Kevin Hart won his third straight start, Jake Fox and Milton Bradley hit back-to-back homers and the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 12-3 Thursday for their 11th win in 14 games since the All-Star break.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella did everything but declare “mission accomplished” Thursday after his team beat the Houston Astros soundly for a second straight day, this time 12-3 at Wrigley Field.

Here’s a breakdown of the 5-player deal Thursday between the Cubs and the always-happy-to-talk trade Pittsburgh Pirates:

With Moises Alou sitting in a front-row seat at Wrigley Field this week, where was Steve Bartman – on the field?

Reed Johnson was hobbling around the Cubs clubhouse with a walking cast on his left foot Thursday morning.

After a pair of bullpen-busting games, Cubs manager Lou Piniella said starting pitcher Randy Wells would have to “go some” Wednesday afternoon. Wells went some. And then some.

Needing help in their bullpen, the Cubs acquired left-handed pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny from the Pittsburgh Pirates today for right-handed pitchers Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio and Single-A Daytona infielder Josh Harrison.

Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee had an interesting theory about teammate Alfonso Soriano. Soriano was moved out of the leadoff spot on July 4 and has batted sixth most of the time since then.

The Cubs just can’t stay ahead of the injury train. Just when they get one player back, another goes down. On Wednesday, it was center fielder Reed Johnson. In the first inning of the 12-0 victory over the Astros, Johnson fouled a ball off his left foot. He then singled and stayed in the game until the fourth.