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Reeling Astros seek to snap three-game skid vs. Marlins

Sep 17, 2008 - 10:12 AM Houston (80-70) at Florida (78-72) 7:10 p.m. EDT

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Hurricane Ike has done enormous damage to much of Southwest, as well as the Houston Astros' playoff hopes.

The Astros try to cope with the lingering affects of the hurricane and snap a three-game skid on Wednesday against the Florida Marlins, who have won six straight.

Houston had won 14 of 15 prior to being forced to evacuate Texas over the weekend in advance of Ike's arrival. The Astros were forced to wait two days before playing a pseudo home game at Miller Park in Milwaukee on Sunday in which they were no-hit by Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano.

The next day they were one-hit by Ted Lilly in a 6-1 loss. Even ace Roy Oswalt could not stop the bleeding, as he was roughed up for five runs in a 5-1 loss on Tuesday. Oswalt entered having thrown a franchise-best 32 1/3 scoreless innings.

He said Ike has played a big part in the team's downward spiral.

"A lot of people don't realize how bad a hurricane is until you actually participate in one," Oswalt said. "It's pretty tough."

Aside from the upheaval, another reason for the recent slide is Houston's bats have gone silent. The Astros are hitting .070 (6-for-86) during their three-game losing streak.

"We've got to figure out a way to get our offense going a little bit," said Astros manager Cecil Cooper, whose team trails the New York Mets (83-67) by three games in the wild-card race.

"Either they're making good pitches or we're not making good swings. Something's not happening."

Houston will try and solve Ricky Nolasco (14-7, 3.56 ERA), who is 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA over his last six outings.

The Astros counter with Brandon Backe (9-12, 5.44), who missed his last start due to a sore elbow. Backe allowed three runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 9-7, 11-inning victory over the Cubs on September 2.