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Sunday, Oct. 1 8:05pm ET
Astros had a strong second half | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
HOUSTON -- For a couple of teams that finished far out of contention, the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers both sounded content. Daryle Ward hit the 266th and last home run at Enron Field this season, leading the Astros over Milwaukee 6-1 Sunday night in the final game of the major league regular season. The Astros wound up 72-90 after winning three consecutive National League Central championships. But Houston, which had the worst record in the majors for part of the season, went 42-33 after the All-Star break. "I'm glad it's over and I'm glad we finished the way we did," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "Especially winning this last series at home. I think it shows that we got over the hump at home." "That was the biggest thing we could salvage from the start of the season when we were so bad at home. We have a lot of things to be optimistic about," he said. Milwaukee went 73-89 in its first season under manager Davey Lopes. The Brewers have had eight consecutive losing years. The Brewers won nine of their last 13 to finish third in the Central. "I couldn't be happier," Lopes said. "I can't say enough good things about what these guys accomplished as a team. It would have been easy for them to go for individual stats and goals and not worry about the team, but that's not the way we went." "We finished third. That's not a great positive, but it's sure better than coming in last," he said. Ward's two-run homer, his 20th, came in the second inning. The Astros hit 135 homers this year in their new ballpark while their opponents hit 131. Last year in the Astrodome, Houston and its opponents totaled a mere 118 home runs. The Astros played a lineup of mostly rookies and late-season callups, with Richard Hidalgo the only regular starter. Hidalgo had two hits, drove in a run and threw out a runner at the plate. "Obviously, we played better than we did the first half. We hit better," Astros star Jeff Bagwell said. "But we didn't play good enough to win the division and that's what I want us to do." Chris Holt (8-16) won for only the second time in his last six decisions. He did not allow an earned run in seven innings, giving up five hits and striking out five. "It's nice to end it on a good note like this, especially for me," Holt said. "It's been a real up and down year for me. I'm looking forward to next year now." Jamey Wright (7-9) lost for the fifth time in his last six decisions. He went six innings and allowed five runs on six hits and two walks. Ward's homer scored Hidalgo and made it 2-0. Mark Loretta's single drove in Ron Belliard from second to close it to 2-1 in the third. Belliard reached on a throwing error by third baseman Morgan Ensberg. In the sixth inning, Hidalgo drove in Keith Ginter from second with a single to make it 3-1. Frank Charles' two-run single drove in Lance Berkman and Hidalgo to make it 5-1. Berkman added a run-scoring single in the seventh. Game notesWard's 20th homer gave the Astros five players with 20 or more homers, a club record ... Charles' two RBI in the sixth were his first in the major leagues ... The Brewers missed 74 victories for the first time since they've been in the NL. They finished with 73 triumphs after getting 74 in each of their first two NL seasons ... Brewers finished 2-4 at Enron Field and lost the season series 6-7. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Milwaukee Clubhouse Houston Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 11 Toronto 4
Houston 6
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