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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- Alex Cabrera, a monster in the minors, wasted no
time flexing his powerful muscles in the big leagues.
The 28-year-old first baseman hit a home run in his first major
league at-bat Monday night as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the
Houston Astros 6-1.
"It was a dream, in my first at-bat, hitting a home run,"
Cabrera said. "While I run, and I see the ball, I said, 'Thank you
God.' "
|  | | Alex Cabrera became just the 78th person to homer in his first major league at-bat. |
Cabrera, who was playing in Taiwan a year ago, hit .382 at
Double-A El Paso with 35 home runs and 82 RBI in just 53 games. He
was called up Monday to take the roster spot of injured
right-hander Todd Stottlemyre.
"I tell myself, 'I do it in El Paso. I do it here,' " Cabrera
said. "It's the same baseball, same pitch, one ball. Just see the
ball and hit it. You have power. You hit the ball, and it will
go."
Cabrera hit Yorkis Perez's 2-2 pitch 400 feet into the
left-field stands with one out in the eighth to become the 78th
player to hit a homer in his first big league at-bat. Afterward, he
came out of the dugout and tipped his hat to the cheering crowd.
"It was a great moment, especially for him after all the places
he's been," manager Buck Showalter said.
Cabrera used Matt Williams' bat.
"I told him, 'It is normal for this bat to hit home runs,' "
Cabrera said.
Danny Klassen, recalled from Triple-A Tucson to replace the
injured Williams on Sunday, had a solo homer and RBI single, along
with a tough fielding play at third base.
Armando Reynoso (5-6) allowed five hits in 7 1/3 innings for the
Diamondbacks, who improved to 5-2 halfway through a 14-game
homestand.
Reynoso, in his first victory in four starts, struck out two and
didn't walk a batter. Byung-Hyun Kim got the final five outs, four
by strikeouts, for his 11th save in 13 tries.
Luis Gonzalez hit a solo homer for the Diamondbacks, in their
first game against the lowly Astros this season.
Octavio Dotel (1-5) struck out a career-high 13 batters in six
innings for the Astros and was locked in a 1-1 duel through five.
But Gonzalez led off the sixth with his 17th homer of the
season, which barely cleared the left-field wall into the glove of
a fan, just over the outstretched glove of Moises Alou.
Steve Finley doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild
pitch and scored on Klassen's two-out single to center. Damian
Miller doubled off the glove of Alou, who misjudged the line drive,
and Klassen scored to make it 4-1.
Craig Biggio singled with two outs in the sixth inning to become
Houston's career hits leader. His 1,938 hits broke the record set
by Jose Cruz (1975-87).
"This is nice," Biggio said of the record. "Cruz is a great
guy and he's still the man. But this is something you look back on
and you're proud of when you're out of the game."
Dotel allowed four runs on six hits and three walks.
"Once they see his fastball, two or three times, they start to
adjust," Houston manager Larry Dierker said. "He needs to start
throwing some slow stuff. He needs to mix it during the whole game.
He doesn't often have command of his slow stuff."
The Astros, who have lost six of seven and have the worst record
in the majors (26-49), took a 1-0 lead on Lance Berkman's leadoff
homer off Reynoso's first pitch in the fifth. Klassen's
opposite-field homer, his second of the season, led off Arizona's
fifth and tied it at 1.
Game
notes
Astros closer Billy Wagner will undergo season-ending
surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday to repair a torn flexor tendon in
his left elbow. Wagner, who was third in the NL with 39 saves last season,
blew nine of 15 save chances this year. ... Arizona placed
Stottlemyre on the 15-day DL for the second time this season with a
recurrence of tendinitis in his right elbow. ... Dotel, whose
previous career best was 10 strikeouts, fanned Tony Womack three
times.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
D-Backs place Stottlemyre on DL, bring up Cabrera
RECAPS
Minnesota 10
Anaheim 6
Detroit 13
Cleveland 2
NY Mets 10
Florida 5
Cincinnati 3
St. Louis 2
Colorado 15
San Francisco 6
Arizona 6
Houston 1
San Diego 9
Los Angeles 5
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