Lima Lookin' Good In Astros' Win

Jose Lima is filled with confidence after winning three straight starts.

Lima allowed two runs in eight innings, and Jeff Bagwell and Richard Hidalgo drove in two runs each Monday night to lead the Houston Astros over the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2.

"When I go out there I feel like I can win every game," Lima said. "That's how confidant I am. My goal is to win 20 games but I know I can win more. I know I can do it."

"Lima stayed ahead of most of the hitters and that was the key to his success," Houston manager Larry Dierker said. "He did what we've had a lot of trouble doing, staying ahead in the count. He changed the speeds well, too. When you do that you can eliminate a lot of the other team's power, because you have to stay back and wait. Pitching looks easy when you stay ahead in the count and he made it look easy tonight."

Todd Stottlemyre (2-1) lost for the first time in five starts this season, allowing all five runs just three earned and six hits in six innings with five walks and four strikeouts.

"Some nights you just got to tip your hat, I got outpitched," he said. "Early on I was getting them out early in the count, but later on they started being more selective at the plate and I didn't adjust."

Arizona, which had won six of its previous seven games, is 8-2 at home but 3-7 on the road. After matching the Diamondbacks outhit the Astros 7-6, Arizona manager Buck Showalter said Lima was the difference.

"He set the tempo," Showalter said. "He had a good fastball, slider and change-up and he kept us from a real big inning."

Houston managed only one hit in the first four innings but led 2-0 on a pai of unearned runs in the fourth. Derek Bell reached when shortstop Tony Batista bobbled his grounder for an error, stole second and scored on Bagwell's single. One out later, Stottlemyre walked Carl Everett, Hidalgo and Tony Eusebio, forcing in a run.

Bagwell hit an RBI double in the fifth and Hidalgo added a two-run single following an intentional walk to Everett.

Luis Gonzalez hit a run-scoring double in the sixth for Arizona, which added a run in the ninth on Travis Lee's RBI double.

Notes: Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a fourth-inning single. ... Arizona leads the major leagues in homers with 36. ... Jeff Bagwell has hit safely in 13 of 14 games. ... Craig Biggio doubled and is four shy of Cesar Cedeno's team record of 343.

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