Astros’ Killer Hit Belongs to Spiers

The Houston Astros showed they are more than just the Killer B’s.

Yes, the trio of Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Derek Bill finally had playoff performances living up to the nickname. Bill Spiers and Ricky Gutierrez had some impact, too, and that’s why the Astros are headed to San Diego with a split in their National League division series.

After Houston blew the lead in the ninth inning, Spiers’ RBI single with one out lifted the Astros to a wild 5-4 win over the Padres on Thursday, tying the series at 1-1.

“The team is a lot more than the B’s,” Astro Manager Larry Dierker said. “We have to have other last names do something, too, like Billy Spiers.”

The Astros took a 4-2 lead into the ninth thanks to the B’s, but Billy Wagner allowed a two-out, two-run homer to pinch-hitter Jim Leyritz.

Opening the ninth off loser Dan Miceli, Gutierrez beat out an infield single to shortstop. Brad Ausmus sacrificed, Trevor Hoffman relieved and Gutierrez stunned the Padres by stealing third base uncontested.

“I knew with Hoffman’s big leg kick it would be tough to throw me out,” said Gutierrez, one of 12 players involved in the big trade between the clubs in December 1994. “So I took off. I guess they didn’t think I would steal.”

He was right.

“Ricky, I think, surprised everyone,” Tony Gwynn said. “It was a great move by him but it put us in a tough situation.”

Hoffman said he should have kept Gutierrez on second.

“In that situation, giving him third base was a big mistake,” said Hoffman, a leading candidate for the NL Cy Young Award.

Hoffman threw four of his bedeviling changeups to Spiers, who singled to right on a 1-2 count.

“It was a pretty good pitch, I felt like, after seeing the replay,” Spiers said. “I was pretty lucky to get enough of the bat on it. My approach didn’t look too good the first two swings.”

Spiers went three for five with two doubles and scored once.

Wagner, who got the win, was shaky down the stretch, blowing consecutive save chances against the Mets last month by allowing homers to Brian McRae and Mike Piazza.

Wagner allowed Ken Caminiti’s one-out single, then retired Greg Vaughn. He threw eight straight fastballs to Leyritz, who fouled off several before sending a 98-mph pitch over the right-field fence.

While with the New York Yankees in 1996, Leyritz hit a dramatic three-run, eighth-inning homer against Atlanta’s Mark Wohlers to tie Game 4 of the World Series at 6. The Yankees went on to win in 10 innings and defeated the Braves in six games.

The previous year, his 15th-inning home run off Tim Belcher won Game 2 of the Yankees’ first-round series against Seattle.

It was the Astros’ 28th victory in their last at-bat. It was also the seventh one-run game the teams have played this year, including San Diego’s 2-1 victory in the series opener Tuesday.

“It takes an awful lot of pressure off,” Dierker said.

The series shifts to San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium for games Saturday night and Sunday. Left-handers Mike Hampton (11-7) of Houston and Sterling Hitchcock (9-7) of San Diego are scheduled to start Game 3.

The Padres blew the momentum they got from Kevin Brown’s 16-strikeout performance in Game 1.

“I guess it’s good to get the split, but it’s disheartening, too, that we couldn’t take this game,” said Padre Manager Bruce Bochy, who added that he’ll consider bringing Brown back for Game 3.

Bagwell drove in Houston’s first three runs and Biggio scored twice. Bell rifled a 3-1 pitch from former Astro reliever Donne Wall into the left-field seats for a leadoff homer in the eighth and a 4-2 lead.

The B’s went zero for 10 in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss after going two for 37 in a sweep by Atlanta in last year’s division series.

On Thursday, they combined to go three for 11 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Bell snapped a 0-for-21 postseason slump.

“The game is not about the Killer B’s,” Bagwell said. “It’s about 25 Houston Astros. The win was huge. If we lost today, we would have been in big trouble.”

The Astros snapped a six-game playoff losing streak dating to the 1986 NL championship series against the Mets.

Padre starter Andy Ashby lasted just four innings, the fifth time in his last seven starts that he’s gone five innings or less. He allowed three runs and six hits, struck out four and walked one.

Astros starter Shane Reynolds allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.

Bagwell had an RBI groundout in the first and a two-run single in the second as the Astros built a 3-0 lead.

The Padres got two runs with no outs in the sixth. Quilvio Veras hit a leadoff single and scored when Finley doubled off the manual scoreboard on the left-field wall.

Gwynn singled in Finley, but Reynolds jammed Caminiti for a weak comebacker to start a double play, then struck out Vaughn.