HOUSTON -- Greg Maddux scrunched up his face in disgust as he watched yet another of his pitches land in the outfield seats.
Maybe the Houston Astros weren't in a slump after all.
Jeff Bagwell, Jeff Kent and Lance Berkman each homered off Maddux, and the Astros overcame the early loss of Andy Pettitte to complete a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 7-3 victory Wednesday night.
Chicago was swept for the first time this season, and it was the first time the Astros did it against their NL Central rivals since May 2001.
"I think I pitched (terrible)," Maddux said. "I made some mistakes and they took advantage of it."
Pettitte was pained in a different way, leaving in the fourth inning with discomfort in his left forearm, and the team said he was day-to-day.
Pettitte also hurt himself in his debut with the Astros on April 6 and missed the next three weeks with a strained left elbow.
After Wednesday night's game, Pettitte said the pain in his forearm had subsided but he wasn't sure exactly what was wrong.
"We're just two months into the season and it already seems like the longest season of my life," Pettitte said. "I'm frustrated. It's aggravating and disappointing."
Imagine how the Cubs must feel.
They came into Houston facing a team mired in a five-game losing streak. Now they head back to Chicago with two lopsided losses to a division rival, dropping them into third place.
"We just have to go back to the drawing board and come up with something different," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "We're trying to come up with some solutions."
The Astros' offensive onslaught overshadowed a highly touted pitching duel against Pettitte and Maddux -- a couple of playoff-tested offseason acquisitions -- that never really materialized.
Pettitte was clearly distressed, wincing in pain after Maddux flied out to end the fourth. Pettitte allowed one run and two hits with four strikeouts.
Maddux was roughed up throughout his five-inning outing against the NL's top offense.
Maddux (3-4) failed to last at least six innings for only the second time this season, giving up five runs on nine hits.
The four-time Cy Young Award winner also gave up his first walk -- an intentional one to Richard Hidalgo in the third -- in 35 innings.
Bagwell got Maddux off to a rough start by singling in Craig Biggio in the first, then hitting a two-run shot deep into the left-field seats in the third to give the Astros a 3-0 lead.
Kent followed with a towering homer to nearly the same spot, sending the sellout crowd of 40,977 into a frenzy.
In the fifth, Berkman sent a fastball from Maddux off the right-field pole for a 5-0 lead. Maddux got the last out of the inning and was replaced by Michael Wuertz.
"When you're able to get runs off Maddux early, it's always nice," said Houston shortstop Adam Everett, who went 2-for-3 and scored a run. "That was a big lift because he's one of the toughest pitchers around."
Meanwhile, Pettitte was faring much better until he was forced to leave.
Pettitte didn't give up a hit until Aramis Ramirez singled in the fourth, and Michael Barrett had an RBI single.
The injury-depleted Cubs, who learned before the game that outfielder Tom Goodwin and right-hander Todd Wellemeyer might also join their expanding disabled list, briefly mounted a comeback in the sixth.
Todd Hollandsworth's two-run homer off Mike Gallo pulled the Cubs within 5-3. The Astros thwarted another scoring opportunity when Hidalgo caught Jason Dubois' fly ball in right field and made a tremendous throw to catcher Brad Ausmus to nail Barrett at the plate.
"(Hidalgo) threw the ball perfectly and the only thing (Barrett) could do was try to run into me and knock the ball loose," Ausmus said.
Pinch-hitter Orlando Palmeiro scored Hidalgo with a suicide squeeze in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Mike Lamb added an RBI single in the eighth to put the Astros up 7-3.
Brad Lidge (1-3) struck out all three batters in the eighth. He was credited with the victory because Pettitte did not last four innings.
Notes
- Bagwell hit his 426th career home run and moved into a tie for 33rd place with Hall of Famer Billy Williams. They're both one behind Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas for 32nd.
- Bagwell and Kent connected for the Astros' first set of consecutive homers this season.
- Berkman has three homers in as many games.
- Kent extended his hitting streak to 12 games, one shy of tying a career record.
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