They needed nearly five hours to win the night before. This time, they waited for 3{ hours just to play. Time is running out on the Houston Astros, but it's not stopping them from winning.
Roy Oswalt picked up a weary Astros bullpen with seven shutout innings and the Astros ran their improbable late-September winning streak to nine games, enduring an afternoon-long rain delay before beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 Thursday.
A three-game sweep in Pittsburgh highlighted by a 7-6, 15-inning marathon win Wednesday night at least temporarily cut Houston's deficit in the NL Central to one game behind St. Louis, which had lost seven of eight going into its night game against Milwaukee. The Astros were 8{ games out on Sept. 20, but still have a chance to pull off one of baseball's greatest stretch drive comebacks as they head to Atlanta to finish the season.
There weren't many witnesses for their latest victory. There were fewer than 500 in the stands after a rain delay pushed the starting time from 12:35 p.m. Eastern to 4:01 p.m. _ believed to be one of the longest delays to start a game in Pirates history.
The Pirates probably wished it had kept on raining as they lost their seventh in a row, all against contenders, and were swept for the second series in a row after dropping three last weekend in San Diego. They must sweep three from Cincinnati over the weekend to avoid losing at least 95 games for the second season in a row.
Houston manager Phil Garner said earlier in the week the Astros' goal was to not lose again _ their streak is their longest since a 12-game run in August 2004 _ and his players must be listening.
Adam Everett's single drove in the first run of a three-run fifth notable mostly for rookie left-hander Tom Gorzelanny's wildness _ he walked two and hit another batter after retiring the first 13 batters he faced. Houston's only three hits came in the inning, with Chris Burke and Jason Lane also getting singles ahead of Everett's single. Oswalt and Morgan Ensberg walked with the bases loaded to force in the other two runs.
Oswalt (15-8), winning his sixth in a row and fifth straight this month, didn't need any support after that to beat the Pirates for the third time in three starts, allowing only two runs in 20 innings. He gave up four hits, struck out six and walked two.
The Pirates' biggest threat came when they loaded the bases in the sixth on singles by Jack Wilson and Jason Bay and Oswalt hit Ryan Doumit with a pitch, but shortstop Adam Everett threw out Xavier Nady at first by a step on a slow roller for the third out.
Talk about Mr. September: Oswalt is 51-16 in his career during the second half of a season. He is 9-1 in his last 13 starts, with Houston winning 12 of those 13. And the right-hander is 17-2 in 22 September starts since 2003.
NL batting leader Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates went 0-for-4 after having six hits in the first two games of the series. He is hitting .344, and his lead over Florida's Miguel Cabrera _ up to 11 points two days ago _ is down to five points.
Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save in 38 opportunities, after Trever Miller and Chad Qualls combined to pitch the eighth.
Gorzelanny (2-5) gave up three hits, three runs and walked three in seven innings.
Notes: The Astros won 13 of 16 from Pittsburgh. ... Gorzelanny is winless in his last five starts. ... Friday's game in Atlanta will be the Astros' sixth in four cities in six days. They finished off a four-game sweep of the Cardinals in Houston on Sunday night, then spent less than one day in Philadelphia for a makeup game before travelling to Pittsburgh.
