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Hardy homers twice as Brewers beat Astros

Apr 22, 2007 - 4:13 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- J.J. Hardy and Chris Capuano combined to put an emphatic end to the Houston Astros' road winning streak.

Hardy set a club record with the first multi-homer game of his career and Capuano pitched six-plus solid innings as the Milwaukee Brewers notched a 6-4 victory over the Astros, who had a five-game road winning streak snapped.

After clobbering long home runs in the third and fifth innings, Hardy became the Brewers' first shortstop ever to hit four homers in a three-game stretch.

"I haven't changed a thing," Hardy said. "I don't know what's going on. I'm happy. I'll take it. I'm just trying to stay easy, see the ball. I'm really thinking up the middle, and I got a couple of pitches to turn on."

The first blast, a two-run shot to left off Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez, gave Milwaukee a 2-1 edge. His solo shot to left-center in the fifth increased the edge to 5-1.

"I'm definitely not a power hitter," Hardy said. "I just ran into a couple."

The 24-year-old shortstop, who missed most of last season after undergoing right ankle surgery, is 7-for-13 with four homers and eight RBI in his last three games.

"He's hit four home runs," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "It's not like he's hit 150 here in a week. I think J.J.'s going to hit 20, 25 home runs a year, maybe more."

While Hardy was providing the power, Capuano (3-0) mixed in the finesse. The crafty lefthander mixed up his breaking balls, changeup and fastball to keep the Astros' off-balance.

Capuano scattered three hits - including a second-inning homer by Morgan Ensberg - and four walks through the first six frames before tiring.

"I made a lot of good pitches the first six innings to get out of trouble and some situations," Capuano said. "I'm just upset I kind of let them back in the game in the seventh. Command was an issue tonight. I need to be more aggressive, especially when we have a lead like that."

The 2006 All-Star sandwiched two walks around a double by Brad Ausmus to load the bases before giving way to Carlos Villanueva, who allowed three runs to score - two on a single by Carlos Lee - but got lucky when he struck out Lance Berkman after the slugger hit a foul grand slam.

"I knew it was out of here," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "I just didn't know if it was going to be fair or not."

Capuano was charged with four runs and four hits with six walks and six strikeouts in six-plus frames.

"There were times he was really, really good, on the attack and getting after them," Yost said. "Then there were times where he was picking and trying to be too fine and walking guys.

"The thing about 'Cap' is that he always finds ways to battle through it. He always bends a little bit, but he never, ever breaks. I take that back - he very seldom breaks."

Derrick Turnbow logged the eighth and Francisco Cordero retired the player he was traded for - Lee - with two runners on in the ninth to post his sixth save.

"I want to be in that situation," Lee said. "If I can be in that situation every time, I'll take it. They pitched pretty tough, you know. I was probably trying to do too much in that situation. I went away from my swing."

On the second pitch of the at-bat, Lee fouled a slider by Cordero straight back.

"That was the pitch to hit," Lee added. "It's tough to get two good pitches to hit in one at-bat. I got that pitch and couldn't put it in play. That's the game."

Rodriguez (0-2), who has not won since July 2, was charged with six runs and nine hits in six innings but tied a career high with seven strikeouts.

"He got himself in trouble," Garner said. "He got behind some hitters, he walked too many hitters and gave them too many opportunities. We made a ball game out of it, but Wandy's got to keep it a little closer."

Houston entered having won eight of nine overall.

"What I like was how offensively, we're not laying down when we're trailing," Astros catcher Brad Ausmus said, "But we weren't going to win them all."