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 'As good as it gets' Astros beat Phillies to complete undefeated road trip
Posted: Friday September 10, 1999 10:04 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It wasn't a perfect road trip for Houston manager Larry Dierker -- he would have liked a couple more days of golf. On the field, it was a different story. Ken Caminiti hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning as the Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 to complete a 7-0 road trip, their best ever. "That's as good as it gets," Dierker said. "I could have used some more rounds of golf, but baseball wise, it was a very successful trip. "Nobody expects to go undefeated on a long road trip like seven games especially against some of the pitchers we were facing in this series like [Curt] Schilling and [Paul] Byrd." Houston is 24-8 on the road since July 9, improving its overall road record to 44-27. The NL Central-leading Astros won three times at Montreal and then finished a four-game sweep at Veterans Stadium. Houston's previous top trip was 6-0 at Pittsburgh and St. Louis in May 1989. "It's been a great trip," said Craig Biggio, who went 3-for-3 in the finale and huddled around his teammates watching the conclusion of the Reds-Cubs game on the television. "We had everything working, especially pitching and timely hitting. Winning breeds confidence and, hopefully, this trip will set the tone for the rest of the season." The Phillies are going in the other direction, losing six straight and 13 of 14. "I've never gone through anything like this at any level," Philadelphia starter Paul Byrd said. "I don't know how you can play so well and then play so poorly. It's miserable to come out and keep losing like this. I'm struggling to figure it out, but we have to keep battling." Philadelphia manager Terry Francona went with a different approach. "I try not to dwell on it," he said. "All you can do is show up and try to win. This game is tough enough without dwelling on things." After Jeff Bagwell singled in the eighth, Caminiti connected off Steve Montgomery (1-5) for his ninth homer of the season. The game was scoreless in the sixth when the game was delayed by rain for 28 minutes. When it resumed, Houston's Daryle Ward homered on the first pitch from Byrd. Shane Reynolds held the Phillies hitless for five innings. After the rain, Rob Ducey led off the sixth with a double, Kevin Sefcik singled and Bobby Abreu hit a sacrifice fly that tied it at 1. Reynolds (15-11) allowed four hits in 7 2-3 for his first victory since Aug. 5. He improved to 7-1 against the Phillies in his career. "It feels good just to get a win -- it's been a long time," Reynolds said. "It's satisfying when you go out and pitch and put your team in position to win. The last couple of times out, I wasn't able to do that." There was a 36-minute rain delay in the ninth before Billy Wagner got four outs for his 35th save, one short of the club record set by Doug Jones in 1992. Byrd put together his most effective outing since missing two starts last month because of back spasms. He allowed one run and five hits in seven innings, striking out seven. Notes: Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Philadelphia, which has lost 24 of its last 31 games, will play its next 13 games on the road. The Phillies final road trip of the season takes them to Arizona, Houston, New York and Milwaukee. ... Phillies LF Ron Gant returned to the starting lineup after sitting out two straight games with lower back pain but left in the fifth after re-aggravating the injury. He went 0-for-2. ... Attendance, announced at 11,133, appeared to be closer to 4,000. Baseball includes no-shows. ... Byrd hit his NL-leading 15th batter when he plunked Biggio in the first.
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