Brewers starter Chris Capuano, a quiet 18 game winner last year, evened his record to 2-2 as he outdueled fellow lefty Andy Pettitte in the series finale Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park.
The Brew Crew drew first blood in the second on a pair of singles and a fielders choice grounder to take the lead 1-0.
The Astros had a chance to tie it in the third after a leadoff double by Brad Ausmus followed by an right-side grounder by Adam Everett that sent Ausmus to third with one out. A whiff by Pettitte and a ground out by Craig Biggio ended the threat. In the fourth, a one-out double by Lance Berkman also failed to produce a run.
They did manage to tie it up in the fifth, after a one out walk to Ausmus followed by a sharp single to right by Everett. Pettitte laid down a nice bunt in front of the plate, and Brewers catcher Damien Miller snatched it up and promptly threw it into left field trying for the lead runner. Ausmus could not advance past third, and Biggio followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 1-1.
The seventh inning brought trouble for Andy. With two outs, a bloop single to center followed by a bloop single near the left field foul line put runners on first and third with two outs. Pitching coach Jim Hickey visited Pettitte, who then threw two balls in the dirt to Miller, batting eight in the order, hoping he would chase. No dice. Pettitte then threw a slow curve that dropped in for a strike. The fourth pitch, a FB in the zone, was hacked to right for an RBI single. Capuano then struck out to end the inning. The Astros failed to answer in the bottom half of the inning, when Biggio lined out with two runners in scoring position.
Russ Springer took over for Pettitte in the eighth and suffered a barrage of two-out bloop singles. When the dust cleared, three runs had scored on four hits, increasing the Brewers lead to 5-1.
Morgan Ensberg crushed a tiring Capuanos’ two-out, full count fastball into the rock facade in left for a solo home run, his 5th straight game with a dinger to bring the Astros closer, 5-2.
The malinged Astros bullpen took another shot in the ninth as Mike Gallo surrendered a pair of doubles and a single to score two runs, making it 7-2. No comeback tonight as the Brewers escaped town with a victory.
Off day tomorrow. The Pirates visit for the first time in 2006 on Friday. Game time 7:05 CST, Zack Duke vs. Wandy Rodriguez, in another battle of southpaws.