Once again, help for the Astros came from an unexpected source as Mike Hampton pitched seven innings of one run ball to lead Houston over the Pittsburgh Pirates by a 2-1 score. Hampton surrendered just three hits and one walk in his best pitching performance of the season, shutting the Pirates out after a first-inning leadoff homer by Nate McLouth.
A revamped Astro batting order produced just enough to win. Rookie 2B Eric Maysonet moved from eighth to leadoff and got two hits. Hunter Pence took over the three hole, dropping Lance Berkman to fifth, where he walked and scored a run. Hampton got a hit, raising his batting average to .368 and scoring the other run. RBIs came from Miguel Tejada, on a looper over a drawn in infield, and Humberto Quintero, who drove in Berkman with a base hit.
Saturday night's game was a surprise in the opposite direction as Astro ace Wandy Rodriguez was bested by Jeff Karstens. Rodriguez had his second straight bad outing, giving up nine hits and five earned runs in 4.2 IP. Karstens gave up just seven hits and two run in seven innings.
With two outs in the ninth, the Astros put together a rally, mostly fueled by Pirate relief pitching who allowed two walks and a double to load the bases and then hit and walk two batters to drive in two runs. Matt Capps recovered from the two runs to coax a game-ending ground out from Carlos Lee when a grand slam would have won the game for the Astros.
The split won the three game for the Astros and moves their record to 20-28, one game behind the Pirates in the continuing battle for the bottom two spots in NL Central.
On my birthday, the Astros start a four-game series with the Colorado Rockies. With a Astro-like 20-29 record, the Rockies beat Houston in the "change the manager" sweepstakes when they fired Clint Hurdle and replaced him with bench coach Jim Tracy, former manager of both the Pirates and Dodgers.
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