Astros win marathon over Braves

Baseball Betting Lines

08/03/2007 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-hitting pitcher Jason Jennings came through with an RBI single in the 14th inning to lift the Houston Astros over the Atlanta Braves, 12-11, in a wild finale of this three-game series at Turner Field.

Mike Lamb brought the Astros back from a four-run deficit with a grand slam in the eighth for Houston, which snapped a three-game slide. Jason Lane ended with four RBI in a winning effort.

Newly-acquired first baseman Mark Teixeira homered once again for the Braves, who had won three in a row coming in.

"We battled," Teixeira said. "We came back a couple times and had a chance to win the game, but someone had to lose that one."

Atlanta shortstop Edgar Renteria left in the eighth inning with a sprained right ankle. Renteria got tripped up while trying to field a Ty Wigginton ground ball, and left the field gingerly. He is considered day-to-day.

The Astros trailed by four entering the eighth inning, but tied it up with one swing of the bat. Carlos Lee led off with a single, and Wigginton reached safely on the grounder that knocked Renteria out of the game. Chipper Jones moved to short as a result and Willie Harris took over at third. On the next play, Harris committed a fielding error that loaded the bases with nobody out. Lamb got the call and ripped a shot over the center-field wall to knot the game at 9-9.

The scoring went silent until the 12th, when the Astros got two more. With runners on first and third and one out, Lane lifted a sacrifice fly to center that scored Lee. Lamb reached on a fielding error in the next sequence, allowing Wigginton to score from second to make it 11-9.

Matt Diaz answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to even the score and extend the game.

Houston once again went on top in the 14th, as Lane was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a groundout, then scored on Jennings' pinch-hit single to right.

"We used up all our guys, and I knew I was probably the first pinch-hitter off the bench," Jennings said.

Brian Moehler then worked around a leadoff base hit in the bottom of the 14th to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.

Woody Williams got the start for Houston and was tagged for seven runs over five innings. Mark McLemore (1-0) ended with the win.

Jo-Jo Reyes started for Atlanta and yielded four earned runs in three frames, while Oscar Villarreal (1-1) suffered the loss.

Andruw Jones opened up the scoring in the second with a leadoff homer, his 21st longball of the season.

Houston countered with a five-spot in the third to forge ahead. Lance Berkman put his club in front with a two-run homer to left with one out. Lee then reached on a fielding error and Wigginton followed with a walk to set the stage for Lane, who deposited Reyes' offering over the right-field wall for a 5-1 advantage.

The Braves pulled to within two in the home-half of the third courtesy of an RBI groundout by Andruw Jones and Brian McCann's subsequent run-scoring double.

Teixeira tied the game in the fourth with a two-run blast to right, giving him two homers in as many games with the Braves since coming over in a trade from Texas.

The home team mounted another attack in the fifth, and went ahead on Harris' two-run triple to right. Jeff Francoeur then plated a pair in the sixth with a double to put Atlanta up 9-5.

Game Notes

Berkman has homered in four straight games...Lamb has three career grand slams, with two coming this season...The Astros have seven grand slams, which matches a team record set in 2007...Villarreal registered his first career hit in the 13th.