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Sampson pitches well again; Biggio hits leadoff homer

Jun 9, 2007 - 5:28 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Rookie Chris Sampson continued his strong pitching as the Houston Astros opened their interleague series with a 5-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday.

Craig Biggio hit a leadoff homer for the Astros, who had lost 16 of their previous 20 games.

"I hope that it gets us on about a 25-game win streak," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "We haven't exactly built up any sort of momentum, so we have got to get going. Hopefully, it is a good thing for us, that is what I would hope. Everybody is in there hoping for the same thing."

With this outing, Sampson (6-5) has pitched six or more innings and allowed three runs or less in each of his last six starts. He leads all National League rookies in wins.

"I didn't feel real good at the start of the game," Sampson said. "The sinker wasn't sinking and the slider wasn't sliding. I was just trying to keep throwing strikes and definitely using our defense to keep us close in the game. The defense really came through for us tonight."

The major league's worst hitting club could not get much off Sampson, who allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings despite not being at his best.

"He was not sharp tonight, but he managed to make good pitches when he needed to make good pitches," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "He got us deep in the ballgame when we needed it. We needed No. 1 to hold them down and No. 2 we needed him to get deep into the ball game."

Trever Miller finished the seventh, Brad Lidge logged the eighth and closer Dan Wheeler worked the ninth for his 11th save in 13 outings.

Biggio opened the scoring with his blast off Chicago starter John Danks, his 2,980th hit of his career, before Tadahito Iguchi evened the count with a first-inning blast of his own.

Chris Burke doubled in a run in the fourth to provide Houston a 2-1 edge, but Chicago's Rob Mackowiak singled in a run in the bottom of the frame.

Run-scoring singles by Luke Scott in the fifth, Adam Everett in the sixth and Mark Loretta in the seventh provided a 5-2 edge.

The 22-year-old Danks (3-6), who had won three of his last five starts and allowed two runs or less in four of those outings, was tagged for four runs - three earned - and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Iguchi finished with two hits for Chicago, which has lost 11 of 13 and four straight.

"I wish I could make another lineup, but I don't have another choice," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Everybody's hitting .220, from the first guy to the last guy. I know the way they feel. We've tried everything so far and nothing has worked."