Victory over Padres is costly for Astros

SAN DIEGO -- Roy Oswalt left because of a muscle strain one out before he would have qualified for the decision, and Houston lost slugger Carlos Lee because of a strained hip flexor in the Astros’ 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night.

It was a painful night as well for the Padres, who fell a season-high five games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Padres remained tied with Philadelphia for the wild-card lead.

Oswalt beat out an infield RBI single in the fourth inning that gave the Astros a 3-0 lead.

Oswalt was pulled after yielding consecutive RBI singles by Brian Giles and Geoff Blum that pulled the Padres to 3-2 with two out in the fifth.

Oswalt had been exceptional until the fifth, scattering three hits in four scoreless innings. The Astros’ ace came in having won his previous five starts, in which he had a 0.82 earned-run average. It was the first time in six starts that the right-hander gave up more than one run.