NATIONAL LEAGUE Pettitte, Astros shut down Pirates again in 4-3 victory

The Houston left-hander allowed two hits in five innings.
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates are already getting tired of Andy Pettitte. The Astros can't get enough of him.
Pettitte struck out eight over five innings to get his first victory in Houston for his hometown Astros and Brad Lidge got his first save of the season in a 4-3 win over the Pirates on Tuesday night.
"Andy Pettitte pitched great," said Houston's Jeff Kent, who hit a two-run homer in the sixth. "I wish he could have thrown some more pitches."
Pettitte (2-1) had another dominant performance against the Pirates, one week after holding them to only one hit in a 2-0 win.
The left-hander allowed two hits in five innings, including a soaring first-inning homer by Jack Wilson that sailed out of Minute Maid Park. He was taken out before the sixth to protect his left elbow.
That was more than enough to make up for his disastrous hometown debut last month.
In his first home start, Pettitte allowed six runs on 11 hits over 51/3 innings in a loss to San Francisco on April 6 and injured his left elbow on a checked swing.
A crowd of 31,083 eagerly awaited the chance to see their $31.5 million pitcher make amends.
Puts on show
On Tuesday, Pettitte put on a show for the fans, looking a lot more like the pitcher who won 21 games for the New York Yankees last season and got a three-year contract from the Astros.
"He's got great stuff," said Pittsburgh's Jason Kendall, who went 0-for-4. "He's one of the best left-handers to ever pitch in the big leagues."
After Wilson connected on a 93 mph fastball, Pettitte quickly settled into a rhythm, giving up only a hit to J.J. Davis in the fifth. He ended by striking out Tike Redman.
"It was definitely nice to pitch in front of the home crowd and have a decent start," Pettitte said. "I just want to get to full health and feel great. I haven't built up my arm strength quite like I want."
Different approach
"We wanted to be aggressive against him tonight," Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We were patient when we faced him before and that didn't work."
Not much worked against Pettitte on Tuesday either.
Craig Biggio, meanwhile, hit his 36th career leadoff homer and Kent added a two-run shot in the sixth for the Astros.
Kent's homer, which nearly hit the replica locomotive atop Minute Maid Park's low roof track in the outfield, gave the Astros a 4-1 lead in the sixth.
But Bobby Hill hit an RBI single in the eighth off Dan Miceli and scored on Wilson's double, pulling Pittsburgh within a run.
Brad Lidge, who blew a save chance in Monday night's 7-5 loss to Cincinnati, retired the next two batters and finished for his first save this season.
Pittsburgh's Josh Fogg (0-4) did well against the NL's top-hitting team, allowing four runs and four hits in seven innings. It still wasn't enough to prevent the Pirates from losing for the first time in seven road games.