Andy Pettitte outdueled Astro nemesis Tom Glavine in a classic pitchers matchup Saturday evening at MMPUS, winning
his ninth decision 2-0 with eight strong innings of
shutout ball.
Brad Lidge finished the combined whitewash and earned his 26th save of the season.
The game remained deadlocked in a 0-0 tie until
Jason Lane led off the 7th with a towering solo homer.
Morgan Ensberg drove in an insurance run in the 8th with a
single to provide Pettitte all the runs he would need.
``You saw masters doing it -- changing speed, location, keeping the ball down, knowing when to pitch to somebody and when not to,'' Astros manager
Phil Garner said. ``That was pretty good baseball.''
The Astros won their 7th straight game, and 13th out of 14. They've won 25 of the last 30 and are 42-17 since bottoming out at 15 games under .500 in late May; this win put them 10 over and upped their lead in the NL wild card race to two games over Washington.
This victory was the first for the Astros in ten years against
sniveler Glavine, ending a 16-start drought.
The Astros hope brooms are in as they play the finale of the 4 game series Sunday at 1:05 CST,
Roy Oswalt (14-8, 2.33) vs. lefty Kaz Ishii (3-9, 4.96)
