Although they saw a familiar foe on the mound in former ace Wandy Rodriguez, the Houston Astros still couldn't get the better of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night in a 6-2 loss.
Rodriguez, who won 80 games with the Astros dating back to the 2005 season, posted seven innings of four-hit ball against his old team to pick up his 10th victory of 2012 and his third since joining the Pirates. At the other end of the spectrum, Houston right-hander Jordan Lyles did not far quite as well in his outing however, as the 21-year-old left after just 4.2 innings after serving up five runs on seven hits.
Offensively, All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve swiped his 28th base of the season in addition to going 1-for-4 from the plate. Infielder Brett Wallace also followed up his 3-for-4 performance in game one with an RBI double. Seeking to wrap up their trip to PNC Park on a high note, the Astros will send Fernando Abad to the hill on Wednesday looking to win the three-game series.
Head over to The Crawfish Boxes for more Astros coverage, and be sure to visit Bucs Dugout for more on the Pirates. Also be sure to check out Baseball Nation for more news and analysis from around the league.