Lee's HR Leads Astros Over Phillies, 5-1
HOUSTON (AP) -- Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer off former teammate Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 on Monday night.
Despite the loss, Philadelphia's magic number for gaining at least a wild-card playoff spot dropped to one with St. Louis' 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh. The Phillies are trying to make the playoffs for the fifth straight year. They won the World Series in 2008 and lost in it in 2009.
Oswalt (7-9), who pitched 10 seasons for the Astros, faced his former teammates for the first time at Minute Maid Park since he was traded to the Phillies in July 2010.
Right fielder Hunter Pence, traded by Houston to the Phillies in July, also returned for the first time and got two hits off Brett Myers (5-13).
Myers allowed six hits in eight innings. He struck out four and walked one. Myers has allowed three earned runs in his last 22 2-3 innings.
Oswalt pitched seven innings, allowed five earned runs, struck out two and walked two.
Both Oswalt and Pence received warm ovations on their first plate appearances.
J.D. Martinez got three hits and scored three runs for Houston. He opened the fourth inning with a double and scored on a single by Brian Bogusevic. Humberto Quintero's double scored Bogusevic for a 2-1 lead.
Martinez singled with two outs in the fourth and scored on Lee's 16th homer into the Crawford boxes in left field for a 4-1 lead.
Martinez got his third hit off Oswalt in the seventh. After Oswalt hit Lee with a pitch, he scored on a grounder by Bogusevic.
Raul Ibanez doubled to open the second inning for the Phillies and he scored on a single by Pete Orr.
Oswalt had a club-record eight opening day starts for Houston, was named to the All-Star team three times and pitched the Astros to their only World Series appearance in 2005. Oswalt ranks first in Astros winning percentage at .636.
Pence hit .290 in five seasons with the Astros.
Notes: The Phillies have won six of eight, outscoring opponents 36-20. Philadelphia is 20-7 in their last 27 road games. They have baseball's best road record at 45-28. The franchise high mark for road victories is 48 in 1976 and 2009. Lee has hit safely in 20 of his last 21 games, including a season-high 14-game streak. The Astros avoided setting a franchise record for most losses in a season. They are tied for the record with 97 losses, set in 1965, 1975 and 1991.
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