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Williams sharp as Astros edge Nationals

Aug 23, 2007 - 3:43 AM HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Woody Williams continues to turn around what has been a disappointing season.

Williams pitched effectively into the seventh inning and Ty Wigginton homered as the Houston Astros snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

Williams (8-12) turned in his fifth consecutive impressive outing and has not allowed more than two runs in a game since yielding seven at Atlanta on August 2.

The 41-year-old Williams surrendered two runs and six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Since coming out of the bullpen on August 5, the 15-year veteran is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in four starts.

"I'm very pleased with the outcome," Williams said. "I was wild in the strike zone and missed a lot of spots. For whatever reason, I was able to weasel my way out of a lot of trouble."

Williams' biggest mistake came in the sixth inning, when Austin Kearns smashed a two-out, two-run homer down the left field line to cut Washington's deficit to 3-2.

"Tonight, I gave them a lot of good pitches to hit," Williams said. "That's a very good lineup. I believe if they'd have swung the bats the way they're capable of tonight, they'd have scored five or six runs easy. Austin Kearns did good job getting his hands in and hitting a good pitch for the home run."

Williams was lifted after walking Brian Schneider with one out in the seventh, but Chad Qualls induced an inning-ending double play after yielding a single to pinch hitter Ryan Church.

Qualls hurled a scoreless eighth and Brad Lidge slammed the door in the ninth to register his 12th save of the season.

"To do it (win) tonight when we needed a stopper after the last couple of losses, it was huge," Lidge said. "What Woody did tonight is what he does best - he stopped a losing streak and gave the bullpen a rest."

"That's what we've got to have," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "The pitching. We've got to get Roy (Oswalt) back, have Woody pitching us deep into the ballgame, and the kids have got to fall into line."

Wigginton blasted a solo homer off Nationals starter Mike Bacsik (5-7) in the fourth inning to give the Astros a 3-0 advantage. It was Wigginton's second home run as a member of the Astros and 18th of the season.

Lance Berkman drove in Hunter Pence, who tripled, with a sacrifice fly in the opening frame and added an RBI three-base hit over the head of Washington center fielder Nook Logan in the third to give Houston a 2-0 lead. For Berkman, it was just his second triple of the season and first while batting righthanded.

Bacsik pitched well in his first start since August 12, giving up three runs and seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts. The Nationals fell to 8-9 on the season when he starts a game.

"I threw the ball OK," Bacsik said. "I was inconsistent, I'd say, and I didn't have my best stuff. It wasn't my worst stuff, but I would just say that I was just OK tonight."

Logan made what Bacsik said was definitely one of the greatest catches of the year when he robbed Berkman of extra bases by running down a deep fly ball to center in the fifth inning.

With Craig Biggio singling earlier in the inning, the Astros could have made it 4-0, but Logan saved at least one run by retrieving the ball on the incline known as Tal's Hill.

"I just kept running," Logan said. "I knew that the hill was coming up, and when you get there, you really have to shorten your steps to get there. I didn't practice (shagging flies on the hill) because I didn't think I was going to have to run that far (to get a ball)."