When the Houston Astros fell behind and a steady rain started to fall, manager Larry Dierker began to fret.

        “The thing I was afraid of was that it would come down harder and the game would be stopped before we'd have a chance to come back,” Dierker said.

        No worries. The visiting team at Cinergy Field almost always gets what it needs to pull out a win.

        The heavy rain stayed just to the north, and the Astros got their comeback Monday night. Moises Alou's bases-loaded double in the seventh inning rallied the Astros to a 6-4 victory over the Reds, the NL's most accommodating home team.

        It was a soggy night of breakthroughs for the Astros, who took three of four in the series and have won eight of their last 11 games.

        Alou's three-run double off Chris Reitsma (2-3) gave the Astros' struggling offense a rare clutch hit.

        “They'd been throwing me a lot of first-pitch breaking balls that I'd been taking, and I had that in the back of my mind,” Alou said.

        He pulled Reitsma's first-pitch curve down the third base line.

        Closer Billy Wagner got his third save in three days, another indication he's back from major elbow surgery last year.

        “It's been a long time since I've been able to go (three in a row) and be successful,” he said.

        Roy Oswalt, part of the U.S. Olympic team's rotation that won the gold medal last year in Sydney, got his first major league win by pitching 2 2-3 innings in relief.

        Oswalt (1-0) retired 11 batters in a row between the two hits he allowed. The game ball was resting in his dressing cubicle afterward, a stop-off on its way to join the Olympics mementos on his mantle at home.

        “This means a lot,” he said, smiling broadly. “When they called me up this year, I was kind of surprised because they're real careful with their prospects. I came here with an open mind.”

        Dierker was impressed with the 23-year-old pitcher and glad that he got a chance to shine.

        “We got lucky,” Dierker said. “It stopped raining.”

Astros 6, Reds 4 AA prospect to start Wednesday Could Reds' swoon seal fate? Reds' ups and downs in first 6 weeks Graves feels he's corrected problems Reds activate Winchester Astros on a roll Reds box, runs Reds-D'Backs Scouting Report

• Return to Reds front page...