Sanchez, Rodriguez help Astros blank Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/31/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angel Sanchez drove in two runs and Wandy Rodriguez tossed eight scoreless innings, as the Houston Astros dominated the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-0, in the second test of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.

Rodriguez (9-11) allowed five hits, struck out nine and walked one to win his third straight start. The left-hander is 6-1 over his last seven starts, allowing one earned run or fewer in five of those games.

Chris Johnson, Jeff Keppinger, Jason Michaels, and Michael Bourn each had an RBI for the Astros, who have won four in a row. First baseman Brett Wallace went 0-for-4 in his MLB debut.

Earlier Saturday, Houston traded veteran first baseman Lance Berkman and cash to the New York Yankees in exchange for pitcher Mark Melancon and infielder Jimmy Paredes.

Dave Bush (5-9) got rocked in five frames, giving up six runs on 10 hits for the Brewers, who have dropped four straight games. The right-hander fell to 1-3 in his last four starts.

After the Brewers stranded runners on the corners in the top of the first, the Astros plated two runs in the home half. Bourn walked, stole second, and scored on Sanchez's base hit. Keppinger followed with a single to put men on first and second. Hunter Pence grounded out to move the runners up a base, and a Michaels sacrifice fly made it 2-0.

Houston got three more runs off Bush in the second to build a 5-0 lead. Johnson and Jason Castro started things with consecutive singles. Bourn hit an RBI double two batters later. Sanchez's RBI groundout and Keppinger's run- scoring single capped the scoring in the frame.

Johnson's RBI double in the fifth extended the Astros' margin to six.

Rodriguez retired nine straight batters before giving up a leadoff double to Ryan Braun in the seventh. Casey McGehee struck out and Jonathan Lucroy flied out in front of Alcides Escobar's walk. Carlos Gomez, though, struck out to end the threat.

Houston reliever Tim Byrdak loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Nelson Figueroa then took over on the hill and struck out Escobar and pinch-hitter Joe Inglett.

Game Notes

The Astros lead the season series with the Brewers, 5-3...On Thursday, Houston acquired pitcher J.A. Happ and minor leaguers Jonathan Villar and Anthony Gose from the Phillies in exchange for pitcher Roy Oswalt. The Astros then made a second deal, sending Gose to Toronto for Wallace, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A Round Rock prior to Saturday's game. Houston also transferred pitcher Felipe Paulino from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list...Johnson extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest by an Astros rookie since Julio Lugo's 14-game run in 2000...Milwaukee lost 5-0 in the series opener on Friday and is 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position over the first two games of this set.

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