Astros get their fifth win in 5-3 victory over Padres

The Astros get another win and have been playing .500 baseball over the past week. Chris Johnson got his first home run of the season and Nelson Figueroa pitched well enough to get the Astros in position to win. It did not start well for Figueroa who gave up two runs before the Astros even had a chance to get up to bat. However, he did recover well and only gave up three runs (two earned) over 6.2 innings with five strikeouts. Figueroa had good control tonight throwing over half of his pitches for strikes and only gave up two walks.

The Astros took the lead in the bottom of the 7th so Mark Melancon got the win, who replaced Figueroa in the top of the inning.  John Fulchino was able to get the hold and Brandon Lyon had another strong outing as he was awarded the save. The Padres got more hits in this game but the Astros were the more opportunistic team. The Padres were only 2-9 with runners in scoring position but the Astros went 3-7 with runners in scoring position. It was good to see multiple Astros providing the offensive output as they got RBI from Hunter Pence, Angel Sanchez, pinch hitting Joe Inglett and two from Chris Johnson. This type of game can give young players a boost of confidence and hopefully that is the case for Johnson.

The Astros will be looking to win their first back to back games this season and it sets up nicely for the Astros as Brett Myers will take the mound tomorrow for an afternoon battle. If the Astros win this game it will also be the first series that they have won this season. Should be a good day of baseball tomorrow.