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Brewers' Bush haunts Astros again in win

Apr 22, 2007 - 11:17 PM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- The Houston Astros are getting real tired of seeing Dave Bush.

Bush pitched eight-plus strong innings and Bill Hall homered as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Astros, 4-3, in the rubber game of the three-game set.

Bush (2-1), who struck out 10 in a five-hit shutout in his last start against Houston on September 10, was back to his old tricks, allowing three runs and five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

"He was throwing a lot of strikes early in the count and every time you do that, you're going to have a good game," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "When you pitch ahead, it's awful tough to be a good hitter."

After allowing a one-out double to Mark Loretta in the first, the righthander set down the next 12 batters until Morgan Ensberg singled with one out in the fifth. He took a shutout into the ninth.

Hall hit a solo shot to right field off Astros starter Roy Oswalt (3-1) to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead. The homer was his first off Oswalt in 33 career at-bats.

"I like the short porch (in Miller Park)," Hall said. "Everybody knows I like to go to right field. The shorter, the better for me. I'm just staying with my approach and trying to hit the ball hard up the middle or the other way and whatever happens, happens."

"When Billy's hitting line-drive home runs to right field, you know his stroke is really getting in tune," Brewers manager Ned Yost said.

Hall and Geoff Jenkins each had three hits for Milwaukee, which has won four of its last five games.

A 12-game winner last season, Bush was removed after allowing three consecutive batters to reach in the ninth, capped off by Lance Berkman's RBI double to trim the deficit to 4-1.

"We really needed that today," Yost said. "Our bullpen was a little down and we needed to give them a break. David did that. Ideally, we wanted him to get through the ninth and he was cruising. A bleeder, a walk and a well-placed double and that was it."

Closer Francisco Cordero surrendered a one-out run-scoring single to Ensberg and walked two hitters - including one with the bases loaded - before retiring pinch hitters Orlando Palmeiro and Craig Biggio for his seventh save in as many chances.

"We fought back and made a game out of it and had a chance," Garner said. "We keep doing that and we'll get it done a lot of times. We had a couple of good at-bats (in) that (ninth) inning. We sent some guys to the plate with a chance to do something and they had good at-bats."

"I threw a lot of pitches, but the good thing about it is in the end we win," Cordero said. "If I threw a lot of pitches and we lost, then you'd think about it and be concerned. But we got the win and we go home happy."

Oswalt yielded four runs and seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The ace was denied a chance to start 4-0 for the second consecutive year.

"We were facing a tough guy and any time you're facing Oswalt, you have to take your runs when you can get them," Jenkins said. "We were lucky to take two of three."

"I didn't have my breaking pitches," Oswalt said. "I pitched with my fastball pretty much the whole day and threw some breaking pitches just for show. Pretty much, it was my fastball in and out and trying to get some outs with it."