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Final Score: Houston 7 - Pittsburgh 10

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Adam LaRoche finished 2-for-2 with a triple, two walks and a run batted in, as Pittsburgh slugged its way to a 10-7 win over Houston in the first of three games with the Astros.

Ryan Doumit hit a two-run homer, Nate McLouth added a solo shot, and Xavier Nady added two hits and two RBI for the Pirates, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Pittsburgh was coming off a sweep at the hands of Milwaukee, and had scored just eight runs the entire series.

"We have 100-percent confidence in our offense. I think that it doesn't matter what the other team is throwing out there," Doumit said. "I think we're capable in our abilities to put runs up against them."

Denny Bautista (2-1) took the win after throwing 2 2/3 perfect innings in relief. He also got his first MLB hit and RBI. Bautista came on in relief of Phil Dumatrait, who was reinstated from the disabled list earlier Monday, and gave up seven runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 frames.

Runelvys Hernandez (0-3) lost his third straight start for the Astros, after he surrendered all 10 runs on 13 hits in four innings. He walked four and struck out three as Houston lost its second in a row and sixth out of seven.

"My mind was set to throw nine innings today," Hernandez said. "I saw all the effort put in by the relievers yesterday (in a 17-inning game). It's not me. I feel sorry, because I respect the game."

Carlos Lee led the Astros' offense with a two-run homer and three RBI, while former Pirate Ty Wigginton went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

In a back-and-forth slugfest, Pittsburgh landed the final blow. Trailing by one run heading into the home fourth, Luis Rivas led the inning off with a single. That brought up Doumit, who turned on a slightly inside pitch and lofted it over the right field fence for a home run.

Nady later grounded into a double play with Jason Bay on base, but LaRoche got a rally started by blasting a pitch deep to right field. It hit off the upper portion of the high wall, and LaRoche ended up on third.

Hernandez continued on the mound, and intentionally walked Doug Mientkiewicz to get to Bautista. But the pitcher reached on an infield single to short, plating LaRoche.

Jack Wilson dropped a single into center field, bringing another run home, before Hernandez struck out McLouth to end the inning at last, with Pittsburgh holding a 10-7 lead.

Then the offensive explosions stopped. Neither team scored for the remainder of the contest. Bautista threw perfect fifth and sixth innings for the Pirates, while Tyler Yates was perfect in the seventh and eighth.

Chad Paronto threw four scoreless innings for the Astros. But the Houston offense couldn't muster a comeback, as Damaso Marte worked around a walk to Mark Loretta to nail down his second save of the year.

The game's fireworks started almost immediately. With Darin Erstad on base in the first, Lee crushed a belt-high fastball deep to left field. Later, after Miguel Tejada walked and Hunter Pence singled, Wigginton punched a base hit to center to bring another run home for a 3-0 edge.

But the Pirates stormed back in the home half. With two outs and runners on the corners, Nady had the first of four consecutive RBI singles that gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead. The last of the cluster was Dumatrait's first MLB hit and RBI.

In the home second, McLouth led off with his 16th homer of the season. Bay worked a two-out walk to bring up Nady, whose hit to left reached the wall and plated Bay for a 6-3 Pittsburgh lead.

Dumatrait, though, struggled in the fourth to give the lead right back. With no outs and runners on the corners, Hernandez reached on a bunt single for his first career hit and RBI. Erstad plated a run by grounding into a fielder's choice, and after Loretta singled, Lance Berkman doubled to plate Erstad and chase Dumatrait.

Bautista entered and had Lee hit a sacrifice fly to right, allowing Loretta to come home, and give Houston a 7-6 advantage.