HOUSTON -- Starlin Castro says he doesnt care where he bats in the lineup. On Monday night, he certainly appeared to like the leadoff spot. Castro, Darwin Barney and Marlon Byrd combined for seven hits, five runs and three RBIs and the Chicago Cubs held on for a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros. Castro had three hits and scored three runs, Byrd drove in a pair of runs and Barney hit an RBI triple as the Cubs jumped on the Astros early, building a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning. Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs with a double in the first. "I dont care what spot," Castro said. "First, second, I dont care." Cubs manager Mike Quade is encouraged with how his young players Castro and Barney have started the season. "The kids did really, really well," he said. "I liked watching them. Its fun to watch them. They feed off of each other, and they play with enthusiasm." Closer Carlos Marmol got the last four outs for the Cubs, giving him four saves. Gibsons, B.C., native Ryan Dempster (1-2) got his first win of the season, allowing four runs in 6 1-3 innings. "I felt good tonight," Dempster said. "Ninety-five per cent of the time I felt like I was hitting my spots and making pitches." Houston starter Nelson Figueroa (0-2) allowed eight hits and five runs in four innings. "We know he is much better than that," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "He was just having problems today getting the ball over the plate and getting behind guys. But weve seen him and we know that thats not him and we know that hes going to be just fine." Houstons offence didnt get going until late. The Astros got a run in the fifth inning before a solo homer by Bill Hall and a two-run shot by Angel Sanchez pulled them to 5-4 in the seventh. Marmol later struck out Sanchez to end the eighth and allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth before striking out Joe Inglett to end the game. Hall hit the sixth pinch-hit homer of his career with a solo shot to right field that made it 5-2 in the seventh inning. Bourn followed with a double that bounced off the low wall in right field and back onto the field. Officials reviewed the play to see if it was a home run, but stayed with the original call. Quade defended his decision to leave Dempster in after the homer by Hall. "Dempster gave me every reason to," he said. "He was rolling along, allowing just one run. I thought we could get him through it. I liked the matchup with him and Sanchez. He made the mistake. I just didnt want him to lose it. Thats what I was committed to. He had pitched too well." The Cubs got to Figueroa early when Sorianos two-out, two-run double gave them a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Figueroa gave up a single to Castro and walked two of the first five batters he faced to set up the scores. Castro got his second hit of the game on a single with two outs in the second inning. He scored on a triple by Barney that made it 3-0. Byrds RBI single pushed the lead to 4-0. Castro singled again in the fourth inning and gave the Cubs their first stolen base of the season when he swiped second. Chicago was the only team in baseball without a stolen base entering Mondays game. He scored on a single by Byrd later in the inning to stretch the lead to 5-0. "Im frustrated," Figueroa said. "I hate losing, first of all. I hate putting our team behind in a situation like this." Carlos Lee singled in the second inning before Dempster walked Brett Wallace. He got out of that jam by retiring the next three batters to end the inning and fanned the next nine overall, striking out five. He didnt allow another hit until Chris Johnsons single with no outs in the fifth inning. Matt Downs drove Johnson in with a single that made it 5-1. An error by Ramirez and two walks by Dempster loaded the bases for the Astros in the sixth inning. Dempster got out of the jam when Inglett grounded out to end the inning. NOTES: Chicago OF Kosuke Fukudome was out of the lineup Monday after straining his hamstring making a catch the day before. He is listed as day to day with the injury and the Cubs are hoping he will recover with a couple of days rest. "Its a delicate area because if you push that envelope it could become six weeks instead of four or five days," Quade said. "Hes too valuable to just send him down and bring somebody else up right now. If we can get through this for a few days without having to DL him that will be huge." ... Houston RHP Alberto Arias, who missed last season after shoulder surgery and had tendinitis during spring training, threw to hitters on Sunday and is scheduled to do it again on Tuesday. cheapjerseysit . Same for Matthew Stafford, and they knew exactly what to do. cheapjerseysit.com . Chiellini was substituted during Sundays match against Atlanta that his side won 3-1. He will miss the Italian Cup final against Napoli on Sunday due to thigh injury, but will recover within 20 days to play Italys first match at the Euros against Spain on June 10, Juventus said in a statement Wednesday. http://www.cheapjerseysit.com/ . Johnson will now pitch the series finale Sunday against the Rangers. The right-hander pitched five innings against Texas at home on Sunday, when he had a blister on his right middle finger. www.cheapjerseysit.com . Louis Cardinals will leave the friendly confines of Busch Stadium for a bit as they begin a three-city, nine-game road trip tonight with the first of three straight games against the NL Central-rival Houston Astros from Minute Maid Park.(Sports Network) - The Chicago Blackhawks will try to get back in the win column tonight, as they visit the sliding Edmonton Oilers for a clash at Rexall Place. Chicago, which leads the NHL with 27 points on the year, had won four in a row before getting dealt a 5-2 loss Friday in Calgary. The setback dropped the Blackhawks, who are playing the third test of a six-game road trip tonight, to a 5-4-1 record as the guest. The Blackhawks allowed Curtis Glencross to post two goals and an assist in Fridays loss at the Saddledome. Viktor Stalberg and Marian Hossa netted goals for the Blackhawks, while Corey Crawford made 21 saves in the loss. "When you play Calgary its about working hard and making it simple and we didnt do that tonight," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said. Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith all enter tonight with five-game point streaks. Toews has the most points out of three players during his run, notching five goals and five assists along the way. Ray Emery could get the call in net tonight for Chicago rather than starting Crawford on back-to-back days. Blackhawks forward Michael Frolik (shoulder) is questionable for tonight, while defenseman Brent Seabrook (lower body) is expected to miss the contest. While the Blackhawks had been on a roll prior to Fridays loss, the Oilers have dropped four in a row and have been outscored by the opposition, 20-8, during the slide. One of the setbacks in the skid came Sunday in Chicago, as the Blackhawks dismantled the Oilers by a 6-3 count. Chicago has taken three straight and seven of the last nine encounters with the Oillers and the Blackhawks have claimed six consecutive meetings in Edmonton.dddddddddddd The Blackhawks have outscored the Oilers, 30-8, during its winning streak at Rexall Place. The Blackhawks have played twice since beating the Oilers last week, but Edmontons only test since then was Thursdays 5-2 home loss to Ottawa. The Senators struck for a trio of first-period goals and rode that momentum to victory. The Oilers, meanwhile, had a four-game home winning streak halted and fell to 6-2-1 as the host this season. "We had a hard time coming back from that and thats too bad," Oilers head coach Tom Renney said about the first period. Devan Dubnyk replaced Nikolai Khabibulin to start the middle stanza and stopped seven shots for the Oilers, who received goals from Anton Lander and Ryan Jones. The Oilers have been battling a slew of injuries lately and the club recently learned that it will be without defenseman Cam Barker for the next three months. Barker sat out the last three games after suffering an injury to his left ankle in Boston on Nov. 10. The 25-year-old former Blackhawk underwent surgery on Thursday to repair the ankle. Barker, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with Edmonton this summer, has one goal and a plus-three rating this season. Edmonton defensemen Andy Sutton (groin) and Corey Potter (ankle) are questionable for tonight and the Oilers have recalled blueliners Colten Teubert and Taylor Chorney from Oklahoma City of the AHL to potentially suit up tonight. Oilers forward Sam Gagner could also miss a second straight game tonight with a sore back. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '