NATIONAL LEAGUE : Confident Williams Defeats Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals never got a chance to work on Brian Williams’ confidence Thursday night.

After experiencing some tense moments in a three-game losing streak earlier this season, Williams was steady with a five-hitter over eight innings, leading the Astros to a 5-1 victory at the Astrodome.

“My confidence was down after that three-game losing streak, but now I’m not going to let things bother me,” Williams said. “Every time they tried to get something started, I came up with a good pitch.”

The Cardinals got two runners on base in the second and sixth innings, but Williams (6-4) kept control of the game each time.

Joe Boever pitched the ninth inning.

Donovan Osborne (9-7) struck out the first five batters to start the game and retired the first nine in order before Craig Biggio doubled leading off the fourth inning and scored on Ken Caminiti’s double. The Astros got another run in the inning on Eric Anthony’s RBI grounder.

Williams lost his shutout in the sixth inning when Milt Thompson reached first on second baseman Biggio’s fielding error, stole second and scored on Felix Jose’s single.