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Final Score: Houston 4 - Chicago Cubs 3

Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - J.R. Towles hit a two-run homer and Miguel Tejada's RBI triple broke an eighth-inning tie, as the Houston Astros took the opener of a three-game set at Wrigley Field from the Chicago Cubs, 4-3.

Tejada finished the day 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Ty Wigginton drove in the other Houston run. The Astros, coming off a four-game series in San Diego, have now won two of three.

Astros starter Chris Sampson didn't earn the win, but allowed just two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings, continuing his career dominance of the Cubs. The right-hander entered the contest with a 2-0 record and 0.60 lifetime earned run average in four games against Chicago. Houston closer Jose Valverde, acquired in an offseason blockbuster with Arizona, earned his first save as an Astro despite allowing a solo homer to Mark DeRosa in the ninth.

"The changeup wasn't working that well, but my fastball, slider, and sinker were good," Sampson said. "The slider faded on me a bit in the middle, but I was able to get it back functioning in the last couple of innings. All in all, I was happy with my performance, and I gave my team a chance to win the ballgame."

Wesley Wright (1-0) earned the win by recording the third out of the seventh.

Rich Hill allowed just two runs on four hits, striking out four in six innings, but ended up with a no-decision. Jon Lieber (0-1) took the loss after giving up two runs in his two frames of relief.

DeRosa finished 2-for-4 to lead the Cubs offense, while Geovany Soto drove in the other two Chicago runs.

Lieber replaced Hill in a 2-0 game in the seventh, and tossed a scoreless frame. The Cubs offense responded with a two-spot in the bottom half, as Aramis Ramirez hit a one-out single, and Kosuke Fukudome followed with a line- drive base hit to right. Both runners moved up on a DeRosa groundout, and Soto came up with a key two-out, two-run single to left to tie the game.

An error by DeRosa in the eighth, however, helped Houston get the two runs right back, and Alfonso Soriano exacerbated the situation with a sloppy play in left on Tejada's triple. Lance Berkman reached on DeRosa's fielding blunder, then scored when Soriano whiffed trying play the carom of Tejada's ground-ball down the left-field line.

"I just botched the ball," DeRosa said. "What can I say? It's tough when the offense isn't scoring any runs...it puts too much pressure on the pitchers."

Wigginton plated Tejada with a sacrifice fly to center, providing a two-run cushion that proved necessary when DeRosa homered in the ninth.

Doug Brocail came on in the eighth for Houston, and after getting the first two outs, allowed back-to-back singles to Ryan Theriot and Derrek Lee. Brocail managed to get Ramirez to go down swinging, though, to end the threat.

Things didn't exactly go smoothly for Valverde in the ninth, as DeRosa smoked a line-drive into the bleachers in left with one out. He then fell behind Soto 3-0 before getting him to line sharply to Carlos Lee in left, and inducing a game-ending foul out from Felix Pie to earn his 99th career save.

Soto finished the day 1-for-4, while Fukudome had two hits and scored a run, raising his batting average to .500 four games into the young season.

Hill escaped trouble in the second and third, but a two-out walk to Mark Loretta in the fourth proved costly when Towles blasted his first homer of the season down the left-field line for a 2-0 Astros lead.