HOUSTON — Even in the midst of the worst season of his career, Carlos Lee has a knack for hitting key home runs.

Lee hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to power the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

"I took advantage of the opportunity," he said. "That doesn't happen very often so you have to take advantage of it when it happens."

Lee is batting just .249 on the year but four of his 15 homers have given Houston the lead in its final at-bat.

Houston was down before Lee connected against All-Star reliever Evan Meek (4-4), belting a drive to the Crawford Boxes in left. Angel Sanchez reached on a one-out single and Hunter Pence walked before Lee's shot.

"(Meek) is not an easy guy to hit," Lee said. "It was one of those games where one hit changes it all and it wasn't my hit, it was Sanchez. ... I mean the momentum got going and we scored four runs. That was great today."

The Pirates wasted a great start by Ross Ohlendorf in their fifth consecutive loss and eighth straight on the road, dropping to a major league-worst 39-76.

"This is what Ross looks like when he's winning," Pirates manager John Russell said.