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Astros avoid sweep when Pence homers against Texas

Jun 19, 2009 - 4:36 AM By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas(AP) -- Hunter Pence remembers when Rangers Ballpark was being built and watching games there as a kid.

Now the Arlington native has the memory of a hitting a tiebreaking homer there against the Texas Rangers.

Pence hit the first pitch of the eighth inning over the center-field wall and the Houston Astros beat the AL West-leading Rangers 5-3 on Thursday night to avoid a season sweep.

"Every time I play here, it's a little special because I have the memories of coming here as a boy," Pence said. "It's something special every time you play on this field for me."

Especially winning the game

"I'm very excited for Hunter," manager Cecil Cooper said. "He got the big one for us. I'm sure he was a little down after the at-bat before. It was good to see him step up and do that."

Pence struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth, but the Astros still scored twice that inning to tie the game. He hit his 10th homer off Jason Jennings (2-2) in the eighth and Michael Bourn added a two-out RBI triple to make it 5-3.

After losing five in a row against AL West-leading Texas, the Astros avoided being swept in a season series of at least six games for the first time in franchise history.

"There's no significance," Pence insisted. "They've had our number, so it feels good to get a win."

Michael Young and Chris Davis homered for the Rangers, who wrapped up a 4-5 homestand that trimmed their division lead to 1 1/2 games, the slimmest margin since May 14. The Los Angeles Angels closed the gap with a six-game winning streak.

"You don't look behind you," manager Ron Washington said. "Everybody knew the Angels would put something together. We're focusing on our day to day."

Alberto Arias (1-0) struck out the only batter he faced before LaTroy Hawkins pitched the eighth. Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his third save in five chances, the last out coming when Pence made a sliding catch of pinch-hitter Andruw Jones' sinking liner to right.

"It was a little scary, but fortunately I was able to get it," Pence said.

Houston tied it in the sixth when Carlos Lee hit an RBI single and Miguel Tejada scored on a passed ball by Taylor Teagarden. Rangers starter Vicente Padilla was done after that.

Padilla walked two in the sixth and failed to cover first on a ball hit to the right side of the infield that became a single. The right-hander had allowed two earned runs over 12 innings while winning his two previous starts.

Humberto Quintero was behind the plate for the Astros one night after Ivan Rodriguez broke the major league record with his 2,227th game at catcher. Quintero singled in Darin Erstad with two out in the fifth.

Like Rodriguez did on his record-setting night, Quintero made a run-scoring throwing error on a steal of third. Nelson Cruz scrambled home in the fourth to give Texas a 3-0 lead.

Young homered in the first and Davis connected an inning later against Brandon Backe, who made his first start of the season.

Backe had made four relief appearances since returning May 28 from the disabled list after straining muscles in his left side during spring training. The right-hander started in place of Mike Hampton, who was put on the 15-day disabled list this week with a left groin strain.

Despite allowing three runs in four innings, Backe's ERA dropped from 12.00 to 10.38. Cooper said Backe came out early because of a blister on his right index finger.

Wesley Wright, recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to take Hampton's roster spot, threw 2 2-3 scoreless innings before Arias struck out Teagarden with a runner on second to end the seventh.

"He did a great job," Cooper said of Wright. "We let the big boys close it out. We needed one of those."

NOTES: The Rangers' last 12 homers have been solo shots, their longest such streak since September 1986. The last homer with runners on base was Ian Kinsler's three-run shot June 5 at Boston. ... Kinsler was 0 for 4, hitting into double plays his last three at-bats. ... Cooper met with his team before the win to apologize for forgetting to congratulate Rodriguez after Wednesday's game. Houston lost 5-4 in 10 innings and Cooper was upset with how the team played. ... Lee, usually the Astros' LF, is still hampered by a bad hamstring and was the DH the entire series. ... Houston had won a season-high five consecutive series before losing the first two games to the Rangers.