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Final Score: Houston 9 - San Diego 6

San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - Lance Berkman went 3-for-5 and belted the tiebreaking three-run homer off Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the ninth inning to lead the Houston Astros to a 9-6 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Jose Valverde (1-0) earned the win after giving up only one run on three hits in two innings of work for the Astros, who won their first game of the season after being held to a total of one run over the first two contests of this four-game series.

Hunter Pence went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Geoff Blum, Ty Wigginton and Carlos Lee each hit homers in the victory.

Hoffman (0-1) got the loss after blowing a 6-5 lead by yielding four runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.

"I see the velocity, the good change ups, he [Hoffman] was just able to get the balls in some spots where they were able to hit them," San Diego manager Bud Black said.

Brian Giles went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Michael Barrett had a 2-for-3 night with three runs scored. Scott Hairston and Adrian Gonzalez homered in defeat.

Starter Wandy Rodriguez was knocked around for four runs on eight hits in five innings for Houston, while Greg Maddux went six innings, surrendering four runs -- three earned -- on six hits for San Diego.

After Berkman crushed a lead-off double to right-center field to lead off the eighth, he stole third during Miguel Tejada's at-bat. Tejada then tied the game at five on a sacrifice fly to left field.

Barrett singled to start the latter half of the eighth, and advanced to third on Jody Gerut's pinch-hit single. Giles knocked Barrett home on a sac fly to center field to put the Padres back on top.

After Hoffman retired the first two batters with ease to start the ninth, pinch-hitter Jose Cruz worked a free pass to give Houston some life. Michael Bourn advanced Cruz to second with a single, and Pence then drove Cruz home and Bourn to third with a single to right. Berkman unclogged the bases by nailing a 3-1 pitch over the wall in center that put the Astros up 9-6 and proved to be the difference maker.

"I saw the ball a lot better off him [Hoffman] tonight than I did last night," Berkman said. "That's my first career hit off him I think."

Pence doubled on a fly ball to center field in the first inning, then moved to third on Berkman's fielder's choice. Kevin Kouzmanoff committed a throwing error on a Lee hit, and Pence scored the game's first run.

Blum and Wigginton roughed up Maddux for back-to-back solo home runs in the second for a 3-0 Houston lead.

Hairston connected on a homer to start the bottom half of the second, and after Barrett drew a walk, a Justin Huber single moved him to third and Giles' shot up the middle scored the catcher for a 3-2 margin.

Kouzmanoff singled up the middle to lead off the bottom of the third, and Gonzalez knocked him home with a blast into center field to make it 4-3 Padres.

Lee knotted the game at four with a homer on a 1-1 changeup in the top of the sixth. The shot also served as Lee's 1,500th career hit.

In the bottom of the sixth, Barrett singled to left field and eventually scored on a Giles base hit, which put San Diego on top, 5-4.