PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Pirates didn't give Andy Pettitte nearly as big a fight as his own manager did.

Still cruising after six innings of one-hit pitching, Pettitte all but pleaded with manager Jimy Williams to keep him in the scoreless game. His left elbow was fine, Pettitte argued, and he wasn't laboring at all.

Williams was sympathetic but didn't give in. Not with his $31.5 million pitcher coming off a three-week layoff with a strained left elbow and the Astros determined to keep him on a 75-pitch count.

"He felt strong enough to keep going, but we stayed with our game plan," Williams said.

Williams' decision was as sound as Pettitte's pitching. Houston's bullpen followed with three shutout innings, and Pettitte was rewarded with his first NL victory when the Astros scored twice in the seventh to beat the Pirates 2-0 Thursday.

Pettitte pitched so well in his first victory for his hometown team and the 150th of his career, he didn't mind losing his case to Williams.

"I almost talked them into it," Pettitte said. "After missing as much time as I did, to go six innings was good. There's no sense pushing it, especially with the great bullpen we've got."

Dan Miceli, Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel followed Pettitte with a scoreless inning each to complete the two-hit shutout. Dotel struck out the side in the ninth for his third save in three chances.

Pettitte was effective and efficient, rarely going deep into a count while permitting only two base runners. Raul Mondesi, a New York Yankees teammate last year, walked in the first and singled in the fourth.

Thursday's outing was classic Pettitte, with the Pirates hitters flailing away at his assortment of breaking balls and cut fastballs pitches after falling behind in the count.

"This was like watching him pitch on TV during the World Series," Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson said. "He's moving the ball around, throwing strikes. He knew what he wanted to do and he did it. He was really great."

This was the pitcher Houston waited all winter to see - OK, this guy and Roger Clemens - even if it took Pettitte nearly a month longer than he anticipated to win in his new league.

"It's exciting to be able to get my first win as an Astro and, obviously, it's a nice milestone to get No. 150 in my career," Pettitte said. "It's special, but I didn't think it would take this long to get one."

He won this one partly because Pirates starter Kip Wells (2-3) faded after six shutout innings. Lance Berkman singled and Richard Hidalgo doubled to start the seventh, and Mike Lamb walked to load the bases.

Wells thought he struck out Brad Ausmus looking at a 2-2 pitch, but didn't get the call. Ausmus then hit a tie-breaking sacrifice fly, and pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino's RBI single off reliever John Grabow made it 2-0.

"When we told him (Pettitte) he was coming out, it was 0-0 game but we scored a couple there and they held up," Williams said.

Just like the Astros expect Pettitte to hold up most of the leads they'll give him.

"The first game (April 6), he was nervous, playing at home for the first time," Vizcaino said. "That's the Andy that everybody knows. Hopefully, he'll continue like that."

Notes:

Pettitte's next start will also be against Pittsburgh, Tuesday in Houston. ... Wells has a 2.08 ERA in his last 12 starts, dating to Aug. 27, yet is only 7-5. ... Houston has scored an NL-best 45 runs from the seventh inning on. ... Pettitte lowered his ERA from 10.13 to 4.76.