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SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Jeff Bagwell stepped up at an important time for the Houston Astros.

	Bagwell

Bagwell's RBI single snapped a scoreless tie in the 11th as Houston broke out with five runs in the inning for a 5-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

Brian Hunter added a bases-loaded triple to cap the inning as the Astros pulled within 4½ games of first-place St. Louis in the NL Central. The Cardinals were idle on Thursday.

"We had to win today,'' Bagwell said. "With so few games left, every game just gets that much more important.''

Wade Miller kept the Astros in the game with seven shutout innings. But he was matched by Jake Peavy, who held Houston scoreless through seven innings.

"That was a very intense game,'' Hunter said. "Whenever you can win a game when runs are tough to come by, it's a big win. For us, it's even more important because we have still some work to do.''

The Astros have 22 games remaining, while St. Louis has 23 games left.

"Certainly when you're in the position we are in, you just need to win games,'' Houston manager Jimy Williams said. "We got everything we needed today with a great pitched game and clutch hits.''

Tom Gordon, Billy Wagner (4-2) and Octavio Dotel combined with Miller on a seven-hitter for the Astros' 10th shutout. The three relievers allowed just one hit over the final four innings as Wagner pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win.

The Padres were shut out for the 14th time this season, tops in the NL.

Jose Vizcaino led off the 11th with a single off Jonathan Johnson (1-1). Craig Biggio attempted a sacrifice bunt down the first-base line, but Johnson threw high to first base for an error.

Mike Holtz then allowed a single to Lance Berkman to load the bases and was replaced by Doug Nickle.

Bagwell grounded a single to left field to score Vizcaino and give Houston a 1-0 lead. Mark Loretta added a sacrifice fly and Hunter's triple put the game out of reach.

"To shut them out for 11 innings and not come through with a win is tough,'' Padres manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Astros had the go-ahead run thrown out at home in the ninth inning when Biggio tried to score from second base on Bagwell's single.

But Cesar Crespo's one-hop throw from left field caught Biggio, who was blocked at home by catcher Wiki Gonzalez.

Miller constantly pitched out of trouble, stranding 10 runners. Miller, who has won a career-high nine straight decisions, allowed six hits. He struck out seven and walked five -- two intentional.

''(Miller) threw well and used his defense,'' San Diego's Phil Nevin said. "But any time you have that many guys on base and don't score any, it is going to be frustrating.''

Peavy gave up four hits with a career-high nine strikeouts, including getting Berkman three times.

Miller pitched out of a one-out bases-loaded jam in the sixth when he retired Kory DeHaan on a forceout at home and Gonzalez on a groundout.

The Padres threatened in the first after a leadoff single by Ramon Vazquez and a one-out walk to Ryan Klesko. But Miller escaped when he got Nevin to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Game notes

Miller's last loss was a 9-1 decision against Arizona on June 26. Miller is 12-1 in 19 starts since coming off the disabled list on May 29. ... Klesko went 0-for-3 with two walks as his 13-game hitting streak ended. ... Houston took the season series 4-2.