Astros Push Lead to Four Games

There was no comeback for the Pittsburgh Pirates this time with Houston rookie Roy Oswalt on the mound--and no defense for all those walks by their own pitchers.

Oswalt, whose last start in Pittsburgh ended with one of the greatest comebacks in major league history, beat the Pirates for the second time in six days and the Astros increased their National League Central lead with a 5-1 victory Friday night.

The Astros won for the second night in a row with a relatively low number of hits, seven, one more than they had against Philadelphia in a 2-1 victory in 11 innings Thursday. They lead Chicago and St. Louis by four games each.

“It’s going to be Cardinals, Cubs and us,” Astro first baseman Jeff Bagwell said. “If we can keep winning series, we’ll be in good shape the last two weeks.”

Oswalt (11-2), whose .846 winning percentage is the league’s best, breezed through the Pirate lineup and was working on his first career shutout until Aramis Ramirez hit his 26th home run in the ninth inning. The rookie right-hander struck out nine and walked one to follow a 12-2 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday, when he struck out 10.

“Some pretty astute observers of this game said he was a can’t-miss guy,” Astro Manager Larry Dierker said. “He’s done better than I expected, and I expected him to be pretty good.”

Oswalt, who has won four of five starts, might have felt uneasy after the Pirates put two runners on after Ramirez’s homer in the ninth.

In his last start in PNC Park on July 28, when he lasted 6 1/3 innings, the Pirates tied a major league record by scoring seven runs with two out in the ninth to win 9-8.

This time, Octavio Dotel got the final three outs to preserve the Astros’ seventh victory in eight games.