The hits just keep coming
05/19/2004 By Charlie Nobles / Special to MLB.com

Starter Tim Redding allowed only three hits in 6 2/3 innings. (Alan Diaz/AP)

MIAMI -- Tim Redding was deprived of winning in his last outing against the Marlins, when Florida rallied for a late victory. The Astros' right-hander was more fortunate on Wednesday night.
Redding allowed no earned runs in 6 2/3 innings as the Astros routed the Marlins, 10-2, before 12,122 at Pro Player Stadium.

"He certainly set the tone with the way he pitched," said manager Jimy Williams. "We didn't break it open until late."

The victory, the visitors' second straight over the Marlins, elevated them to 24-15 and allowed them to retain their one-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central. In fact, the only negative part of the night for the Astros was watching Chicago's Moises Alou hit the winning home run against the Giants.

Redding yielded just three hits and a pair of walks in throwing 89 pitches.

"He did an excellent job of maintaining his poise and focus," said catcher Brad Ausmus.

Said Redding: "I got ahead of guys early, so by the fifth and sixth innings, they started to swing at the first couple of pitches I threw. We had two particularly quick innings there, and I think that helped our guys get comfortable against their pitching."

Redding received far more offensive backing in Wednesday night's game than he did in his last start. The Astros had 15 hits -- the same as in Tuesday night's victory -- and five players drove in a run against Marlins starter Carl Pavano before he left the game after seven innings. Morgan Ensberg, moved up a notch to sixth in the batting order, had three RBIs.

Jeff Bagwell gained some satisfaction against the pitcher who has been a particularly painful nemesis. He entered the game having struck out nine times in 15 plate appearances against Pavano, but on Wednesday night he drove in one of the Astros' three second-inning runs with a single up the middle.

"I wasn't thinking about his success against me," he said. "In fact, I didn't even know about it until I read it in the paper today. All I was thinking about with runners on first and third was driving in a run. That other stuff doesn't mean anything to me."

The Astros built a 4-0 lead for Redding after three innings. Lance Berkman started the onslaught with a second-inning home run, his seventh of the year and his second in as many games. Then the visitors produced five hits in the next inning, four of them in a row, to establish full control.

Ausmus led off with a double near the third-base foul line, and Redding sacrificed him to third. Craig Biggio scored Ausmus with a soft single to right on a 1-2 pitch. Adam Everett followed with another soft single to right, and Biggio went to third. Then came Bagwell's run-producing single.

The Astros weren't through. Up came Jeff Kent, the cleanup hitter, to promptly bang a run-scoring single to left. Pavano escaped further trouble when he induced Berkman to ground into a double play.

Redding, now 2-3, had only one mildly bothersome inning. Everett booted Miguel Cabrera's grounder to open the fourth, but Redding retired the next two batters. Hee Seop Choi then connected on a 3-2 fastball. The ball caromed off the center-field wall and sent Biggio is hot pursuit.

By the time Biggio retrieved the ball and relayed it in, Cabrera had scored, and the lumbering, 6-foot-5 Choi had made it all the way home. Both runs were unearned, but the Astros' lead had been reduced to 4-2.

"I think the wall out there is rubber," said Biggio. "The ball hit off it like a Ping-Pong ball and it took a crazy bounce. What can you do?"

The Astros increased their cushion in the sixth on Ensberg's sacrifice fly, which scored Kent, who had reached on a double. They added another run in the eighth, when Kent led off with a walk, advanced on Berkman's single and scored on Ensberg's single.

Everett, Kent, Berkman and Ensberg each drove in a run in the ninth as the game turned into a rout.

The slumping Richard Hidalgo was dropped to seventh in the batting order for Wednesday's game after striking out four times on Tuesday. He responded with a 1-for-5 game, and his double-play grounder in the eighth cut short a rally.

But the Astros' offense, overall, is alive and well. And Redding now has pitched well in three straight games, with two victories. He is 3-0 in his career against the Marlins.

"Certain teams you just seem to throw well against," he said. "I can't explain it. I just know that the Marlins are a team I feel comfortable pitching against."


Charlie Nobles is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.