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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) -- Jeff Bagwell wasn't impressed by his 44th homer,
which broke the Astros' record he set three years ago.
|  | | Jeff Bagwell hits a two-run home run off Pittsburgh's Bronson Arroyo -- Bagwell's 44th of the season, a personal and team record. |
"It's nice, but it's kind of weird to break your own record,"
he said after the Astros rallied past Pittsburgh, 8-7, Thursday
night. "The good thing is it put a couple of runs on the board.
I'm happy about it, but it's just another day in the baseball
season."
Houston built a 3-0 lead on Mitch Meluskey's RBI single in the
second and Bagwell's two-run homer in the third.
"I've always said home runs are an overrated stat," Bagwell
said. "I'd just as soon have a two-run single as a two-run homer.
My job is to produce runs anyway I can do it."
While the previous mark was set when Houston played in the
Astrodome, this year Bagwell gets to play half his games at Enron
Field, the home run-hitting haven.
"I knew it was inevitable and he will probably hit some more
this year," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "If we can get the
guy signed in the offseason, he's liable to hit a lot more in this
park."
Bagwell's home run came off Bronson Arroyo, who gave up three
runs and five hits in three innings. It was Bagwell's fourth homer
in his last eight games.
"He was aggressive his first time up," Arroyo said, referring
to a groundout. "The first pitch in his second at-bat was a cutter
away and he swung aggressively again. We figured he was going to be
impatient, so I threw him an 0-1 changeup. I thought he would be
out in front, but he reached down and got it."
Chris Truby hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to drive in
the winning run, extending Pittsburgh's losing streak to six, which
matched its season high. Houston stopped a three-game skid.
Matt Skrmetta (1-1) walked Richard Hidalgo with one out in the
ninth, Moises Alou singled and Brian O'Connor walked Meluskey,
loading the bases. Truby then lofted a sacrifice fly to center, and
Meluskey scored easily.
"I was just worrying about getting a pitch to hit in the air,"
Truby said. "I think our bullpen deserves a lot of the credit for
keeping us in the game."
Joe Slusarski (2-6) struck out two in two-thirds of an inning.
Astros starter Chris Holt allowed six runs -- five earned -- and
eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
John Vander Wal's two-run homer and Abraham Nunez's RBI grounder
tied the score in the fourth, and the Pirates went ahead 6-3 in the
fifth on a three-run homer by Kevin Young, who missed the previous
16 games with a groin injury.
Adrian Brown's RBI single in the sixth off Jason Greene made it
7-3, but Houston closed within a run in the bottom half on Truby's
RBI single and pinch-hitter Bill Spiers' two-run double.
Meluskey tied it with a sacrifice fly in the seventh off Rich
Loiselle.
Game notes
Meluskey has thrown out only 15 of 74 runners attempting to
steal this season. ... Houston is a major-league-worst 13-29 in one-run games and 6-13 in two-run games. ... Pittsburgh had won its
previous six road games. ... It was only the second time in 22
games since Aug. 22 that Houston's starter didn't get a decision.
The other was in Monday's 8-7 loss to San Francisco.
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Baseball Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 7
Cleveland 4
Toronto 3
NY Yankees 2
Texas 8
Kansas City 1
Atlanta 5
Florida 3
Milwaukee 6
Cincinnati 4
NY Mets 10
Montreal 4
Houston 8
Pittsburgh 7
St. Louis 4
Chicago Cubs 0
Colorado 5
Los Angeles 4
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