Astros beat Pirates

HOUSTON (AP) — Matt Kata scored from second base on Miguel Tejada’s infield single, snapping a seventh-inning tie in the Houston Astros’ 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Pirates shortstop Ramon Vazquez went to the turf to field Tejada’s grounder, fumbled the ball and tried to get it to second baseman Freddy Sanchez for an inning-ending forceout. But they couldn’t connect and Kata never stopped running, putting Houston ahead 4-3.

Humberto Quintero, who went 3 for 4 with two RBIs, had an RBI single and Jason Michaels added a ground-rule double in the eighth to make it 6-3.

LaTroy Hawkins allowed a run in the ninth before getting his eighth save in 10 tries.

Story appears in Monday’s edition.