Blum goes 3-for-3; scores winning run on wild pitch

HOUSTON (AP) -- Geoff Blum is starting to think he's coming out of his hitting slump.

Blum went 3-for-3 and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch as the Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Thursday and extended their winning streak to seven.

Blum, 2-for-2 with three RBI Wednesday, doubled in the sixth inning for his fifth consecutive hit over two games. He advanced to third and scored on a pair of wild pitches by Jeff Suppan (4-3), giving Houston a 3-2 lead.

"I think the at-bat against Mike Williams Tuesday for the sacrifice fly is when I knew I was going well," Blum said. "That at-bat forced me to see the ball, and I have been seeing it great since."

Blum has reached base in eight of his last nine plate appearances, including a walk in his last trip Thursday. He went 7-for-13 in the series to raise his average from .273 to .304.

"Blum has been swinging the bat extremely well lately,'' Astros manager Jimy Williams said. "He has been playing very good on both sides of the line. He got one of those two-out hits with men in scoring position today and those were big for us."

He's getting a few breaks now. His sixth-inning double hit first base and bounced high over Randall Simon.

"I didn't get that bounce for the first month and a half of the season," Blum said. "It's nice to be in a rhythm where you don't miss any pitches.It's more mental than anything. My swing is maintaining itself and I'm mentally able to execute at the plate."

Houston swept the four-game series, coming from behind in the last three games. While the Astros are on their longest winning streak since a seven-game spurt last May 12-18, Pittsburgh has lost six straight for the first time since a seven-game slide last Aug. 10-16.

"It's been a tough combination for us in this series," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We haven't hit well with runners in scoring position and our bullpen certainly hasn't pitched to its capabilities. That's a bad combination and we ran into a hot team."

Suppan lost his third straight start, allowing four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

"It was just a case of missing spots and hanging a few pitches," he said. "I was missing my location and against a good team like that, it ended up costing us."

Craig Biggio added an RBI double in the seventh that chased Suppan, and Adam Everett had a two-run double in the eighth against Brian Boehringer.

Houston starter Tim Redding gave up two runs -- one earned -- on five hits and five walks in five innings.

Ricky Stone (3-0) allowed one hit in one inning, and Nate Bland, Pete Munro, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner combined on three innings of hitless relief, completing the six-hitter.

Brain Giles' two-run double put Pittsburgh ahead in the first, but Houston tied the score in the third on consecutive RBI singles by Blum and Jeff Bagwell.

Game notes
Pokey Reese's stolen base in the sixth made him a perfect 5-for-5 in steal attempts this season. That makes him 17-for-18 in the last two seasons ... Redding has faced the Pirates three times in his career and gotten no-decisions in each of them ... The previous four-game sweep for Houston over the Pirates was July 25-28 of last season ... The Pirates have lost eight straight games at Minute Maid Park, dropping to 5-23 there.