• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Astros Tie Cubs With Three Games to Play

Posted on: Thursday, 25 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

Morgan Ensberg hit two home runs and the Houston Astros moved into a tie for the NL Central lead, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 Thursday night.

The Astros pulled even with the Chicago Cubs, who lost 9-7 at Cincinnati.

Some of the 27,934 fans at Minute Maid Park crowded around TV monitors in the concession area or watched the left-field scoreboard to get updates from Cincinnati. They cheered loudly when the Reds closed out their victory.

The Astros end the regular season with a three-game series at home against last-place Milwaukee. The Cubs finish with a three-game series at home against Pittsburgh.

If the Astros and Cubs tie for the division title, a one-game playoff would be played Monday at Wrigley Field.

The Astros entered the game with four losses in their previous five games. They still had enough to overcome the light-hitting Brewers, who haven't won a season series from Houston since 1997.

Ensberg hit home runs in the fifth and seventh innings for his first two-homer game of his career. He has 24 for the season.

Craig Biggio gave the Astros a quick 1-0 lead off Doug Davis (3-1) with a leadoff homer in the first inning. Biggio extended his NL record for leadoff homers to 34 and it was his fourth of the season.

Richie Sexson hit his 43rd homer off Tim Redding (10-14), tying it at 1. Sexson needs two homers to tie for the club record in homers - Sexson hit 45 in 2001 and Gorman Thomas did it in 1979.

Davis walked Lance Berkman to start the fourth. Berkman moved up on a groundout by Brad Ausmus and scored the go-ahead run on a single by Adam Everett.

The Astros got two more runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Ausmus and a sacrifice fly by Biggio.

Redding (10-14) pitched 5 1-3 innings. He allowed four hits and one earned run, striking out four and walking two.

Davis went six innings and tied a career high with eight strikeouts. He allowed six hits and three earned runs.

Notes:@ Milwaukee's Scott Podsednik needs to score three runs to become the fourth rookie to hit .300, score 100 runs and get 40 steals. ... Sexson has 96 walks and needs three to tie Jeromy Burnitz (2000) for the club record. ... Houston is 17-8 against the Brewers at Minute Maid Park. ... Milwaukee's Keith Ginter left the game after the third inning with a strained side muscle.

More News in this Category