Sun May 4 19:04:57 2008

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Pence helps Astros sweep Milwaukee

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Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Hunter Pence's home run in the bottom of the 12th inning gave Houston a comeback 8-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, as the Astros swept the three-game set from Minute Maid Park.

Lance Berkman went 4-for-5 with four runs batted in to pace Houston, which has also won four of five. Kazuo Matsui finished 2-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored in the win.

Starter Chris Sampson was roughed up in 3 1/3 innings for the Astros, as he surrendered five runs on nine hits and a pair of walks, with three strikeouts. But after Dave Borkowski gave up one run in 1 2/3 frames, the Houston bullpen shut out the Brewers for the next seven innings.

Tim Byrdak (1-0) walked three batters, but managed to pitch a scoreless 12th for the win.

Mike Cameron slugged a pair of homers and finished with four RBI for Milwaukee, which has lost four of five. Jason Kendall added a pair of doubles, and Prince Fielder and Corey Hart each contributed a pair of hits.

Ben Sheets gave up four runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, and was in line for the win until Eric Gagne blew his fifth save of the season in the ninth by giving up three walks, two hits and two runs.

Mitch Stetter (1-1) took the loss, as he replaced an effective Salomon Torres, who pitched two scoreless innings in relief.

In the bottom of the 12th, Berkman led off with a single, though Byrdak struck out while attempting a sacrifice bunt. But Pence, who was hitless in his first five at-bats and struck out three times, slammed Stetter's offering to left field to end the game and cap a four-run comeback for Houston.

The Astros whittled their deficit to 6-4 in the fifth inning, but Brian Shouse and Guillermo Mota held them in check by throwing 1 2/3 scoreless relief frames to set up the closing opportunity.

However, the beleaguered reliever Gagne got into a one-out jam in the ninth. Darin Erstad and Geoff Blum had back-to-back singles, and Michael Bourn walked to load the bases. One run came home when Matsui grounded out to first.

But Miguel Tejada then walked on five pitches to re-load the bases, and Gagne remained in the game. He threw two balls to start off Berkman's at-bat, but the Astros slugger then fouled off four straight pitches. The seventh pitch was close to being a strike, but called a ball, and Gagne threw the eighth well high to force in the tying run.

However, Gagne did get Carlos Lee to ground out to send the game to extra innings.

Milwaukee added a run each in the first two innings. Hart's single plated Rickie Weeks in the opening frame, while Sheets roped a double to left to score Bill Hall for a 2-0 Brewers edge.

The back-and-forth portion of the game ensued in the home half of the second, when Berkman hammered his 10th homer of the season to lead off.

Cameron countered with a lead-off homer in the third, though Berkman doubled in Matsui in the bottom of the inning to bring the Astros within 3-2.

But the Brewers surged ahead by scoring three in the fourth inning. Kendall hit a one-out double to left, and Weeks followed with a walk.

Borkowski was then brought in to replace Sampson, but Cameron took his third pitch deep to left-center for his second homer in as many innings, for a 6-2 score.

Houston chipped away at its deficit in the fifth, as doubles from Matsui and Berkman each plated a run, bringing the Astros within two.

Game Notes

Berkman recorded his 15th career four-hit game...Cameron had a multi-homer game for the 13th time in his career...Sheets struck out six, giving him 1,080 in a Milwaukee uniform, one shy of Teddy Higuera's club record...It was the first extra-inning game of the season for Houston, and the ninth for Milwaukee, which fell to 5-4...Pence homered three times in this series, and has four total for the season.