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ATLANTA (AP) -Houston's bullpen picked up the Astros' starting pitchers in two weekend wins over the Braves. Now the relievers
may have to find a way to pick up one of their own.
Michael Bourn
had three hits, including a seventh-inning single to drive in the go-ahead run, as the Astros beat the Braves 7-5 Sunday and
won a series in Atlanta for the first time in five years.
The bullpen gave up one run in eight innings following a rain delay in Saturday's 5-1 win, and six relievers allowed two runs
in four innings on Sunday.
''The bullpen kind of bailed us out,'' said manager
Cecil Cooper
. ''What was it, 12 innings? That's pretty good.''
The win may have been costly, as right-hander
Doug Brocail
left the game in the eighth after straining his left hamstring on a play at first base.
Brocail took a throw from first baseman
Lance Berkman
, who made a diving stop of
Kelly Johnson
's grounder, and fell over first base. He was taken away on a cart.
The Astros may place Brocail on the disabled list to clear a roster spot for
Brian Moehler
, who is coming off the DL to start Monday night at Washington.
''We think of it as one of us is down,'' said
Geoff Geary
(1-3), who gave up three hits and one run in 1 1-3 innings.
Cooper said the team would ''find out tomorrow'' about Brocail's status.
The Astros took two of three for their first series win at Turner Field since May 7-9, 2004. Houston has won two straight
road series.
LaTroy Hawkins
said it's too early to suggest the last-place team has turned a corner.
''We've only had like two-game winning streaks,'' said Hawkins, who recorded the final four outs for his third save. ''To
really get on track we need to put together four, five or six straight wins.''
The Braves have lost four of six in an eight-game homestand that continues with a two-game series against the
New York Mets
.
Braves manager
Bobby Cox
said the struggles to drive in runs shows the team misses
Brian McCann
and
Garret Anderson
, who are on the disabled list.
''They're our big thumpers. That's a lot to overcome,'' Cox said.
McCann, the regular cleanup hitter, is hoping new glasses solve his problems with blurred vision. He can come off the disabled
list on Friday. Anderson, out with strained left quadriceps, is eligible to be activated on Tuesday.
Bourn's bunt single was the first of four straight hits for the Astros in a three-run sixth inning. He broke a 4-4 tie by
driving in
Geoff Blum
with a single off
Peter Moylan
(1-2) in the seventh.
Bourn then stole second and third and scored on
Carlos Lee
's sacrifice fly.
Atlanta's
Matt Diaz
drove in
Yunel Escobar
with a seventh-inning single to cut Houston's lead to 6-5, but Geary struck out
Jordan Schafer
with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Ivan Rodriguez
doubled off
Rafael Soriano
in the Houston eighth and scored on Blum's sacrifice fly.
Russ Ortiz
took over for Brocail and walked two batters. Hawkins struck out
Jeff Francoeur
to end the inning and pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.
Jo-Jo Reyes gave up six hits and four runs with three walks in 5 1-3 innings and still hasn't won since June 18, 2008.
''I've just had no luck so far,'' Reyes said. ''But our time is going to come. This can't last all season.''
Houston's
Wandy Rodriguez
gave up six hits and three runs in five innings.
The Braves took a 3-1 lead with two runs in the fifth. A balk by Rodriguez allowed Reyes, who walked, to score from third.
Omar Infante
scored on Francoeur's sacrifice fly.
Reyes lost the lead in the sixth. With one out, Bourn's bunt single started a string of four straight hits, including run-scoring
singles by Lee and
Miguel Tejada
, as the Astros pulled even at 3-all. Reyes left the game after walking
Hunter Pence
to load the bases.
''I was getting ground balls, but they weren't going to anybody,'' Reyes said.
Greg Norton
, who had been 1 for 15 as a pinch-hitter, tied the game at 4-all with his pinch-single in the sixth off
Wesley Wright
. Norton's two-out hit drove in Diaz, who led off the inning with a triple.
Notes: Houston has won only five of 14 series at Turner Field. ... Reyes' last win came on June 18, 2008 at Texas. ... The
Braves' official scorer on Sunday changed his ruling on
Chipper Jones
' second error in Saturday's game, instead awarding a hit on Berkman's seventh-inning grounder that took a bad-hop bounce
past Jones.
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