Marlon Byrd and Alfonso Soriano drove in two runs apiece as the visiting Chicago Cubs stormed out to an early lead and held on for a 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday night.

Chicago (5-5) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-run double by Soriano. Darwin Barney tripled home a run in the second and came in to score on a base hit by Byrd, who added another RBI single in the fourth inning.

Trailing 5-1, the Astros (2-8) roughed up Chicago starter Ryan Dempster (1-2) in the seventh inning when Bill Hall launched a solo home run to right field and Angel Sanchez followed with a two-run shot to cut the deficit to one.

Dempster struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings. Carlos Marmol recorded the final four outs, working around a pair of ninth-inning baserunners to earn his fourth save.