just 12 more hits

Craig Biggio went 3-5 in last night's 5-1 win over the Mariners, and hit his 657th double, tying him with Nap Lajoie for 6th all time in that category. His three hits moved him past Sam Rice into 27th place on the all time hits list, with no one left between him and Roberto Clemente at 3,000 - just 12 hits away. The fastest Biggio has ever gotten 12 hits was in 5 games, and he's done that several times, as recently as April 17-23, 2006. The longest he's ever taken to get 12 hits was 34 games, back in the '88 and '89 seasons. So, soon he should get back to being able to get hit by pitches instead of focusing on getting hits. The plunkless streak is now up to 50 games.

Tonight, the Astros face Seattle starter Cha Seung Baek. He's hit 6 batters, 2 this season, but he's never faced Craig Biggio. Rudy Seanez hit Biggio with a pitch on June 16, 1999.

Tomorrow, left-hander Jerrod Washburn throws for the Mariners. He's hit 4 batters this year and 49 in his career, at a rate of about 1 per 122 batters faced. Jeff Brantley plunked Biggio on June 17, 1998, and Oscar Villareal hit him on June 17, 2003.