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Astros turn to Sampson to end losing ways

Jun 2, 2007 - 1:37 PM St. Louis (23-29) at Houston (22-32) 3:55 pm EDT

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- These are tough times for the Houston Astros. After showing signs of life on Thursday with 10 runs, they were back to their old tricks one day later.

The Astros continue their three-game weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday at Minute Maid Park.

Houston has lost 11 of 12 games, scoring two runs or less in seven of those contests. The Astros have been outscored 84-31 in their last 12 games. Houston's Chris Sampson (4-5, 3.44 ERA) hopes a new month brings about the run support he received in April (24 in four starts) and not in May (five runs in five starts). In Saturday's 5-4 loss to Arizona, he yielded three runs and four hits over six innings.

The righthander was pulled after 4 2/3 innings in his only career start - on May 6 - against the Cardinals, yielding three runs and five hits.

Until recently, the St. Louis offense was in the same boat as Houston's, even though they still own the league's lowest scoring offense. However, things may be improving as they have crossed the plate 23 times during a four-game winning streak.

St. Louis starter and Houston native Kip Wells (2-9, 6.20 ERA), who leads the majors in losses, looks to recapture the magic he had in his first start against the Astros this season. On April 8, he held Houston to a single hit over seven scoreless frames to get his first win of the season.

The righthander allowed five runs and a season-high 11 hits over 6 1/3 innings in his latest start - a 6-2 loss at Colorado - on Monday, the latest defeat in a stretch that has seen Wells drop eight of his last nine outings. He is 4-7 with a 5.11 ERA in 15 career starts against the Astros.