HOUSTON -- Eric Bruntlett came up big in a pinch once
again.
Bruntlett delivered a pinch sacrifice fly with one out in the
bottom of the 12th inning to lift the Houston Astros to a 5-4
victory over the Washington Nationals.
A utility player over his first three-plus seasons, Bruntlett is
a career .300 (9-for-30) pinch hitter but had never driven in a
run before Monday.
Craig Biggio opened the bottom of the 12th with a double off
lefthander Mike Stanton (0-1) and advanced to third on Willy
Taveras' sacrifice. After Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg were
intentionally walked, Bruntlett lofted a fly ball to fairly
deep center field, plating Biggio with the winning run.
"When I hit it, I wasn't sure if it was deep enough," Bruntlett
said. "As I was running to first, I was just hoping Biggio
would score."
"There was no doubt I was going," Biggio added. "I felt it was
deep enough and that I could make it."
Stanton blamed himself for putting the Nationals in a bind.
"It went a little deeper than I thought," the veteran reliever
said. "Obviously this is a game we needed to win. I didn't
make good pitches when I needed to."
Biggio's leadoff double salvaged what could have been an awful
day at the plate.
"I felt terrible today," said Biggio, who went hitless in his
first five at-bats. "I finally got a hit, so it was deep
enough."
Chad Qualls (1-1) tossed two scoreless frames to notch the win
for the Astros, who concluded a season-opening 5-2 homestand.
Houston lefthander Wandy Rodriguez was solid in his second start
of the season, allowing three runs and seven hits with no walks
and three strikeouts in seven innings.
Washington took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th on pinch
hitter Daryle Ward's solo homer off Brad Lidge. But Ensberg
blasted a solo shot against Chad Cordero with one out in the
bottom of the frame to forge a 4-4 tie.
"I just got up there trying to hit the ball hard," Ensberg said.
"It was nice to get a pitch I could handle."
Although Cordero blew his first save opportunity of the season,
Nationals second baseman Jose Vidro said there was no need for
concern.
"This team goes as far as (Cordero) goes," said Vidro, who had
three hits and two RBIs. "It's still early, and we still have a
lot of confidence in him."
Washington righthander John Patterson worked six innings in his
second start of the season, yielding three runs, five hits and
one walk while striking out four.