J.R. Towles did a handstand after he was hit by a pitch in the second inning, then homered in the fourth. Miguel Tejada added a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning as the Houston Astros beat the Cubs 4-3 Friday and sent Chicago to its third loss in four games. Towles' two-run drive off Rich Hill gave the Astros a 2-0 lead, and that held until Geovany Soto's tying, two-run single in the seventh.
Houston immediately got two runs in the eighth off Jon Lieber (0-1), thanks to shoddy defense. Second baseman Mark DeRosa booted Lance Berkman's grounder leading off the inning, and Tejada tripled on a ball down the left-field line that caromed past Alfonso Soriano. Ty Wigginton followed with a sacrifice fly.
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