• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Lamb powers Astros past Mariners

Jun 17, 2007 - 10:27 PM HOUSTON (Ticker) -- The Houston Astros have recorded their first sweep of 2007.

Mike Lamb hit a grand slam and Roy Oswalt pitched effectively into the sixth inning to lift the Astros to a 10-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the finale of a three-game interleague series Sunday.

Houston recorded its first three-game winning streak since it won four in a row from May 12-16.

"It has been (awhile)," Lamb said. "I felt like offensively, every inning we had pressure on the other team. We had guys on base and had good at bats. It didn't seem like we had any easy innings. That's key when you're facing pitching staffs like we have been."

Lamb belted a first-inning grand slam against Seattle starter Jarrod Washburn (5-6). Houston loaded the bases on walks to Mark Loretta and Morgan Ensberg and a single by rookie Hunter Pence.

"You don't walk guys, and stuff like that doesn't happen," Washburn said. "You can live with it when you're making good pitches and guys are hitting it and finding holes. But the free passes basically gave them the inning. That's tough to live with."

Washburn fell behind, 2-0, before Lamb blasted his fifth home run of the season.

"You don't want to walk (Lamb), but you definitely don't want to give up a grand slam either," Washburn said. "At that point I was just trying to throw a strike. The whole game I was. I just couldn't find it."

Loretta singled in two runs in the second frame and Lamb gave the Astros even more breathing room in the third with an RBI double to extended the lead to 7-2.

Lamb is 11-for-15 with two homers and 10 RBI in his last four games.

"I've been getting better pitches to hit, that's for sure," Lamb said. "I always think that I'm a decent hitter, but I need pitches to hit to be successful. If a guy is hitting his spots and mixing it up...I have a hard time getting something out of nothing."

The offensive explosion was enough to give Oswalt his first win since May 12. The Houston ace pitched 5 2/3 innings and yielded three runs and 12 hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

"Any time you get four runs in the first inning, you can pretty much just throw right at them," Oswalt said. "And that's what I did - threw a lot of fastballs. Gave up a few more hits than I wanted to give up, but that's just from being aggressive in the zone and making them hit the ball."

The fast start was also pleasing to Astros manager Phil Garner.

"I think it makes everybody feel a little more comfortable," Garner said. "We've had such a difficult time. It seems like in a lot of our ballgames this year we haven't" even had a hit until the fourth inning. I think it makes guys relax a little bit.

Orlando Palmeiro had a pinch-hit RBI single and Pence drove in two runs with a hit down the left field line to extend the Astros' advantage to 10-3 in the eighth.

Ichiro Suzuki had four hits and an RBI single for Seattle, which has dropped five straight games.

"It's like a comedy of errors," said Ichiro, who advanced to second base just once after his four hits. "But for us, it's not funny."

Washburn was relieved after just three innings, surrendering six runs and six hits with three walks. The lefthander has posted an 0-2 record with an 8.83 ERA in four starts this month.

"It's just a struggle so far for me," Washburn said. "Last month I threw the ball well, right now my command just isn't there. It's what's leading to all the problems."

Mariners starters went 0-4 with a 6.17 ERA on the team's 10-game road trip, which began with five straight wins but ended with five losses in a row.

"I don't want to sit here and say that (the starters) are struggling and didn't give us a chance," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "But it's tough when you're down four or five nothing. It's tough to get anything going and sustain anything. They'll get back on track and pitch well."