Soriano, Wood, lift Cubs over Astros 5-1

Alfonso Soriano finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in two runs and Travis Wood allowed one run in 7 2-3 innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 5-1 win over the Houston Astros Wednesday night.

Dave Sappelt also had three hits for the Cubs, who have won five of the last six games.

"The ball is coming out good," Wood said. "I have been able to locate pitches. I just want to finish the season strong and show that I can handle a full season."

Wood (6-11) gave up four hits and struck out six. Wood has allowed only one run in his last two starts, spanning 13 2-3 innings.

Wood, who didn't allow a base runner until Justin Maxwell's single to lead off the fifth, said his backdoor cutter was working against the Astros and he was able to keep Houston off balance.

Manager Dale Sveum said Wood, who was acquired in the offseason by Chicago, pitched "a heck of a game."

"When we got him, we knew he had some arm strength and arm speed and could do some things," Sveum said. "Obviously, a lot of that one way pitching was getting him in trouble. Now, he has learned to pitch to his arm side."

Fernando Abad (0-4) gave up a run on four hits in 3 1-3 innings with two strikeouts and three walks.

In his four starts this season, Abad has not lasted longer than 4 1-3 innings. Houston manager Tony DeFrancesco said he had seen enough of Abad.

"We're trying to win a ballgame, and we want to win as many as we can," DeFrancesco said. "If Abad was throwing strikes early, he might have had a chance of getting out of it, but at that point, I felt it was time to move on."

In a scary moment, Houston reliever Mickey Storey left the game with a contusion to his right hand and the right side of his jaw after being hit in the side of face by a Sappelt line drive in the top of the eighth inning. Sappelt's liner appeared to have glanced off Storey's right shoulder before hitting him in his jaw.

Storey fell to a knee and grabbed his jaw area as Astros personnel rushed to check on him. He was down for several minutes before walking into the Astros dugout with the help of Houston trainers.