Dunn for the second time.The Angels responded immediately with a four-run fourth. After a one-out walk to Vernon Wells and a single by Alberto Callaspo, Humber allowed an RBI single to Mark Trumbo. Conger then grounded softly to third with runners on first and third, but a wide throw by Morel allowed a run to score and set the stage for a two-run double off the bat of Izturis, his third hit in four innings, to give Los Angeles a 4-1 lead.In addition to the delay in the sixth, there was a brief pause in the ninth as the Angels took the field for the bottom half.Players briefly took shelter in the dugout, but reappeared just a minute later, before the grounds crew could take out the tarp, and began warming up again. Play resumed after just a three-minute delay.

NOTES—In honor of Jackie Robinson Day, Robinson’s granddaughter, Sonia Pankey, threw out the first pitch. … Angels RHP Joel Pineiro (right shoulder tendinitis) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session in Arizona Friday. “He still has work to do,” Scioscia said. … Angels LHP Scott Kazmir (lower back soreness) is working out in Houston but will join the team Monday for a three-game series in Arlington against the Texas Rangers. …Will Ohman struck out Izturis with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth.

DENVER—A young, flamethrowing righty turned in a masterful performance for the Colorado Rockies.And his name wasn’t even Ubaldo Jimenez. Jhoulys Chacin tossed a six-hitter for his first career complete game, Chris Iannetta hit a bases-clearing triple and the Rockies won their seventh straight, beating the Cubs 5-0 on Friday night.The Rockies are off to their best start in franchise history, improving to 11-2 behind the performance of Chacin, who’s picking up the slack quite nicely with Jimenez sidelined due to a cracked cuticle on his right thumb.In windy and cool conditions, Chacin (3-0) struck out seven and walked two. He smacked his fist into his glove when the Rockies recorded a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.With that, Chacin became the first Rockies pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout at Coors Field since Aaron Cook’s gem July 1, 2008, against San Diego. Jimenez also had one on the road last May in San Francisco.Especially given the state of the bullpen.Rockies right-handed relievers Huston Street and Felipe Paulino were off limits Friday after a taxing week. Not that they were even remotely needed, given the way Chacin threw.Count Cubs manager Mike Quade among those impressed with the electric stuff of Chacin.Matt Garza (0-2) turned in a third straight erratic performance, surrendering five runs and seven hits in six innings. That despite doing what most pitchers haven’t been able to recently: Limit the damage done by Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki. The three and four hitters in Colorado’s lineup were a combined 1 for 8 on the night.Garza’s undoing on Friday was the second inning.With the bases loaded, Iannetta hit a pitch from Garza to deep center that Marlon Byrd couldn’t quite corral. All three runs scored and when Starlin Castro’s relay throw to third ended up in the dugout, Iannetta sauntered home, too.The rally was started with a single from Tulowitzki, one of the hottest hitters in the league.The smooth-swinging shortstop had a torrid four-game series in New York against the Mets, going 10 for 16 with four homers and eight RBI.Tulowitzki took a little time to get his swing dialed in — he started the season in an 0 for 9 funk after signing a lucrative long-term deal over the winter — but now even his outs are loud. He entered the game leading the majors with seven homers.He’s putting together the type of tear like he had last September, when he hit 15 homers, a franchise record for a month.Tulowitzki insists hitting isn’t as easy as he’s making it look right now.The Rockies have switched around their starting rotation, pushing ace Jimenez’s return to the mound back a day.Jimenez, who’s on the 15-day disabled list, was scheduled to throw Monday to open a three-game series with San Francisco.Now, Esmil Rogers will face Tim Lincecum and the Giants, while Jimenez goes Tuesday.Tracy said Friday the decision was made not so much because of the condition of Jimenez’s cut on his pitching hand, but to keep Rogers on his regular pitching schedule.

NOTES—Aramis Ramirez finished with three hits…..First base umpire Jerry Layne left the game in the second inning after being hit by a line drive in the left ankle. The crew chief walked off under his own power, heading straight into the clubhouse.

VANCOUVER—Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen scored in the first period, Roberto Luongo made 32 saves, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Blackhawks 2-0 in the first-round playoff opener on Wednesday.Corey Crawford made 31 saves in his first playoff start as the Hawks opened its defense of the Stanley Cup with a loss.The Canucks are the top seed in the Western Conference and the Presidents’ Trophy winners, but the Blackhawks aren’t the average No. 8 seed. The Blackhawks knocked the Canucks out of the playoffs the previous two seasons and was formidable again in Game 1.Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews hit the post twice in the second period, Michael Frolik rang a shot off the iron with 7:30 left, and Luongo was forced to make a couple of tough saves to keep the Hawks off the board.Vancouver will host Game 2 of the series on Friday.After a raucous welcome from 18,630 towel-waving fans, Higgins opened the scoring 7:03 in with a deflected point shot that caught Crawford sliding to his right as the puck was tipped left. Hansen doubled the lead on a breakaway just over three minutes later with a shot over Crawford’s glove.The defending Champs had a couple great chances to get back in the game before the period ended, but Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane failed to connect on a 2-on-1. Luongo robbed Brian Campbell on an empty-net backdoor chance with 1:30 left.Luongo, lit up by the Hawks in the second round the last two years, threw out his right pad and got a toe on the puck at the goal line after a beautiful cross-ice pass from Kane out of the corner. The puck bounced off the post and out for Luongo to smother.Crawford, playing his 28th straight game, made a couple of good saves early in the second — and got a break when Mikael Samuelsson hit the post for a second time. The Hawks took over the final eight minutes of the second, with Toews hitting a post, and Luongo robbing Sharp on a rebound batted out of the air with 3:41 left in the period.Crawford made another good save on a 2-on-1 shot for regular season scoring leader Daniel Sedin 1:45 into the third. But Luongo kept answering, stopping Brent Seabrook’s blast with Sharp on top of him two minutes later for his second career playoff shutout.Vancouver came out trying to hit everyone in a Blackhawks sweater. At times it left the Canucks exposed defensively, but also hurt the Blackhawks. Tomas Kopecky left in the second period because of an upper body injury, and former Canucks center Ryan Johnson limped off midway through the third.The Hawks had won five straight playoff games in Vancouver, but lost the opening game of its previous two series before rallying to knock out the Canucks.

NOTES—Troy Brouwer returned after missing the final three games of the regular season with a shoulder injury. Fernando Pisani came out of the lineup. …Dave Bolland practiced for a second straight day, but hasn’t been cleared for contact since sustaining a concussion on March 9. … Vancouver LW Raffi Torres will miss the first two games of the series while serving a suspension for a hit on Edmonton’s Jordan Eberle. … The Canucks called up top prospect C Cody Hodgson, who has played only eight NHL games, to play on the third line.

Kyle Korver came up big down the stretch to finish with 19 points, Derrick Rose scored 15 and the Bulls closed the regular season with their ninth straight win, beating the New Jersey Nets 97-92 on Wednesday.The top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls had to wait to see if they would get home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They were tied with San Antonio for the league’s best record when the night began, and if the Spurs beat Phoenix, a random drawing would decide the overall No. 1 seed.The Bulls led by as much as 13 in the second quarter and were up seven at the half, but found themselves trailing 68-58 after the Nets scored 15 straight midway through the third. They responded by scoring 10 in a row to close the period and pulled this one out in the end, with Korver scoring seven in the final four minutes.Rasual Butler scored 10, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute, and the Bulls got 55 points from their bench on a night when the starters spent much of the fourth quarter on the bench.Rose was just 5 of 13 from the field. Luol Deng scored 11. Joakim Noah finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulls finished 62-20, equaling their best showing since the 1997-98 championship season. That also put Tom Thibodeau in a tie with Paul Westphal for the most wins by a first-year coach.The Nets got 21 points and 12 assists from Jordan Farmar. Brook Lopez added 17 points after scoring at least 30 in four of the previous five games, and New Jersey finished the season with its 11th loss in 12 games.The Bulls can now focus on their first-round matchup with Indiana that starts Saturday after a wild, dramatic finish to the regular season.They were trailing 84-81 when C.J. Watson hit a 3-pointer with 5:46 left, and Korver tied it when he nailed one from the right side about 1:15 later.Taj Gibson then rebounded Travis Outlaw’s miss, and with the crowd on its feet, Butler nailed a jumper to put the Bulls ahead 86-84 with 3:37 remaining.Johan Petro tied it with a jumper after a shot by Farmar hit the side of the backboard, but Korver struck again, burying another jumper to make it 88-86 with just under three minutes left.Two free throws by Farmar with 1:33 remaining knotted it at 88 before Gibson hit 1 of 2 11 seconds later. Lopez hit a short bank shot, but Butler brought the crowd to its feet when he buried a corner 3 in front of the New Jersey bench, putting the Bulls back on top 92-90 with 46 seconds remaining.Kurt Thomas then blocked a driving Lopez, and Watson hit the second of two free throws with 22.8 seconds left to make it a three-point game.After a timeout, Farmar missed a 3 from the right wing. Gibson got the rebound and hit both free throws to make it 95-90. Farmar immediately drove past Rose to pull the Nets within three with 11.8 seconds left, but Korver hit two free throws to preserve the win.

HOUSTON—Carlos Zambrano extended a franchise record with his 22nd career homer and ran his winning streak to 10 games, leading the Cubs to a 9-5 victory Wednesday night and a series win over the Houston Astros.Alfonso Soriano’s home run off Wandy Rodriguez (0-2) capped a five-run first inning for the Cubs. Zambrano’s homer – his sixth against the Astros – made it 6-0 in the sixth.Zambrano (2-0) pitched five scoreless innings before the Astros jumped on him for five runs in the sixth. Carlos Lee, Brett Wallace and Bill Hall each drove in a run in the inning before Matt Downs hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 6-5.The Cubs got three insurance runs on three hits off Wilton Lopez in the ninth.Zambrano allowed seven hits and walked three in 5 2-3 innings to extend a winning streak that began last season. Marcos Mateo, Sean Marshall, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol combined for pitch 3 1-3 scoreless innings to close it out.Rodriguez allowed five runs – all in the first inning – and nine hits in five innings.Jeff Baker drove in two runs with a double to right field in the first inning. Soriano’s two-out, three-run shot to the Crawford Boxes in left field made it 5-0.Starlin Castro singled with one out in the ninth before stealing second base and scoring on a double by Darwin Barney. Marlon Byrd reached and got to third base, and Barney scored on a throwing error by Lopez. A single by Aramis Ramirez scored Byrd and chased Lopez.Rodriguez gave up three straight singles in the third inning to load the bases. His defense helped him out by turning a double play, and he struck out Tyler Colvin to end the inning.Rodriguez was replaced by Fernando Abad, who gave up the homer to Zambrano, to start the sixth inning.Lee’s RBI single came after a walk by Michael Bourn and a single by Angel Sanchez to make it 6-1. Sanchez’s single came on a soft grounder down the third base line that Ramirez watched roll outside the foul line before bouncing back fair just as Sanchez reached first base.Wallace pulled Houston to 6-2 with his run-scoring single to center field. Hall drove in a run on a forceout to make it 6-3 before the homer by Downs. Wallace was thrown out on that play when he started toward second, but stopped before Barney dropped Hall’s fly ball.Towles homered before a walk by J.R. Towles chased Zambrano, who was replaced by Mateo.

NOTES—Kosuke Fukudome was out of the lineup for the third straight day after straining his hamstring making a catch on Sunday. He is listed as day-to-day and the Cubs are optimistic he will be able to play by Friday and won’t have to go on the disabled list. … Houston 3B Chris Johnson was out of the lineup after being hit in the arm with a pitch a day before. Johnson said his arm was sore and swollen but that he should be able to play on Thursday. … Several Astros, including Hunter Pence and Johnson along with manager Brad Mills, attended a lunch hosted by President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara on Wednesday. The former president chooses a handful of players and staff each season to attend the event.

Oakland scored three times in the ninth inning, then Coco Crisp hit a go-ahead single in a three-run 10th as the Athletics feasted on a shaky bullpen for a startling 7-4 win over the White Sox.Crisp entered the game in the ninth as a pinch-runner and was in a 3-for-22 slump before singling off Matt Thornton (0-2). The struggling closer had walked Conor Jackson and Josh Willingham to set up Crisp.Daric Barton followed with a two-run single and Thornton was booed as he was walked off mound and was replaced by Tony Pena.Cliff Pennington’s two-out, two-run, bases-loaded single in the ninth off Thornton made it 4-all. It was the third late-inning meltdown by the Sox bullpen in less than a week, all resulting in tough losses.With the White Sox leading 4-1 in the ninth, reliever Chris Sale gave up a leadoff double to Jackson, an RBI single to Willingham and a single to Hideki Matsui. Jesse Crain came on and walked pinch-hitter Barton to load the bases before fanning Kurt Suzuki.Thornton then struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Sweeney for the second out before No. 9 hitter Pennington dropped his two-run single into center.Thornton, who took over as closer this spring, still does not have a save this season in four chances.Grant Balfour (1-1) pitched the ninth for the win and Brian Fuentes the 10th for his fifth save in as many chances.Oakland’s rally denied John Danks a victory after he gave up a run and five hits in eight solid innings and left with a three-run lead.The White Sox broke a 1-all tie in the sixth against Oakland starter Brett Anderson when Carlos Quentin was hit by a pitch, Alex Rios doubled and a sliding Quentin scored on Ramon Castro’s grounder to third that drew a high throw to the plate from Kevin Kouzmanoff.Brent Morel dropped down a bunt to score Rios from third for a 3-1 lead. Juan Pierre’s third single of the game chased Anderson (0-2), who was hurt by his own error in the fifth. Anderson gave up nine hits and three runs — two of them earned — in 5 2/3 innings.The White Sox added a run in the eighth as Rios walked, stole second, moved up a sacrifice and scored on Kouzmanoff’s throwing error.Matsui’s second homer of the season put Oakland up 1-0 in the fourth. The Sox tied it in the fifth when Pierre reached as Anderson fumbled his comebacker for an error and Gordon Beckham doubled.

NOTES—Pierre reached base five times Wednesday – on three hits, an error and a walk. … White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said the fans’ reaction to Pierre on Tuesday night, giving him a mock cheer every time he catches a fly ball, was unfair to the left fielder. Pierre twice dropped fly balls during the current homestand that led to late meltdowns and losses by the White Sox. “He doesn’t deserve that,” Guillen said. There were a few boos in the third inning Wednesday when Pierre fumbled Pennington’s single for an error, allowing him to advance to second base. Pierre now has three errors in 12 games. He made only one error in each of the previous two seasons combined, a span of 305 games. …Guillen also said that as of now he “has no closer.” … Oakland’s Andy LaRoche made his sixth start of the season at a fourth different position, this time getting the nod at first base.

Alexei Ramirez hit his second homer of the game with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the White Sox to a 6-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.Ramirez also hit a three-run shot in the second inning and scored a run after drawing a walk in the sixth.Chris Sale (2-0) picked up the win with two shutout innings.Daric Barton had four hits and scored a run, and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-run homer for Oakland. Hideki Matsui, who entered the game hitting .182, had three hits, including a double, and drove in two runs.Bobby Cramer (0-1) took the loss for Oakland.Adam Dunn made his return to the lineup after missing the last six games because of an emergency appendectomy April 6. He went 1 for 4 and drew a walk in five plate appearances.The A’s went ahead in the second inning when Mark Ellis lined a double to the wall in left-center, scoring Ryan Sweeney from first.Oakland righty Trevor Cahill was making his first start since agreeing to a new five-year contract on Monday. If Cahill was still celebrating his new pact, the White Sox cut the party short, putting him on the rocks early.Cahill escaped the first inning without a run scoring despite allowing a single, a walk and throwing two wild pitches. He wasn’t as fortunate in the second.Ramirez hammered his second homer of the season on a hanging breaking pitch to put the White Sox up 3-1. They added another run in the inning on Paul Konerko’s grounder, but Cahill settled down after that, retiring six batters in a row.He ran into more trouble in the fifth. Dunn hit a leadoff single before a two-out error by shortstop Andy LaRoche put two runners on with two outs.Cahill’s pitch count was up to 97 and the lefty-hitting Pierzynski was coming up, so Oakland manger Bob Geren summoned lefty Craig Breslow from the bullpen. Breslow got Pierzynski on a flyout to left to end the inning.Cahill threw 4 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, four runs, walking three and striking out three.Oakland manufactured a run in the third, capitalizing on Barton’s leadoff double when Matsui brought him home on a groundout.Jackson was coming off a dominant performance in which he struck out a career-high 13 over eight innings in a win over Tampa Bay on April 7.Jackson couldn’t make it out of the fifth on Tuesday, costing him a chance at his third win in three starts even though he departed with the lead.Matsui drove in the Athletics’ third run, singling with two outs in the fifth to score Coco Crisp and cut the deficit to 4-3.Kurt Suzuki reached on a error on a grounder bobbled by Ramirez. That came on Jackson’s 100th pitch of the night, which turned out to be his last.Ozzie Guillen brought in reliever Will Ohman, who got Sweeney on a fielder’s choice to escape the threat with the lead intact.Jackson went 4 2/3 innings and allowed seven hits and three runs while walking two and striking out four.The Athletics took advantage of a Sox wobbling bullpen in the sixth. Ellis started with a single off Tony Pena and scored when Kouzmanoff launched a homer into left field, putting Oakland ahead by a run.The Athletics then loaded the bases against Pena, but the righty escaped the jam by striking out Suzuki.The White Sox evened the score in the sixth, turning Ramirez’s leadoff walk into a run on Juan Pierre’s solid single to left off Breslow.

NOTES—SS Cliff Pennington was unavailable for the Athletics because of what Geren called “a little infection of his sweat gland.” Geren said his availability is day-to-day. … Geren said Athletics reliever Michael Wuertz (hamstring) will likely throw a simulated game on Thursday, followed by a start in a minor-league rehab game on Saturday. … White Sox OF Lastings Milledge cleared waivers on Tuesday and accepted an assignment to the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. … LaRoche’s throwing error in the fifth snapped Oakland’s streak of six-plus games without an error. The Athletics committed an Oakland-record nine errors in their first four games.

NEW YORK—Derrick Rose and the Bulls stayed in the race for the NBA’s best record, overwhelming the New York Knicks to start the second half and winning 103-90 on Tuesday night for their eighth straight victory.Rose scored 26 points for the Bulls, who opened the third quarter with a 26-2 spurt over the first seven-plus minutes and improved to 61-20. Luol Deng added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 22 boards as the Bulls outrebounded New York 51-33. The Bulls, already assured the best record in the Eastern Conference, entered play a game behind San Antonio for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The tiebreakers are all even, so a random drawing would be held if they finish with the same record as the Spurs, who faced the Los Angeles Lakers later Tuesday.Just in case he still needed to, Rose put on a show for the MVP voters watching the nationally televised game, shooting 10-of-19 and throwing down a few crowd-pleasing dunks as the Bulls ran away from the Knicks after losing the first two meetings.Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks who had their seven-game winning streak snapped. Locked into the No. 6 seed and a first-round matchup with Boston, New York rested Amare Stoudemire for the third straight game, though his sprained left ankle was well enough to play.Stoudemire might sit again Wednesday when the Knicks close the regular season at Boston in a playoff preview.Bill Walker scored 18 points and Toney Douglas had 13 for the Knicks, who had won the first two meetings and were trying to sweep the Bulls for the first time since winning all three in 1999-00. New York had been the only team the Bulls had not defeated at least once this season.Not any more.The Knicks scored 120 points in one of those victories, the highest allowed by the defensive-minded Bulls this season. But after allowing 55 in the first half Tuesday, The Bulls were at their stingiest after the break.After Keith Bogans’ basket opened the second-half scoring, Rose scored seven straight to give the visitors a 61-55 lead. Anthony got the Knicks on the board with a jumper, but the Bulls quickly blew it open with 17 consecutive points.Deng had the first six and Rose contributed the highlight, a reverse dunk after a turnover that had the crowd roaring before Joakim Noah’s free throws extended it to 78-57 with five minutes left in the period. New York missed 12 of its first 13 shots in a stunning drought for the team that ranks second in the NBA in scoring.New York got back within seven early in the fourth, but Rose nailed a 3-pointer and it wasn’t close again.Rose, considered the MVP favorite, was loudly cheered during starting lineups and had the fans screaming again a few minutes later.An alley-oop pass to Rose that he caught below the rim and powered it up and through with one hand tied it late in the first quarter before Walker’s 3-pointer gave the Knicks a 27-24 lead. Their lead was still three at halftime after shooting 56 percent.

NOTES—Rose is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated, the first Bulls player to earn that honor since Michael Jordan in 1999….Anthony was last week’s Eastern Conference player of the week, the first Knicks player to win it in consecutive weeks….Ronnie Brewer played just eight minutes in the first half before leaving with a sprained left thumb.

HOUSTON—Brett Myers kept up his dominance against the Cubs and Angel Sanchez tied a career high with four hits and the Houston Astros got a 11-2 win on Tuesday night.Myers (1-0) limited the Cubs to eight hits and one run in seven innings to improve his career record against the Northsiders to 11-3.Houston scored three runs off Cubs starter James Russell (1-1) in the first inning, two more in the second and built a 7-0 lead after Sanchez knocked in two runs with a single in the fourth inning.Russell was making his first career start after 59 relief appearances as a replacement for the injured Andrew Cashner. Russell allowed seven hits and five runs in 1 2-3 innings.Bench coach Al Pedrique managed the game for Houston with manager Brad Mills serving a one-game suspension for his weekend ejection against the Marlins.Jeff Fulchino pitched a scoreless eighth for Houston before Aneury Rodriguez allowed one run in the ninth. Rodriguez was given a three-game suspension for his ejection that led to the ejection of Mills. But he is allowed to play while appealing his suspension.Hunter Pence had four RBI and Michael Bourn scored a career-high four runs to combine with Sanchez for an outstanding punch at the top of Houston’s lineup. Humberto Quintero tied a career high with three hits and fell a home run shy of the cycle.Tyler Colvin had a solo homer to right field that made it 7-1 in the seventh inning. Marlon Byrd went 3 for 3 with a double for the Cubs. He also robbed Bill Hall of a hit with a nifty leaping catch just in front of the bullpen in right field in the fifth inning.The Astros hit three straight singles to start the first inning capped by Pence’s run-scoring one that made it 1-0. Hall singled and Alfonso Soriano was charged with an error when he couldn’t handle the catch, allowing two runs to score and push Houston’s lead to 3-0. Hall was involved in a rundown between first and second base on the play, but evaded Darwin Barney to reach second and give Barney an error.Quintero doubled before a single by Myers in the second inning. Bourn grounded into a force out to score Quintero and make it 4-0. The speedy center fielder then stole second and third base before scoring on a single by Pence that made it 5-0.Sanchez had a two-RBI single in the fourth inning to extend Houston’s lead to 7-0.Pence drove in two runs with a double in Houston’s four-run eighth inning to make it 11-1.Houston’s Chris Johnson committed his fourth error of the season when he missed a foul ball hit by Carlos Pena with one out in the eighth inning.Jeff Samardzija, who was the second of five pitchers used by the Cubs, allowed three hits and two runs in three innings.

NOTES—Kosuke Fukudome was out of the lineup for the second straight day on Tuesday after straining his hamstring making a catch on Sunday. He is listed as day to day with the injury and the Cubs are hoping he will be able to play by Friday. … The Cubs signed veteran pitcher Doug Davis to a minor league deal on Tuesday. Davis went 1-4 in eight starts for Milwaukee last season, but missed most of the year with injuries. Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Davis will be in extended spring training for a couple of weeks and they hope to have him at Triple-A Iowa before the end of the month.

HOUSTON—Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney and Marlon Byrd combined for seven hits, five runs and three RBI and the Cubs held on for a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night. Castro had three hits and scored three runs, Byrd drove in a pair of runs and Barney hit an RBI triple as the Cubs jumped on the Astros early, building a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning. Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs with a double in the first.Carlos Marmol got the last four outs to help the Cubs to the win and give him his fourth save. Ryan Dempster (1-2) got his first win of the season, allowing four runs in 6 1-3 innings.Houston starter Nelson Figueroa (0-2) allowed eight hits and five runs in four innings.