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Brewers-Astros Preview

Jul 31, 2010 - 4:43 AM By CHRIS ALTRUDA STATS Editor

Milwaukee (48-55) at Houston (42-59), 7:05 p.m. EDT

One marquee veteran has already been traded, and another has been all but officially dealt.

The reshaping of the Houston Astros is expected to continue as Lance Berkman likely will head east Saturday ahead of their night game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Astros general manager Ed Wade started the rebuilding process Thursday by dealing staff ace Roy Oswalt, who was one win shy of matching the franchise record for wins, to Philadelphia. J.A. Happ, one of three players acquired in return, pitched six innings and combined with three relievers on a four-hitter in Friday night's 5-0 victory.

"We got a pretty good pitcher, he was real good tonight," Chris Johnson said. "We got him a little lead so he could relax. I'm sure he had some nerves at the start but he was pretty nasty tonight."

Wade has nearly completed a deal to send Berkman, a 12-year veteran and five-time All-Star, to the Yankees prior to Saturday afternoon's trade deadline. A 10-and-5 player, Berkman has the right to veto any trade and was evasive prior to Friday's game when asked if he waived his no-trade clause.

"He approached me two days ago with a list of probably eight teams that had expressed some interest. There were four yeas and four nays. There were some that were just no possibility," Berkman said.

The first baseman sounded apprehensive about leaving the only team and only city he's ever known, but he also recognized the reality of the Astros needing to rebuild.

"I'm from Texas. Heck, I played at Rice. This city is like the womb. I feel very comfortable here. To think about the possibility of going anywhere else is kind of scary," Berkman said.

"My ideal situation is to win a title here. If this organization feels those aims are better accomplished by trying to strip down this roster and reload with younger guys, I don't want to stand in the way of that," he added. "If they approached me with something that made sense, I'd sure think about it."

A lifetime .296 hitter with 326 homers and 1,090 RBIs, Berkman is batting .245 with 13 homers and 49 RBIs in 85 games.

On the field, Wandy Rodriguez (8-11, 4.80 ERA) tries to win a third straight start and is coming off his best outing of the year. The Astros left-hander limited Cincinnati to one hit and two walks in seven innings of a 4-0 victory Sunday, his fifth in six starts.

Rodriguez won his only start against the Brewers (48-56) this year, yielding one run in seven innings of a 5-1 victory June 30. He is 6-6 lifetime against Milwaukee.

Dave Bush (5-8, 4.27) was efficient in beating Washington on Sunday and will try to keep the Astros in the park after home runs by Johnson, Jason Michaels and Jeff Keppinger accounted for all the offense Friday.

Bush allowed three runs in seven innings against the Nationals to avoid losing a third straight start. The right-hander is 0-1 in two starts versus Houston this year and lost to Rodriguez after getting reached for two runs in six innings in the June 30 defeat.

He is 6-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 13 starts and 15 overall appearances against the Astros.