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Oswalt again stymies Reds

Aug 8, 2008 - 4:11 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- When the Cincinnati Reds see Roy Oswalt on the mound, they know they're in for a rough time.

Oswalt continued his dominance of the Reds with seven strong innings and Hunter Pence belted a three-run homer as the Houston Astros posted a 7-4 victory Thursday in the opener of a four-game series.

Entering with a 20-1 record in 25 career appearances against Cincinnati, Oswalt (9-8) limited the Reds to one run and nine hits in this one. The righthanded ace, who has won his last three decisions overall, walked two and struck out six.

"I don't know what it is, but I hope it doesn't change," Oswalt said of his success against the Reds.

After Carlos Lee gave Houston a 2-0 lead with RBI singles in the first and third innings, Pence launched his 15th homer later in the third for a five-run bulge. Ty Wigginton added sacrifice flies in the fifth and ninth.

With his blast, Pence raised his career average at Great American Ball Park to .405 with three homers and 11 RBI in nine games.

"I think it's jsut one of those random things where I get some hits here, where I have come in feeling good," Pence said.

Cincinnati, which has lost three in a row and six of seven, mounted a mild comeback, cutting its deficit to 6-3 on an RBI single by Joey Votto - who went 3-for-5 - in the seventh and a two-run blast by Edwin Encarnacion an inning later. After Jose Valverde retired the first two batters in the ninth, Brandon Phillips tripled and scored on a wild pitch to draw the Reds within 7-4.

Adam Dunn kept alive the frame with a single and Encarnacion walked, bringing the tying run to the plate. But Valverde induced a lineout to left field by Corey Patterson to secure the win.

"We had some opportunities," Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. "We had quite a few chances. To end the game with the tying run at the plate (is tough)."

Josh Fogg (2-4) lasted four-plus innings for the Reds, yielding six runs and eight hits.

Lee, Miguel Tejada and Lance Berkman collected three hits apiece for Houston, which improved to 5-1 against Cincinnati this season. Lee owns a .324 career average with five home runs and 22 RBI in 26 games at this ballpark, while Berkman - who had been hitting .246 since the All-Star break - raised his career mark here to .369 in 38 contests.

"Getting out of Chicago, which is not one of my favorite places to hit, (helped)," Berkman said.

The Astros allowed 11 runs in each of their previous two games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field while totaling 11 themselves in the contests. But their offense seemed to pick up as they began their series in one of their favorite stadiums.

"It's a great place to hit," Berkman said. "I really enjoy coming here. This is a place where I have had success in the past, so you always have a level of comfort when you have done well in a place. I try not to read too much into it."

With his two RBI, Lee increased his season total to 97, tying him with Philadelphia's Ryan Howard for the National League lead.