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Nomar Garciaparra is caught stealing in the first to help quell an early rally. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

"Obviously," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said, "[Barrett] had some things to say."

Carlos Beltran, Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman and Jeff Kent each hit solo homers off Wood and Beltran added a three-run blast in the ninth to power the Houston Astros to a 15-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Last Sunday in Houston, both Wood and Oswalt were tossed. Wood had plunked Kent with an errant slider. Oswalt was ejected after hitting Barrett in the back. He still has the bruise -- and a good memory.

The bad blood between Barrett and Oswalt carried over to Friday. In the Houston second, the two exchanged words before Oswalt's at-bat, and home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor had to step in to separate them.

Both benches emptied. Oswalt grounded out, and Barrett, backing up at first base, said something that prompted Astros first base coach Jose Cruz to intervene.

"I just felt I needed to say something and speak my peace, and I really didn't feel I had the opportunity to do that," Barrett said. "It's really tough to handle something like that when you have so much at stake. Nobody wants to get thrown out right there, nobody wants to cause a scene. But in my opinion, I felt he was wrong and I wanted him to know."

Said Oswalt: "At first I thought it was the umpire who walked up on me, then he [Barrett] started talking and I knew it was him. He said some things that weren't really like threatening. It was kind of amusing I thought."

It wasn't Oswalt hitting Barrett in the back that ticked the catcher off. There's some history. Asked if the matter was settled, Barrett said no.

"I don't think it's over," Barrett said. "In 2001, he hit [Jose] Vidro in the head and I was one of Vidro's teammates. That was after Vidro hit a home run off him. Then [Paul] Bako gets two hits and he throws at Bako's head. Out of his frustration, he decides to throw at me.

"You can argue all you want to that that's the way the game should be played. I disagree," Barrett said. "I think there's a time and place for everything -- you want to pitch inside, fine. But to hit someone intentionally, especially the way he did it and the fashion he did it, I think is wrong."

"I don't know about him," Oswalt said, "but as far as I'm concerned it's over now. The important thing is we won the game."

Did any of the other Astros say anything to Barrett?

"That's their pitcher and they'll say and do whatever they want to protect him," Barrett said, "but in my opinion, this is between Oswalt and me. I'll try not to take it too personally. I think he got the best of me today and I won't let that happen again."

In the Houston sixth, Oswalt led off and was hit on the left leg by reliever Kent Mercker. Bucknor then issued a warning to both benches. There may be repercussions. Major League Baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson was watching Friday's game from New York.

What were Mercker's intentions?

"Throw a fastball inside to a pitcher," he said. "I was just trying to go in."

In last Sunday's game against the Astros, Wood was ejected after 4 1/3 innings and the Cubs leading, 10-2. He didn't stay long enough then to qualify for the win. On Friday, he lasted long enough to take the loss.

Wood (7-6) gave up eight runs on nine hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings while striking out four. He tossed his glove into the stands behind the Cubs dugout in disgust after he was pulled. It's the first time in his career that Wood has served up four home runs in a start.

"He couldn't locate that fastball the way he wanted to," Baker said of Wood. "These guys can hit. If you don't locate the fastball and if it's over the heart of the plate, it's a high percentage pitch to hit."

"It's just a bad day," Wood said. "I didn't make good pitches and I actually made a lot of bad pitches. Big league hitters do that with bad pitches."

Oswalt (15-9), who took the loss last Sunday, notched the win on Friday, giving up six runs on seven hits over eight innings.

Derrek Lee and Nomar Garciaparra each belted two-run homers for the Cubs, who started the day with a one-game lead in the National League Wild Card race over San Francisco.

The Astros took a 4-0 lead in the first on Beltran's solo homer, Kent's RBI single and Morgan Ensberg's two-run double.

The Cubs made it 4-2 when Garciaparra hit an RBI single and Moises Alou followed with a sacrifice fly in the first.

Bagwell and Berkman belted back-to-back homers in the third, each notching their 20th, to go ahead, 6-2.

Wood doubled to lead off the Cubs third and scored one out later on Lee's home run, his 28th. Lee is closing in on his personal best of 31 home runs set last year with Florida.

But the Astros didn't stop. Bagwell hit a two-out RBI single in the fourth. Kent led off the fifth with his 17th home run. In the sixth, Houston loaded the bases and a run scored on a wild pitch by Mercker.

Garciaparra connected with two out and a runner on in the eighth for his fourth homer since joining the Cubs. But Houston hit for the cycle in the ninth and opened a 15-6 lead against Kyle Farnsworth. Mike Lamb hit an RBI triple, Jose Vizcaino an RBI single, Jason Lane an RBI double and Beltran a three-run homer.

It was a tough outing for Farnsworth.

"It's easy to forget what he did for us early in the season," Barrett said. "We're all confident that he's going to be all right. Hopefully, he'll get hot in the most important time of the season."

Which is now.

"It's tough to win a game when your starting pitcher gives up four in the first," Wood said. "I just didn't do my job on the mound today. We're still playing good baseball and still hitting balls and scoring runs and doing the things we need to do to win. Just today, the starting pitcher didn't do his job."

Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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