Pirates 5, Astros 1
Brandon Wood homered and drove in three runs and Jeff Karstens pitched seven strong innings as the Pittsburgh Pirates took down the visiting Houston Astros, 5-1, on Tuesday.
Neil Walker and Lyle Overbay each finished with two hits and two runs scored for the Pirates, who pushed to four games over .500 (45-41) for the first time this season with their third straight win.
Wood, who entered with only four previous multi-hit games this season and a .201 batting average, got the start with a lefthander on the mound and crushed the first pitch he saw from Wandy Rodriguez (6-5) out to right for a two-run homer.
Wood plated a run with a single in the fourth for his first three-RBI game of the season.
That was plenty of support for Karstens (7-4), who allowed one run on seven hits while striking out three. The veteran righthander has not lost since May 29 and has not yielded more than three earned runs in an outing since April 17.
Clint Barmes hit a solo homer for the Astros, who have dropped five straight and 10 of 11.