NATIONAL LEAGUE Bagwell's 3-run HR powers Astros' win over San Diego, 5-4

Jeff Bagwell's 32nd homer in the fifth inning gave Houston a 5-3 lead.
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Jeff Bagwell made sure one of his few quality swings counted.
Bagwell hit a three-run homer that put Houston ahead for good, lifting the Astros to a 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday night and maintaining their lead in the NL Central.
Bagwell's 32nd home run came in the fifth inning off a slow curveball from Adam Eaton (8-10) and gave the Astros a 5-3 lead.
"Nowadays, I get about two good swings a game," Bagwell said. "This happened to be one of them."
Needed a win
The home run came at a crucial time for Houston, which needed to win to remain a half-game ahead of the Chicago Cubs, who won 4-2 at Milwaukee. Third-place St. Louis dropped two games off the pace.
"Eaton was tough, so for us to jump out in front at that particular time was big for us," Houston manager Jimy Williams said.
Eaton held a 3-2 lead after Phil Nevin hit a three-run homer in the third inning. But after Eaton allowed consecutive singles to Craig Biggio and Geoff Blum to start the fifth, Bagwell guessed correctly that he would see an off-speed pitch.
"That wasn't so much of a bad pitch," Bagwell said. "I just went down and got it."
Back-up curve
Eaton gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings.
"I threw a curveball that kind of backed up, and Bagwell was looking for an off-speed pitch and hit it hard," Eaton said. "I wish I had only one pitch back -- the curveball."
Knuckleballer Jared Fernandez (3-3) allowed three runs and five hits in five innings to beat San Diego for the second time in seven days.
"That's how things have been going for us lately," Fernandez said. "I go five or six innings, our bullpen comes in and finishes up. I think we have the best bullpen in the league. It's all scripted well."
Billy Wagner, Houston's sixth pitcher, escaped a two-on jam in the eighth and got four outs for his 38th save in 40 chances. Houston is 3-1 on a 10-game road trip.
"We got the potential tying run up there a couple of times, but they have a good bullpen," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said.
Padres closer Trevor Hoffman pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing a double to Richard Hidalgo. It was the second relief appearance for Hoffman, who returned Tuesday from two shoulder operations.
Hidalgo hit an RBI double in the second, and Biggio homered in the third to give Houston a 2-0 lead.
But Nevin hit Fernandez's knuckleball for a three-run homer in the bottom half after Sean Burroughs walked and Brian Giles reached on a one-out single.
After Bagwell put the Astros ahead, San Diego closed to 5-4 in the seventh on Burroughs' two-out RBI single off Brad Lidge.
Notes
It was the 42nd time that Biggio and Bagwell have homered in the same game.
Burroughs extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games with a leadoff single in the first inning.
Eaton beat Houston 7-1 a week earlier, allowing one run in seven innings.