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Astros aim to keep struggling Dodgers down

Aug 14, 2007 - 2:50 PM Houston (53-65) at LA Dodgers (60-58) 10:10 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Winners of six of their last eight games, the Houston Astros look to extend the offensive woes of the Los Angeles Dodgers as the teams continue their four-game series on Tuesday.

The Astros used the right arm of ace Roy Oswalt in Monday's opener, holding the Dodgers to one run over eight frames in a 4-1 win. It marked the ninth time in its last 11 games that Los Angeles has scored two runs or less, a stretch that has led to a 2-9 record over that span.

Hoping to extend the Dodgers' misery will be rookie Matt Albers (2-5, 6.20 ERA), who despite coming out of the bullpen for most of the season will be facing Los Angeles for the second time in his last three starts.

He has made two relief appearances since his last start on August 5, allowing a run and four hits in two frames. The righthander faced the Dodgers for the first time on June 25, yielding just three hits over five scoreless frames but did not factor into the decision of a 2-1 win.

Brett Tomko (2-9, 5.49) will look to put an end to his four-game winless streak. In Thursday's 5-4 win over the Reds in 11 innings, he allowed three runs and six hits over six innings.

The righthander hopes to improve his average track record against the Astros, going 5-5 with a 4.55 ERA in 14 starts.