Bogusevic, First steal
(c) Associated Press
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Sweeping the Cardinals never gets old and the expanded Astros roster of 32 welcomed some guys off the farm and disabled list then kept on winning with a 5-2 triumph Wednesday afternoon, closing the season series with Houston taking ten of the 15 games against the Redbirds.
When the Astros got off to such a terrible start, few imagined they might climb within nine games of .500 in the season's final month but here they are. Yes, they're still a dozen games out of the Wild Card chase but they continue to make this lost season interesting.
The good news for the slumping Cardinals was that they finally scored in the series on a two-run homer by Matt Holliday in the first inning off Nelson Figueroa. The Astros assumed they would eventually get to veteran Jeff Suppan and they finally did in the fifth.
Brett Wallace, who reached base three times without a hit, drew a walk then Jason Castro drilled a double to left-center. After a force out at the plate, Michael Bourn belted a long sacrifice fly to get Castro home. Hunter Pence then skied a long drive that nestled into the Crawfords for a three-run homer and a 4-2 lead. Bourn manufactured an insurance run in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Figueroa earned the win for his first time since joining the Houston rotation. Five relievers combined for four innings of one-hit ball with Brandon Lyon pitching a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save.
Brian Bogusevic made his big league debut in the fifth and, although he tapped into a force out, got to score a run on Pence's homer. Matt Lindstrom and Jeff Keppinger returned from injuries to play important roles.
After a day off Thursday, the Astros travel to Arizona for a weekend set with the Diamondbacks. Brett Myers (10-7) will kick it off Friday night in an 8:40 Central start when he pitches against Daniel Hudson (5-2, 4-1 with Arizona). Hudson has a streak of six consecutive starts with seven innings or more so the bullpens should have a quiet night until late in the game.
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