Chicago, IL – Lucas Harrell struck out seven over six scoreless innings to guide the Houston Astros to a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday.
Harrell (11-11) allowed just two hits and one walk to pick up his team-best 11th win.
Fernando Martinez went 2-for-3 with a homer and scored twice while Scott Moore and Matt Dominguez each drove in a run for the Astros, who avoided their 107th loss of the season.
"It's good to see we're finishing strong and not packing it in," Astros catcher Jason Castro said.
Jason Berken (0-3) gave up two runs on four hits over 4 2/3 innings to absorb the loss for Chicago.
The Cubs have dropped eight of their last nine and reached 100 losses for the first time since 1966.
"It's something we didn't want to be apart of, but unfortunately it happened tonight," Berken said of the dubious mark.
Martinez gave the Astros a 1-0 lead in the second after smacking his sixth homer of the season over the wall in right field.
In the sixth, Martinez singled then scored when Dominguez tripled to left field for a 2-0 advantage.
Houston added one more in the eighth when Moore knocked in Brandon Barnes with a base hit to center field.
Astros reliever Wesley Wright recorded the final out in the eighth before twirling a perfect ninth to earn his first save since 2008.
Game Notes
Harrell leads all NL rookies in innings pitched with 193 2/3 and is second among NL first-year pitchers in wins with 11. He is also the only NL rookie to throw a shutout this season ... Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro tied a single- season franchise record for games played at the position (160). Ivan DeJesus played in 160 in both 1978 and 1979.
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