Sep 28, 2006 3 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Brad Ausmus’ sacrifice fly in the 15th inning finished off Houston’s comeback within a comeback as the Astros rallied from five runs down to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 on Wednesday night, their eighth straight win that kept them close to St. Louis in the NL Central. The Astros didn’t gain any ground for the first time during their winning streak but, almost as importantly, didn’t lose any as they stayed 11/2 games out with four to play. The Cardinals cut their magic number for winning the division to four by beating San Diego 4-2 to end a seven-game losing streak.

Houston, held to one hit over five extra innings by three rookie relievers, finally won it against Jonah Bayliss (1-1) in the 15th. After Eric Bruntlett walked and Craig Biggio couldn’t bunt him over, Orlando Palmeiro singled to center. Ausmus then fought off a two-strike pitch to lift the fly to center that scored Biggio.

Chris Sampson (2-0), the Astros’ starter Monday night in Philadelphia, pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings to win it and run the Pirates’ losing streak – all against contenders – to six. Trever Miller got the final out for the save.

The Pirates had a chance to win it in the 11th. Chris Duffy walked and stole second and, after an out, Freddy Sanchez and Jason Bay were intentionally walked with two outs to load the bases. Dan Wheeler, working his third inning, then got Xavier Nady on a slow roller to third.

In the 12th, Duffy flied out to left to leave the potential winning run on third.

Sanchez, the NL batting leader with a .346 average, went 2-for-5 with an RBI. He has six hits in two games. Nady’s two-run single keyed a three-run fifth that gave the Pirates a 6-1 lead.

The Astros, trying to stage one of the greatest late-season surges in major league history after being 81/2 games out on Sept. 20, then rallied to keep that comeback going. They scored four runs in the sixth on Lance Berkman’s 44th homer, a two-run drive, Mike Lamb’s RBI-double and Adam Everett’s sacrifice fly, then tied it on Luke Scott’s two-out single off Salomon Torres in the ninth.

Torres, making his major league-leading 92nd appearance, had been 10-for-10 in save opportunities since replacing the injured Mike Gonzalez (24-for-24) as the Pirates closer. Torres is 10-of-13 overall.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead against starter Jason Hirsh on Sanchez’s RBI-single in the first and Ryan Doumit’s sixth homer, a solo shot to right with one out in the second. Hirsh couldn’t make it out of the fourth after allowing three runs and six hits.

NOTES: Pittsburgh is two losses short of matching the 95 they had last season. … Duffy, the center fielder, also may have prevented a run when he stretched out to run down Lamb’s deep fly ball with a runner on second and one out in the seventh. Duffy’s momentum caused him to slide on the dirt warning track but he managed to hold on to the ball. … The Pirates have had 24 NL batting champions, the most of any team. Honus Wagner won eight and Clemente won four. … Bill Madlock won the last two, in 1981 and 1983. … The teams played an 18-inning game in PNC Park on May 27, with the Pirates winning 8-7.