Injury Sidelines Braves’ Thomson

The strained muscle on his left side that knocked John Thomson out of Game 3 of the National League division series after only four pitches is also expected to keep the Atlanta Brave pitcher out of the remainder of the postseason.

Thomson could require six to eight weeks to recover from the injury, which he aggravated Saturday in the first inning of the Houston Astros’ 8-5 victory in Minute Maid Park.

Thomson left his final regular-season start after three innings because of the same problem, and his first playoff outing was pushed from Game 2 to Game 3 to allow his side additional time to heal.

But Thomson never fully recovered. Craig Biggio grounded out on Thomson’s first pitch Saturday, and Carlos Beltran doubled off the center-field wall on the second. Catcher Johnny Estrada, sensing something wasn’t right, walked to the mound after Thomson had reached a 2-and-0 count on Jeff Bagwell.

Manager Bobby Cox and trainer Jeff Porter joined the conference on the mound, prompting Paul Byrd to begin frantically warming up in the bullpen.

Byrd walked Bagwell to put runners on first and second with one out before benefiting from a fluky play. With Beltran and Bagwell running on the pitch, Lance Berkman hit a line drive that appeared headed for right field before it drilled Bagwell on the right ankle. Bagwell was out on the play, and Jeff Kent struck out swinging to end the inning.

But the Astros eventually struck for four runs against Byrd in 4 1/3 innings.

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Cox said he wasn’t concerned about Russ Ortiz’s starting on 10 days’ rest in Game 4 today, the longest stretch Ortiz has gone between starts in his career.

“It’s like [Greg] Maddux, when I asked him that question once,” Cox said. “He had over 10 days. He said, ‘Bobby, I’m not going to forget how to pitch.’ ”

Before pitching seven solid innings Sept. 29 against the New York Mets in his last start, Ortiz had a 1-3 record in his previous nine outings. But Ortiz said he has stayed sharp by pitching in the bullpen.

“Taking that out to the game and being consistent is a trick for every pitcher,” said Ortiz, 15-9 with a 4.13 earned-run average in the regular season. “But feeling good in the bullpen is obviously a good key.”

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Houston’s victory Saturday ended a streak of six consecutive losses in Game 3s dating to 1981 and was the franchise’s first postseason win in Houston since Game 2 of the 1998 NL division series against the San Diego Padres.... Houston’s seven homers in this series tied the NL record for homers in a division series, set by the Braves in 1995.