Berkman Hits Two More Homers

Lance Berkman doesn’t feel comfortable at the plate, not that anyone can tell.

“Sometimes the swing is there. Sometimes it’s not,” he said Sunday after homering twice to tie Sammy Sosa for the major league lead at 13 and help the Houston Astros defeat the New York Mets, 12-1.

Berkman, who hit .331 last year, went three for five with five RBIs, moving his average above .300 for the first time this season.

“It’s kind of frustrating,” he said. “It’s just been peaks and valleys this year. I just want to be consistent, and that hasn’t been the case. I’m tinkering with my stance and swing all the time. I went up there with five different approaches today and I only felt comfortable twice.”

Berkman hit a run-scoring double in the first inning, then had a solo homer off Satoru Komiyama in the sixth and a three-run homer off Scott Strickland in the eighth.

Berkman had his second multihomer game this season and the ninth of his career.

“Check with me in September and we’ll see who’s still up there,” he said. “I’m not anything like [Barry] Bonds or Sosa.”

He batted .435 (10 for 23) on the homestand. “He’s a great hitter,” Al Leiter said. “And he’s going to get better. It’s not a surprise. We stop on his name and talk about him extensively when we’re going through the scouting report.”

Leiter (3-2)--in the worst of his seven starts this season--gave up five runs (four earned), five hits, two walks and a hit batter in four innings. His earned-run average rose from 0.92 to 1.67. Leiter dropped to 2-6 with a 5.37 ERA against the Astros, 0-4 since Sept. 15, 1998.

Houston starter Roy Oswalt, hitless in 13 at-bats this season entering the game, doubled to lead off the third inning and hit a three-run single in the fifth--a bases-loaded blooper that bounced off the glove of second baseman Joe McEwing into the face of center fielder Jay Payton, then rolled away.

“Nobody called for it,” McEwing said. “I had a good bead on it and should have caught it. It hit the top of my glove.”

Oswalt (4-1) combined with Nelson Cruz and Brandon Puffer on a four-hitter. After a shaky first two innings, Oswalt settled down and retired 16 of the next 17 hitters before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. He didn’t give up an earned run while striking out seven and walking two.

The Astros scored the most runs against the Mets this season.