Houston Astros left-hander Andy Pettitte was a late scratch from his scheduled start Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds because of lingering soreness in his elbow, which also forced him out of his last start.
Manager Phil Garner decided to skip his turn in the rotation, giving him a few more days to fully recover.
“It feels better,” Pettitte said. “We felt that if I went out there and reaggravated it, it could be a DL situation. I probably won’t pick up a ball for several days. I’m pretty sure I should be able to make my next start.”
Nice to meet you
Josh Hancock, who wasn’t even on the Reds’ roster for the game’s first pitch after being acquired late Friday from Philadelphia, wound up getting the victory in a 3-2 win over the Astros in the completion of the previous night’s suspended game. He had never even met catcher Jason LaRue until he came in to warm up for the 13th inning.
“I met LaRue on the mound and said, `Fastball, slider, changeup, nice to see you,”‘ Hancock said.
After the right-hander set down the side, he met his manager, Dave Miley.
Extra innings
Braves starter Jaret Wright improved to 4-0 this month, joining teammates Russ Ortiz (5-0) and Mike Hampton (5-0) with unbeaten records in July. . . . Newly acquired Paul Lo Duca is the sixth All-Star catcher to play for Florida, following Benito Santiago, Charles Johnson, Darren Daulton, Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez. Lo Duca’s first at-bat with the Marlins was a homer, his first ever as a pinch-hitter.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
RESULTS, SYNOPSIS
Houston 2 at Cincinnati 3
W: Hancock (1-1)
L: Harville (0-1)
Jason LaRue doubled in Wily Mo Pena in the 13th inning to win game suspended Friday night in 6th with score tied 2-2. Marathon win, 4 rain delays in all, ended Reds’ 8-game skid.
Houston 8 at Cincinnati 0
W: Oliver (3-3)
L: Claussen (1-1)
Darren Oliver, acquired from Florida on July 22, made his 1st start for Astros and allowed only Adam Dunn’s single in 5 innings. Carlos Beltran and Mike Lamb homered in Astros’ 6-run 9th.
Montreal 8 at Florida 5
W: Biddle (3-5)
L: Manzanillo (3-3)
S: Cordero (11)
With Expos trailing 5-4 in 7th, Terrmel Sledge hit 1st career grand slam. Chad Cordero entered 9th with 2 on, no outs but induced Mike Lowell double play and struck out Miguel Cabrera.
N.Y. Mets 0 at Atlanta 8
W: Wright (9-5)
L: Benson (8-9)
Braves’ MLB-leading 10th shutout. Kris Benson gave up 7 runs, 7 hits in 5 innings in Mets debut. Jaret Wright won 7th straight with 2.29 ERA in 13 starts. He also had 2 hits and 2 runs.
Pittsburgh 4 at Milwaukee 1
W: Vogelsong (3-7)
L: Santos (9-6)
S: Mesa (30)
Geoff Jenkins’ leadoff HR in 4th cut Brewers’ deficit to 3-1. Pirates went more than 26 inn. without extra-base hit before Jack Wilson’s double in 1st. Wilson was 3-for-5, HR short of cycle.
Arizona 4 at Colorado 8
W: Estes (11-4)
L: Webb (4-12)
S: Chacon (25)
D’backs lost 15th of 17 since All-Star break. Shawn Chacon relieved with 2 outs and bases loaded in 9th, walked in run to make it 8-4 but then got Shea Hillenbrand to fly out for his 25th save.
Los Angeles 2 at San Diego 3
W: Otsuka (6-2)
L: Dreifort (1-2)
S: Hoffman (29)
Back-to-back RBI singles by Mark Loretta and Phil Nevin with 1 out in 8th won it for Padres. Dodgers starter Kaz Ishii struck out 7 and gave up 1 run on 4 hits in 6 1/3 and hit 1st career HR.
St. Louis 7 at San Francisco 8
W: Rueter (6-8)
L: Morris (11-7)
S: Christiansen (3)
Left-hander Kirk Rueter earned his 100th victory in Giants uniform. Ray Durham’s bases-loaded triple capped Giants’ 8-run 1st, in which Matt Morris got just 2 outs while giving up 7 hits.
