Pirates take Astros with Doumit's help

Pirates 5 Astros 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Jason Bay's two-run single in the sixth inning off Wandy Rodriguez gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-3 victory Thursday over Houston and their second three-game sweep of the Astros this season.

Barely 12 hours after the Astros left 18 runners on base during a 4-3, 16-inning loss to the Pirates, they stranded 13 and played sloppily in the field with two errors during Pittsburgh's go-ahead sixth inning against Rodriguez (0-3).

Houston pushed across two runs in the ninth but John Grabow got Adam Everett to ground into a forceout at second with the bases loaded to end the game. It was Grabow's first save since 2004.

The Pirates are 6-0 against the Astros this season after going 3-13 last season and have swept successive series for the first time since 1979 _ when Astros manager Phil Garner was the third baseman on Pittsburgh's World Series-winning team. Pittsburgh swept a season-opening series in Houston from April 2-4.

Jonah Bayliss (2-1) got the victory by pitching two scoreless innings.

The Pirates scored three runs in the eighth when pinch-hitter Xavier Nady was hit by reliever Chad Qualls' pitch with the bases loaded and Ryan Doumit, recalled from the minors earlier in the day, added a two-run single.

Doumit, a Moses Lake graduate, managed two hits on four times at bat, drove in two RBIs and moved his average to .286 for the season.