Astros  4    Phillies  7

Houston Astros (73-83) at Philadelphia Phillies (90-66), 7:05 p.m.

Sports Network | September 29, 2009

(Sports Network) - The Houston Astros have won just 10 of their last 23 games. Half of those wins have come at the expense of the National League East- leading Philadelphia Phillies.

Houston will try for its sixth win in a row over Philadelphia in the continuation of a four-game series between the two clubs this evening at Citizens Bank Park.

With a third straight division title in reach, the Phillies have lost five of their last seven games. The defending World Series champions own a magic number of three to clinch the NL East, but now lead the hard-charging Atlanta Braves by just four games in the standings. Atlanta has won seven games in a row to improve its playoff chances.

Philadelphia was swept in four games in Houston from September 4-7, but rebounded to win nine of its next 11 games. The Phillies have won just four of their last 10 since that burst, however, and lost the opener of this series by an 8-2 margin last night.

The Astros plated five runs in the seventh inning to pull away. Miguel Tejada notched four hits and scored three times, giving him nine hits over his last three games. He is batting a sizzling .439 (25-for-57) with three homers and 10 RBI over a 15-game hitting streak.

Starter Yorman Bazardo gave up two runs over 5 2/3 innings to earn his first victory since 2007, while Jeff Keppinger finished with three hits and two RBI for Houston.

Shane Victorino doubled, tripled and scored for the Phillies, but starting pitcher Cole Hamels was tagged for six runs over 6 2/3 innings of work.

"We didn't hit," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "Actually, we didn't hit at all. That was the story of the game."

Philadelphia rookie starter J.A. Happ has never faced the Astros before, which might be a good thing. Houston has now outscored the Phillies 28-12 in the five 2009 meetings.

Happ is coming off a victory over Milwaukee on Thursday that improved him to 11-4 with a 2.79 earned run average this year. He gave up two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out seven in the win.

With the Astros deciding to shut down Bud Norris for the rest of the season due to his innings-pitched total, 26-year-old Wilton Lopez makes his first- ever MLB start after beginning his career with six relief outings.

Lopez posted an 8.44 ERA without a decision as a reliever, allowing 10 earned runs over 10 2/3 innings. He went 4-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 29 games at the Double-A level this year, with 15 of those outings starts.

He has never before faced the Phillies.