Spiele » , didnt say much about the chatter surrounding his future.

CHICAGO -- Not only did Matt Garza pitch the Chicago Cubs to a victory Friday, he might also have boosted his trade value. Garza worked into the ninth inning and Anthony Rizzo hit his first home run since May 18 to lead the Cubs over the Houston Astros 3-1 after a rain delay that lasted more than 3 hours. The subject of trade speculation, Garza (2-1) allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight-plus innings for his first win since beating Arizona on May 31. It was an outing that certainly could make Garza more attractive on the trade market. The rebuilding Cubs began the day 17 games out of first place in the NL Central, and Garza can become a free agent after the season. The right-hander, however, didnt say much about the chatter surrounding his future. "Im looking forward to the next five days," Garza said. "That day I face Milwaukee in Milwaukee and Ill be ready." Cubs manager Dale Sveum is well aware of all the speculation about Garza but doesnt want to lose a pitcher who has allowed one run over his past 15 innings, his best stretch since coming off the disabled list May 21. "You dont want to give up those guys," Sveum said, "but obviously its a business and thats not my part of my business." Darwin Barney and Scott Hairston also homered for the Cubs, who had lost four of five. Garza, who threw seven scoreless innings Sunday in a no-decision against the Mets, was three outs from his first complete game since Sept. 21, 2011, against Milwaukee when he went out to the mound in the ninth. But he walked Jose Altuve to begin the inning and was replaced by Kevin Gregg, who earned his 11th save in 11 tries. "Im a little upset I didnt finish it, but thats on me," Garza said. "I walked a leadoff guy in the ninth and theres no reason to leave me in there. Youve got a guy thats closing games really well now, so you just hand it over and watch." Rizzo, meanwhile, will be with the Cubs for a while and is a key to their rebuilding efforts. The first baseman, who entered in a 4-for-40 slump, finished with two hits after the start was delayed by rain for 3 hours, 18 minutes. Rizzo agreed to a $41 million, seven-year contract on May 13 and has struggled since the deal, hitting .200 with one home run and 11 RBIs entering Friday. Chris Carter broke up Garzas shutout bid with a leadoff homer in the seventh. Barney was a triple short of the cycle for Chicago, which had scored 11 runs in its last five games. Hairston added a solo home run off Dallas Keuchel in the sixth to make it 3-0. Barney has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and has had at least two hits in three of those games. "Ive just been ready to hit every pitch, not assuming that the first pitch is going to be a ball or anything like that," Barney said. "Id be lying if I said I didnt learn something from watching those Cardinals hitters as well." Barney said the Cardinals, who beat the Cubs three out of four this week, "have a good approach." That helped the Cubs beat the Astros, who had won six of eight. It was the first interleague matchup between the teams after 705 meetings in the National League. Keuchel (4-4) lost for the second time in three decisions, pitching six innings and giving up three runs and nine hits while striking out a career-high nine. Keuchel hadnt allowed multiple home runs in any outing, and only eight all season before giving up three Friday. "I thought he made a couple of mistakes and they made him pay for it," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "They were all solo home runs and he did a good job of keeping us in the game. Unfortunately, offensively we couldnt muster too much off of their guy." NOTES: The Cubs traded Triple-A infielder Brent Lillibridge to the New York Yankees for a player to be named or cash. Lillibridge had one hit in 24 at-bats before being sent down to Iowa on April 18. . Carlos Pena, who led the 2011 Cubs with 28 home runs, played the 1,458th game of his career but the first against Chicago. Facing Garza, a teammate on the 2008 AL champion Tampa Bay Rays, Pena was 0 for 3 before grounding out against Gregg to end the game. ... Astros RHP Edgar Gonzalez began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Gonzalez went on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain May 26. ... Houston 1B-OF Marc Krauss made his major league debut in the eighth and struck out swinging. ... Bud Norris (5-7, 3.64 ERA) pitches Saturday for Houston against Travis Wood (5-6, 2.74). NMD Ireland . PAUL, Minn. Clearance NMD Ireland Outlet .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.wholesalenmdireland.com/ . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Cheap NMD Ireland For Sale . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Cheap NMD Ireland Shoes . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona says that Lionel Messi has hurt his left hamstring and may not play in Argentinas upcoming World Cup qualifiers.Messi will travel to join the Argentina squad, but his presence in his countrys World Cup qualifying matches will depend on how the injury develops, Barcelona says.The club statement says the medical report confirming the injury was jointly approvedd by its medical staff and the Argentine football federation.ddddddddddddArgentina hosts Uruguay on Sept. 1 and plays at Venezuela on Sept. 6.Barcelona reported the injury a day after Messi played throughout its 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league. ' ' '