Pirates continue road trip in Houston

Sep 15, 2007, 14:45 GMT

- The Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off their 10-game road trip in a good way and will try for another win tonight when they continue a three- game series with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Jose Bautista put the Pirates ahead with a two-run homer in the eighth inning en route to a 4-3 victory in the series opener on Friday. He also tripled in the victory.

Freddy Sanchez had two hits and scored a run for the Pirates, who have won four of their last five games. Romulo Sanchez (1-0) earned the win by recording the final out in the seventh after starter Ian Snell allowed one run and five hits while walking five and fanning eight over six frames.

Lance Berkman homered and Josh Anderson had two hits and knocked in a run for Houston, which has lost 10 of its last 12 games. Chad Qualls (6-5) took the loss, allowing three runs and four hits in the eighth to waste a solid outing by Roy Oswalt, who yielded just one unearned run and six hits over seven innings in the start.

Wandy Rodriguez is 8-13 with a 4.65 earned run average this year and starts tonight for Houston. He lost last time out and is 1-4 over his last eight outings after yielding five runs and six hits over 4 1/3 innings against the Mets on September 7.

The left-hander faced the Pirates on August 26 and didn't factor into the decision of Pittsburgh's victory. Rodriguez gave up four runs over five frames on that day, and is 2-3 with a 4.95 ERA in seven career starts versus the Pirates.

Matt Morris will make his ninth start with Pittsburgh and 30th on the season tonight. Morris, acquired from the Giants before the trade deadline, is 2-2 with a 5.29 ERA with Pittsburgh, and won his last time out after giving up four runs and seven hits over six innings against the Cubs.

The right-hander, who is two strikeouts shy of 1,200 for his career, picked up his first win in a Pirates uniform on August 25 in Houston, throwing six innings of one-run ball, and is 12-10 with a 3.40 ERA in 33 games (30 starts) lifetime versus the Astros.

The Pirates have won 10 of their 13 meetings with the Astros this season after dropping 13 of 16 against Houston in 2006. Pittsburgh is 6-1 against Houston at home this year.

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