losing streak ends, road trip moves to Pittsburgh

The Astros avoided the sweep in Cincinnati yesterday, rallying in the 7th inning and possibly forcing the Reds to step in and tell Todd Coffey to switch to decaf, but
Craig Biggio didn't get hit by any pitches in his only plate appearance of the day, pinch hitting for Oswalt in the 7th.

Tonight the Astros move up the Ohio river to the city where it begins, at the confluence of two other rivers that are much harder to spell and pronounce than either Ohio or confluence. The Pittsburgh Pirates will host the Astros for 4 games beginning with tonight's matchup with Paul Maholm on the mound. Maholm has never plunked Craig Biggio, but Biggio is 2 for 4 against him with 2 homers, so perhaps it's a good night for Biggio's bat to get out of it's recent slump. Maholm has hit 8 batters this year, bringing his career total to 11.

Jamey Wright hit Craig Biggio with a pitch on August 24, 1997, and Matt Karchner plunked Biggio on August 24, 1998, but he has not been hit on this date before or since.