Atlanta – Morgan Ensberg had five RBIs and 39-year-old leadoff hitter Craig Biggio was in the middle of just about every rally, leading the Houston Astros past the Atlanta Braves 10-5 in Game 1 of their NL division series Wednesday.
Andy Pettitte overcame two homers to join Atlanta’s John Smoltz as the winningest pitcher in postseason history, a mark Smoltz can reclaim when he goes against Roger Clemens in Game 2 tonight.
The Astros, who led the National League in ERA but ranked 11th in runs, had no trouble scoring on Tim Hudson and the shaky Braves bullpen. Houston pecked away with eight singles, nine walks and two hit batters. Three doubles – one of them by Pettitte – were the only extra-base hits.
Hudson was roughed up for five runs in 6 2/3 innings – the most he had allowed since a June 13 loss at Texas, which preceded a stint on the disabled list.
“The first few innings, I just overthrew it,” said Hudson, who gave up seven hits, walked five and hit a batter. “I made an adjustment about the fourth and started feeling pretty good. But I took too long to make the adjustment.”
Pettitte, improving to 14-8 in the postseason, pitched four-hit ball over seven innings – more than good enough the way the Astros were hitting Hudson.
“I was surprised we put the runs on him,” Pettitte said. “I’m not going to lie to you. He’s tough.”
Not on this day, and Houston turned a 5-3 game into a blowout with five runs in the eighth, sending 11 batters to the plate against relievers Chris Reitsma, John Foster and Jim Brower.
Biggio had two hits, a sacrifice fly, a sac bunt and a walk in six trips to the plate. He scored three times.
Ensberg tied a Houston postseason record with his five RBIs. He had a run-scoring single in the first, a two-run single in the third, another RBI single in the seventh and walked with the bases loaded in the eighth. Manager Phil Garner flip-flopped his lineup to get Lance Berkman hitting ahead of Ensberg, who dropped to the cleanup spot. The Braves walked Berkman three times – once intentionally – and Ensberg capitalized.
“There’s virtually no pressure on me,” he said. “The pitcher has got to throw it over the plate.”
Atlanta got homers from Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones – usually a formula for success. The Braves are 44-6 when both connect in a regular-season game. But this is the postseason, which has provided plenty of misery for a franchise with 14 straight division titles but only one World Series championship during that amazing run.
