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Astros-Padres Preview

Jul 2, 2009 - 7:03 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Houston (37-39) at San Diego (34-43), 3:35 p.m. EDT

Wandy Rodriguez dominated opponents in his first nine starts of the season. It's been a much different story lately.

The Houston Astros left-hander goes for just his second victory since May 20 when he faces the San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon at Petco Park.

After opening the year 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA, Rodriguez has gone 1-4 with a 5.73 ERA in his last seven starts. Opponents have hit .318 against him during that stretch.

He didn't get the decision in a 5-4 victory over Detroit on Friday, yielding four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Rodriguez (6-6, 3.35 ERA) gave up two homers in the game. He surrendered one in his first 11 starts but has allowed 11 over his last five.

"I was very bad with location in the first and second innings," he said after throwing 51 pitches in the first two innings Friday. "My mistake today was trying to throw too hard."

The Astros (37-39), though, have won three of Rodriguez's last four starts.

He allowed five hits in eight innings of a 2-0 victory over the visiting Padres on May 8. Rodriguez, however, is 0-1 with an 11.81 ERA in two career starts at Petco Park.

Houston defeated San Diego for the seventh time in eighth meetings Wednesday, 7-1. Carlos Lee, Geoff Blum and Kazuo Matsui had RBI singles in the fourth before the Astros scored three more times in the inning on a bases-loaded throwing error by Chase Headley.

Originally a third baseman who was converted into an outfielder before last season, Headley was making his third start of the year at third, where he has played periodically when Kevin Kouzmanoff hasn't been in the lineup.

"It's the overall feel of a throw," Headley told the Padres' official Web site when describing his error. "In the outfield, the throw is the same each time. In the infield, there are so many different throws. It's an instinctual thing."

Padres catcher Eliezer Alfonzo went 2 for 4 and hit his first homer of 2009, but San Diego managed five hits and scored one or no runs for the 15th time this season. The Padres are last in the majors in batting (.235) and runs (292).

All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was in the lineup Wednesday after straining his right knee and leaving Tuesday's contest. Playing in his 284th consecutive game - 21 shy of Steve Garvey's franchise mark - Gonzalez went 0 for 3 and drew his major league-leading 64th walk.

He is 3 for 9 with a home run and a double versus Rodriguez.

The Padres, 5-11 in their last 16 games at Petco Park, will try for a split of this four-game series behind Kevin Correia (5-5, 4.23). The right-hander is 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA in his last five outings.

Correia won his second start in a row Saturday, striking out a career-high nine and allowing three runs over seven innings of a 7-3 victory at Texas.

Correia is 0-0 with a 3.55 ERA in two career starts against Houston. He yielded two runs and four hits over six innings of a 5-4 loss to the Astros on May 9.

Astros first baseman Lance Berkman is 5 for 11 with a homer in this series. He is batting .367 (22 for 60) with six home runs and 14 RBIs in 17 games at Petco.

Houston has outscored San Diego 32-15 while winning five of six matchups in 2009.