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Peavy, Padres welcome Astros to town

Aug 17, 2007 - 3:31 PM Houston (54-67) at San Diego (65-55) 10:05 pm EDT

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- The San Diego Padres send their ace to the mound behind a suddenly surging offense when they host the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game series on Friday.

Jake Peavy (13-5, 2.23 ERA) will go for his fifth straight win. The All-Star righthander has allowed a total of three earned runs in 26 2/3 innings over his last four starts.

Peavy has held the Astros in check during his career, owning a 6-4 record against them with a 2.33 ERA in 11 starts.

He will be backed by an offense that has exploded of late, scoring eight or more runs in four of the last six games. The San Diego batters pounded out 14 hits en route to an 11-9 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Thursday's rubber game, keeping them within three games of the Arizona Diamondbacks (69-53) for the lead in the National League Central.

Houston will counter with veteran Woody Williams (6-12, 5.09). The righthander, who turns 41 on Sunday, has been sharp in his last two starts, allowing three earned runs over 13 innings while going 1-0.

Williams, who spent a total of 4 1/2 years in two separate stints with San Diego, got knocked around by his former team on July 27, giving up five runs and eight hits in six innings to suffer a 9-4 loss. In his career, he is 4-1 with a 3.08 ERA in five starts against the Padres.

The Astros are coming off two straight losses at the Los Angeles Dodgers.