The Houston Astros got five shutout innings from Alberto Arias and went onto beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 on Monday night. It was a great start to the series for the Astros as the improved to 77-67 on the year.

The two runs that the Pirates did score came off of Wesley Wright in the sixth inning. He gave up rbi singles in the inning. Other then Wright’s two runs, the rest of the pitching staff pitched great. Doug Brocail, Chris Sampson, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Valverde all threw out of the bullpen after Wrigth was taken out. Valverde finished things up in the ninth inning for his 41st save of the season.

All three of the Astros runs came in the fifth inning when they were finally able to get to Pirates starting pitcher Ian Snell. Snell gave up a solo home run to Saccomanno and then Miguel Tejada and and Lance Berkman knocked in a run each with rbi singles.

The offense was lucky that the pitching staff threw the ball so well as they struggled against the Pirates pitchers. A win is a win however, and right now the the Astros need every win they can get.

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The Houston Astros and Cincinnati Reds just finished up a three game series that saw the Astros take two out of three games. On Thursday in the rubber game, the Astros defeated the Reds by the score of 3-2. It was a good series win for the Astros who have about a month left in the season to improve on their 68-66 record.

Brad Backe earned the win after throwing 6 2/3 innings. Backe gave up six hits and two runs while picking up his ninth win of the season. The Astros bullpen did a great job to hold the Reds to the two runs that Backe gave up. Doug Brocail, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Valverde all threw out of the pen for the Astros. Valverde finished the game up and picked up his 35th save.

All three of the Astros runs in the game via the home run ball as they hit three solo shots off the Reds pitchers. Ty Wigginton got things started with his homerun in the first inning and then in the fifth it was Humberto Quintero’s turn to go deep. The third home run came from Wigginton in the sixth inning as he finished with two home runs and two rbi. Great day for Ty at the plate!

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The Houston Astros rallied on Thursday afternoon as they came from behind to beat the visiting San Francisco Giants by the score of 6-4. Lance Berkman clubbed a two run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that broke a 4-4 tie and put the Astors up 6-4. Humberto Quintero then added another run on a single that made the score 7-4.

Darin Erstad had tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with a rbi single. Berkman finished the game with three rbi while Erstad and Geoff Blum both chipped in with one rbi each. It was nice to see more then one player contributing at the plate and that is exactly what the team has been doing during this winning streak.

Brian Moehler was the starting pitcher and he pitched into the sixth inning but was taken out after throwing 5 1/3 innings. Moehler allowed eight hits and four runs including one home run his outing as he received a no decision. LaTroy Hawkins earned the victory and is now 1-0 since coming to the Astros. Jose Valverde had no problems in the ninth inning as he recorded his 30th save of the season.

The Astros will now have a tough six game stretch as they play the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers. How do you think they will do over the next six games? I’m thinking 2-4.

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