Sep 16, 2007, 14:47 GMT
- The Houston Astros will try for back-to-back wins for the first time this month when the club wraps its three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon at Minute Maid Park.
Houston closed out August with a three-game winning streak, but then dropped 10 of its next 12 games before Saturday's 9-7 victory over the Pirates. Ty Wigginton launched a pair of homers in the win, while Carlos Lee also homered and drove in three runs.
Houston put up a seven spot in the fourth inning to help snap a three-game slide.
Juan Gutierrez (1-1) earned his first career major league win, tossing two scoreless innings in relief of Wandy Rodriguez, who gave up five runs and five hits in three innings.
Jack Wilson had the first multi-homer game of his career for Pittsburgh, which had a two-game win streak halted. Ronny Paulino added two hits -- including a three-run homer -- and finished with four RBI.
Matt Morris (9-10) had a poor performance on the mound, allowing seven runs and nine hits, with a walk and no strikeouts in just 3 1/3 innings.
After having his last start skipped due to a lower back strain, Paul Maholm returns to the hill for the Pirates today. The left-hander has won his last three decisions, but didn't factor into the decision of his last start on August 28 after allowing two runs and 10 hits over seven innings against the Reds.
Maholm, who is 10-14 with a 4.32 earned run average, last faced Houston on July 21 and got the win behind 6 2/3 frames of two-run ball. In his career, he is 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA in six starts against the Astros.
Brandon Backe's comeback trail continues today for Houston. Backe underwent Tommy John surgery on September 7, 2006 and made his first start since on September 4 of this year. He got a loss that day in Milwaukee, then returned home to face the Cubs on Tuesday. He didn't factor into the decision of that contest after allowing four runs and six hits over five innings of work, as his ERA rose to 5.91.
The right-hander has faced the Pirates seven times in his career, four of those starts, and is 3-1 in that span with a 2.83 ERA.
The Pirates have won 10 of their 14 meetings with the Astros this season after dropping 13 of 16 against Houston in 2006. Pittsburgh is 6-2 against Houston at Minute Maid Park this year.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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