It was a big night for the Cubs’ Mike Fontenot, who was celebrating his 29th birthday in style.

Fontenot went 4-5 with two runs, one RBI and a home run.  Not a bad night for the birthday boy.

But Fontenot’s night was just a footnote on a night when the Cubs were finally able to break out of the funk that they have been in all season and pull out a 7-1 win over the down-trodden Astros.

The Cubs were finally able to capitalize on a strong pitching performance, giving Ted Lilly plenty of room to sit back and pitch without pressure, and he responded well to the run support.

Lilly allowed just three hits, two walks and no runs over six and 2/3 innings.  Lilly’s strong performance was yet another quality start for one of the most consistent pitchers in the Cubs starting lineup.

He also brought a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but had it broken up by Hunter Pence.

The Cubs put up three runs in the first inning, thanks to RBI’s by Kosuke Fukudome, Derek Lee and Geovany Soto to put the Cubs up before Lilly even had to step on the mound.

Ted Lilly led off the second inning hitting a triple, and helped his cause as he scored later that inning off of an Astro error.

Birthday boy Fontenot hit a solo home run the next inning to put the Cubs up 5-0, giving a sizeable lead to Lilly.

The Cubs shut the door on the Astros in the sixth when Andres Blanco hit a ground rule double to right with the bases loaded, bringing in Lee and Fontenot and giving the Cubs a 7-0 lead.

A Lance Berkman home run in the ninth was all the offense the Astros could muster, as they fell to the Cubs 7-1, dropping the first game in this series.

The Cubs were finally able to capatalize with runners in scoring position, a quality that they had been struggling with throughout the season.

Fukudome had two RBI’s and reached base four of six times (two hits, two walks).  Lee had one RBI, went 2-3, walked three times and scored two runs.  Geovany Soto broke out of his funk as he went 3-5 with an RBI.

Astros starting pitcher Brian Moehler pitched his shortest start since he sprained his knee against Pittsburgh.  Moehler pitched just three innings and allowed five runs on eight hits.

The Cubs are now tied for second place in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs play the Astros tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.

Rich Harden is slated to make his return on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins.

-Joe Willett

Photo from Associated Press