Houston, TX (Best E Casino) - Miguel Tejada and Hunter Pence had back-to-back doubles in the ninth, allowing the Houston Astros to edge the Chicago Cubs, 2-1, in the opener of a three-game set at Minute Maid Park.

Pence and Tejada had three hits each while Carlos Lee tied the game with a solo home run in the seventh for Houston, which has won three straight. Geoff Geary (2-1) tossed two perfect innings of relief to earn the win.

Jim Edmonds provided the lone run for Chicago with a home run in the fifth as the Cubs dropped their second straight game.

Bob Howry (3-3) who came in to finish off the eighth, allowed a lead-off ground-rule double to Tejada in the ninth and Pence ripped a double to center field plating the winning run.

Brian Moehler kept the Astros in the game with seven superb innings of one-run ball on four hits and a walk in taking the no-decision. Ted Lilly equaled Moehler's effort for Chicago with seven frames of one-run ball on six hits and two walks. Lilly fanned six but suffered the same fate as Moehler in the no- decision.

The Cubs got to Moehler for a run when Edmonds led off the fifth with a home run to left.

Lee tied the game in the seventh, smoking his 22nd home run of the season up onto the train tracks beyond the left field wall. The Astros went on to load the bases with two outs but Lilly induced an inning-ending groundout from Kazuo Matsui to keep the game knotted at one.

Game Notes

The Cubs are just 3-7 over their last 10 games at Minute Maid Park and dropped two of three tests to the Astros in Houston back in May. The Astros lead the season series 4-3...The Cubs recalled infielder Micah Hoffpauir from Iowa and placed pitcher Jon Lieber on the 15-day disabled list...Chicago's Ryan Theriot extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single...Lilly failed in his effort to become the Cubs third 10-game winner this season. Carlos Zambrano is 10-3 while Ryan Dempster is 10-4.