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Scott leads home run parade, helps Oswalt to sixth win

May 13, 2007 - 6:02 AM HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Luke Scott hit another clutch homer in support of Roy Oswalt.

Scott hit a three-run home run to help Oswalt become the first pitcher in the National League to win six games, as the Houston Astros posted a 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

Rookie Hunter Pence was a triple shy of the cycle for the Astros, who hit a season-high four home runs and had every position player record a hit.

"It always feels good when you're scoring a lot of run and everybody's contributing," Scott said. "We have a really solid lineup. We're very capable of doing that."

Scott, who seems to hit well with Oswalt on the mound, capped a five-run fourth inning with a three-run homer into the right field upper deck off Washington starter Livan Hernandez that provided Houston an 8-3 lead.

"I went up there looking for a ball that I could hit hard," said Scott, who hit the first pitch 397 feet into the upper deck in right. "I got a fastball down and in and didn't try to do too much with it. Just hit it hard."

Scott hit a three-run homer Monday in the eighth off Todd Coffey in a 5-4 win that helped Oswalt improve to 19-1 vs. Cincinnati. His blast in this one helped the righthander improve to 6-0 in seven starts against Arizona.

Houston scored all the runs with four consecutive two-out hits to snap a 3-3 tie in the fourth. Brad Ausmus led off the decisive five-run Houston fourth with a double off the left field wall. Oswalt sacrificed him to third and Craig Biggio grounded out and Ausmus then score on an infield single by Chris Burke.

Carlos Lee, who hit seventh homer of the season in the seventh and drove in two runs, scored Lamb with a single, and Scott followed with his fourth homer of the season.

Oswalt (6-2) did not have his best stuff early, allowing a two-run double to Tony Clark in the first and gave up three runs in the first four innings.

"I battled from the first inning," Oswalt said. "It would have been hard to hit the net, that's how bad my location was. The second, third inning I started coming down a little bit. I started feeling better and better. ... You learn as you go through the big leagues the days you don't have your best stuff you have to grind it out."

However, the righthander settled down after allowing an RBI single to Houston native Chris Young that tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth. The righthander left after six innings after throwing 111 pitches. He allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings and struck out seven with two walks.

"We put a little pressure on him," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "But as he does, he pitched out of some jams and he has the stuff to get a big strikeout, or whatever he needs to get out of an inning."

"His mechanics were off just a little bit," manager Phil Garner said of Oswalt. "He was all over the place, rushing things. He did a pretty good job of getting squared away and getting on track."

Trever Miller pitched a scoreless seventh, Brad Lidge allowed one run in the eighth and Chad Qualls allowed a two-out walk and then struck out Tony Clark in the ninth to end it.

"It's nice to have a little breathing room when you come in to pitch," Garner said of his bullpen.

Mike Lamb, who started at third base for Morgan Ensberg, had three hits, including his second homer of the season, and drove in two for the Astros, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

"I'm just trying to be productive when I'm in there," said Lamb, who is hitting .419 (18-for-43) but cannot seem to crack the lineup. "I can't change their plans for the lineup. I can only do my job when I get in there. I've got some rhythm at the plate and good things have been happening for me."

Hernandez (3-2), who was 5-1 in his last six starts vs. Houston, suffered his worst outing of the season. The righthander allowed eight runs and 11 hits in four innings, his shortest start this season.

Young had two hits and an RBI for the Diamondbacks, who lost for just the third time in their last nine games at Minute Maid Park.