Final
Berkman, Astros breeze past Pirates
Sep 10, 2008 - 4:57 AM By Ted Dunnam PA SportsTicker Contributing WriterHOUSTON (Ticker) -- Lance Berkman has been part of some heroic late-season surges with the Houston Astros before, so what the team is doing now does not surprise him.
Berkman belted his 28th home run and led a 15-hit attack as the red-hot Astros defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, for their fourth straight win Tuesday night.
Berkman hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Ross Ohlendorf (0-1) and added a run-scoring double in the third as the Astros won for the 12th time in their last 13 games.
Berkman's home run followed one-out singles by Darin Erstad and Miguel Tejada. In the third, Erstad and Tejada each singled to start the inning and Berkman ripped a double to right for a 4-2 lead, giving Berkman 100 RBI for the sixth time in his career.
"Those are certainly good individual marks," Berkman said. "You come into every season with goals, at least I do. I feel if I can hit certain numbers, then I'm doing my part to help the team win."
Erstad, Berkman and Tejada each had three hits for Houston (78-67), which remains in the hunt for the National League wild card. It currently sits four games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (82-63), who lost for the seventh time in nine games Tuesday.
Berkman and teammates are well-aware of their situation as the playoff race tightens.
"You can't help but know," Berkman said. "We watch games in here anyway all season long. We'll pay attention, but we just have to take care of business and if they lose, they lose."
David Newhan, Hunter Pence and Geoff Blum added RBI for the Astros.
Randy Wolf (10-11) pitched seven effective innings, allowing four hits and three runs while striking out four.
"The start was a little rocky, but I kind of settled down as the game went on," Wolf said. "The biggest thing today was where the offense was."
The Pirates took the lead in the first inning as Ryan Doumit singled home Nate McLouth, who had walked and advanced to second on a groundout. Adam LaRoche then doubled home Doumit for a 2-0 cushion for the Pirates.
After the Astros had taken a 5-2 lead, they tacked on another run in the fourth on an RBI double by Erstad and two more in the fifth, courtesy of an RBI triple by Blum and a run-scoring single from Newhan.
An RBI double by Pence in the sixth, which required the use of instant replay for the second time since it was put in place on August 28, gave the Astros a 9-2 lead.
Pence lined a 2-2 offering from Jesse Chavez off the top of the wall in right field, which was ruled a double by first base umpire D.J. Reyburn. After the umpiring crew met near the pitcher's mound, crew chief Tim Welke left the field and quickly returned, upholding the decision.
Pittsburgh 's Steve Pearce hit his first major league home run in the seventh inning off Wolf.
"I saw two changeups and got my pitch," Pearce said. "It took a while, now it's off my back. It felt good."
In his second major league start, Ohlendorf allowed nine hits and six runs in four innings.
"I didn't feel like I consistently made pitches I needed to," Ohlendorf said. "I got into bad counts and put the ball over the middle of the plate. I need to locate my pitches better."
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
PITTSBURGH 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 4 1
HOUSTON 3 0 2 1 2 1 0 0 x 9 15 1 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: PIT - ROSS OHLENDORF, JASON DAVIS (5TH), JESSE CHAVEZ (6TH), CRAIG
HANSEN (7TH), MATT CAPPS (8TH) AND RYAN DOUMIT, RONNY PAULINO
(7TH)
HOU - RANDY WOLF, GEOFF GEAR
Sep 9 10:45 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY STEVEN PEARCE (1) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 7TH OFF RANDY WOLF.
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 3, HOUSTON 9
DUE UP FOR PITTSBURGH: AN LAROCHE (.174, 0-FOR-2)
Pirates 3, Astros 9 Top 7, 0 OutsSep 9 10:17 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY HUNTER PENCE SCORED MIGUEL TEJADA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, H PENCE ON SECOND, G BLUM ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 2
HOUSTON 9 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: D NEWHAN (.261, 1-FOR-3, 2 RBI)
Pirates 2, Astros 9 Bot 6, 0 OutsSep 9 10:08 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY DAVID NEWHAN SCORED GEOFF BLUM.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, D NEWHAN ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 2
HOUSTON 8 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: H QUINTERO (.237, 1-FOR-2)
Pirates 2, Astros 8 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 9 9:46 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY GEOFF BLUM SCORED LANCE BERKMAN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, G BLUM ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 2
HOUSTON 7 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: H PENCE (.272, 0-FOR-2)
Pirates 2, Astros 7 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 9 9:45 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY DARIN ERSTAD SCORED MICHAEL BOURN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D ERSTAD ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 2
HOUSTON 6 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: M TEJADA (.285, 2-FOR-2)
Pirates 2, Astros 6 Bot 4, 0 OutsSep 9 9:25 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
FIELDER'S CHOICE BY DAVID NEWHAN SCORED LANCE BERKMAN.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, D NEWHAN ON FIRST, G BLUM ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 2
HOUSTON 5 BOTTOM, 3RD
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: H QUINTERO (.239, 1-FOR-1)
Pirates 2, Astros 5 Bot 3, 0 OutsSep 9 9:06 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY LANCE BERKMAN SCORED DARIN ERSTAD.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, L BERKMAN ON SECOND, M TEJADA ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 2
HOUSTON 4 BOTTOM, 3RD
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: G BLUM (.231, 0-FOR-1)
Pirates 2, Astros 4 Bot 3, 0 OutsSep 9 9:00 PM - NL
AT HOUSTON - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY LANCE BERKMAN (28) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 1ST OFF ROSS OHLENDORF SCORED DARIN ERSTAD AND MIGUEL
TEJADA.
CURRENT SCORE: PITTSBURGH 2, HOUSTON 3
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: G BLUM (.232, 14 HR, 49 RBI)
Pirates 2, Astros 3 Bot 1, 0 OutsSep 9 8:32 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
PITTSBURGH 2 2 2 0
HOUSTON 0 0 1 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: PIT - ROSS OHLENDORF
HOU - RANDY WOLF
DUE UP FOR HOUSTON: M BOURN (.223, 5 HR, 25 RBI)
D ERSTAD (.287, 3 HR, 27 RBI)
M TEJADA (.282, 12 HR, 58 RBI)
Pirates 2, Astros 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsSep 9 8:21 PM
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