Long wait well worth it as Astros keep drive alive
PITTSBURGH — The clock hasn't stopped ticking on the Houston Astros, who keep staging one of the greatest stretch-drive comebacks in major league history. No matter how long it takes.
Roy Oswalt picked up a weary bullpen by going seven innings and the Astros ran their improbable late-September winning streak to nine games, enduring a long rain delay before beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 Thursday.
The Astros moved within one-half game of NL Central-leading St. Louis, which lost 9-4 to Milwaukee on Thursday. The Cardinals have lost eight of nine to make the Astros' improbable run possible.
The Astros needed nearly five hours to win Wednesday night. This time, they waited 3Z\x hours just to play. Time is running out on the Astros, who close the season in Atlanta, but it's not stopping them from winning.
The Astros were 8Z\x games out on Sept. 20.
"We've showed a little bit of grit and determination here to jump back in this race," manager Phil Garner said.
Oswalt (15-8), winning his sixth in a row and fifth straight this month, beat the Pirates for the third time in three starts, allowing only two runs in 20 innings. He gave up four hits, struck out six and walked two.
There weren't many witnesses for his latest victory. There were fewer than 500 in the stands after a rain delay pushed the starting time from 12:35 p.m. to 4:01 p.m. — believed to be one of the longest delays to start a game in Pirates history.
"They said it would start at 1, then at 2, then at 3 and we made it at 4," said Oswalt, who shortened his delivery to keep from slipping on the mound. "But it worked out well."
Major League Baseball didn't want the Astros return to Pittsburgh for a possibly makeup game Monday, so the understanding was the teams would wait as long as necessary to play.
"I applaud the Pirates and the umpires for showing a lot of patience," Garner said. "I don't think anyone wanted to come back. They were willing to give it a lot of time, and I appreciate that."
The Pirates probably wished it had kept on raining as they lost their seventh in a row, all against contenders, and were swept for the second straight series after dropping three last weekend in San Diego. They must sweep three from Cincinnati over the weekend to avoid losing at least 95 games for the second straight season.
Adam Everett's single drove in the first run of a three-run fifth notable mostly for rookie left-hander Tom Gorzelanny's wildness — he walked two and hit another batter after retiring the first 13 batters he faced. Houston's only three hits came in the inning, with Chris Burke and Jason Lane also getting singles ahead of Everett's single. Oswalt and Morgan Ensberg walked with the bases loaded to force in the other two runs.
The Pirates' biggest threat came when they loaded the bases in the sixth on singles by Jack Wilson and Jason Bay and Oswalt hit Ryan Doumit with a pitch, but shortstop Everett threw out Xavier Nady at first by a step on a slow roller for the third out.
NL batting leader Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates went 0-for-4 after having six hits in the first two games of the series. He is hitting .344, and his lead over Florida's Miguel Cabrera — 11 points two days ago — is down to four. Cabrera went 2-for-3 against Cincinnati to up his average to .340.
