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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) -- Moises Alou has been chasing 30 homers all
season. After reaching the mark Sunday, he isn't about to slow
down.
|  | | Moises Alou slaps a two-run double off Dan Serafini in the Astros' 5-3 victory over the Pirates. |
"Before the season started I set four goals: hit 30 homers, hit
.300, drive in 100 runs and stay healthy," Alou said after leading
Scott Elarton and the Houston Astros to a 5-3 victory over Pittsburgh.
"A month ago I didn't think I would get to 30 because I missed
so many games when I was hurt. I'm glad to get there, and I don't
want to let up because there's only two weeks to go."
Alou homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the Astros sent
the Pirates to their ninth straight loss.
The Astros completed a four-game sweep and finished 7-0 against Pittsburgh this season at Enron Field.
"I know one thing: If you're not pitching real well, you're in
trouble in this park," Pirates manager Gene Lamont said.
Lamont declined to comment on a published report that said he
and his staff would be fired at season's end.
"The best way to handle that is to not talk about it now,"
Lamont said. "There will be a time to talk about it later."
Said Pirates left fielder Brian Giles: "I don't know if it has
affected us, but I think it was very unprofessional the way our
organization handled it, putting it out like that."
Alou hit a solo homer in the second. His two-run double in the
sixth scored Jeff Bagwell and Richard Hidalgo and gave the Astros a
4-3 lead. Bagwell had walked and Hidalgo doubled off Dan Serafini
(2-5).
Alou added a sacrifice fly in the seventh, giving him 106 RBI.
"It's scary how good he is," Bagwell said. "Seems like every
day it's two hits and a couple of RBI. Some people may have
forgotten because he was hurt last year, but he's doing the same
thing he did in 1998."
That year, Alou finished third in the MVP voting after hitting
.312 with 38 homers and 124 RBI. He's hitting .359 this season.
Elarton (17-6) gave up a two-run homer to Abraham Nunez in the
first inning before settling down.
"I picked up the tempo a little bit," Elarton said. "And I
started going with more fastballs in the later innings."
Elarton pitched eight innings, allowing three runs and eight
hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
"Elarton was great as usual," Astros manager Larry Dierker
said. "After that first inning he was very tough."
Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 14th save.
Pittsburgh's John Vander Wal went 0-for-4, ending his 16-game
hitting streak snapped.
John Wehner doubled and scored on Keith Osik's grounder as the Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the fourth.
The Pirates went ahead 2-0 in the first when Adrian Brown led
off with a single and Nunez hit an 0-2 pitch just inside the
right-field foul pole for his first homer of the season.
The Astros tied it at 2 in the third on an RBI single by Mitch
Meluskey. Tim Bogar singled and moved up on Elarton's sacrifice
before Meluskey singled.
Game notes
Alou's homer gave the Astros three players with 30 or more
homers in the same season for the first time in franchise history.
Alou joined Bagwell (44) and Hidalgo (39). ... Houston has a
team-record eight players with 10 or more home runs -- Bagwell,
Alou, Hidalgo, Lance Berkman (19), Daryle Ward (19), Ken Caminiti
(15), Meluskey (14) and Chris Truby (10) ... Pittsburgh third
baseman Enrique Wilson was a late scratch because of a sore right
ankle.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Detroit 5
Boston 4
Cleveland 15
NY Yankees 4
Oakland 0
Tampa Bay 0
Seattle 3
Baltimore 2
Toronto 14
Chi. White Sox 1
Minnesota 1
Anaheim 0
Texas 6
Kansas City 5
Cincinnati 8
Milwaukee 4
Montreal 5
NY Mets 0
Philadelphia 6
Florida 5
St. Louis 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Houston 5
Pittsburgh 3
San Francisco 5
San Diego 1
Los Angeles 12
Colorado 6
Atlanta 7
Arizona 1
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