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Astros look to keep rolling without Lee

Aug 14, 2008 - 10:06 AM San Francisco (50-69) at Houston (61-59), 2:05 pm EDT

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Carlos Lee is a memory. Suddenly, so is the theory that the Houston Astros are a weak team in the National League.

The surging Astros, who are without their top offensive player, can win their eighth straight and complete a four-game sweep of the lowly San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Lee, Houston's leader in homers and RBI, suffered a fractured left finger in the Astros' win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday and underwent surgery on Monday. The All-Star is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, if not the rest of the season.

However, instead of falling flat, Houston has put together two of its best offensive performances over the four games Lee has missed.

On Sunday, the Astros posted 13 runs and followed that with an impressive 3-1 triumph over the Giants in the series opener. Then, Lance Berkman was the star on Tuesday by sparking an eight-run, seventh inning with a grand slam in a 12-4 bout.

Their offense didn't have to work as hard on Wednesday, since it notched a six-run, sixth-inning against Barry Zito, who combined with reliever Billy Sadler to hit three batters and give up four walks in the frame. All six runs scored without a hit.

Brian Moehler (8-4, 3.83 ERA) takes the mound for Houston looking to win his fifth straight decision. The 36-year-old journeyman is 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA over his last three outings and has not lost since July 4.

He has also issued three walks over his last 36 innings.

The Giants will counter with Kevin Correia (2-6, 5.21), who has held opponents to three runs or less in six of his past 10 outings, but hasn't completed seven innings in that span.

The 27-year-old has notched one win since April 10.