Doumit leads Pirates past sliding Astros, 6-4
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ryan Doumit drove in three runs with a pair of triples in the first two innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates built a five-run lead in the first inning before holding on to beat the skidding Houston Astros 6-4 on Saturday night.
Houston, which was threatening to take the wild card lead 10 days ago after running off 14 wins in 15 games, lost for the sixth time in seven games and is all but out of the NL playoff picture with eight games remaining. The Astros began the night 4 1/2 games out of the wild card lead.