Alou, Astros Blast Indians 12-3

The Houston Astros marched around Jacobs Field as if it were their own.

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Moises Alou homered, had three hits and drove in three runs as the Astros beat the Indians 12-3 Sunday to take two of three in the interleague meeting of Central division leaders.

"I was real happy to come in here and take two of three from a team like this," Houston manager Larry Dierker said. "I didn't expect it."

They didn't squeak by, either. The confident, NL Central-leading Astros outscored the defending AL champions 21-8 in the final two games of the series, showing a nice mix of power and speed that's tough to beat in any league.

"We have the same type hitters as they do," Dierker said. "We have guys who can hit it out and guys who can run the bases."

And Houston can do it against the NL or AL, take your pick. The Astros are 8-3 against AL clubs, and starter Shane Reynolds (9-5) improved to 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA against the junior circuit.

"It's not fun to face a team like this when you're not feeling well," said Reynolds, still feeling the effects of food poisoning he suffered about 10 days ago.

After beating Houston in the series opener Friday, it was the Indians who looked ill.

The Astros matched Cleveland's three homers and won the second game of the series 9-5 in 11 innings on Saturday, then homered twice against Charles Nagy (7-4) on Sunday. Nagy, winless in June, was charged with eigh earned runs in 5 1-3 innings after Houston rocked newcomer Tim Worrell in the sixth.

The Cleveland right-hander left the ballpark without doing interviews.

"To say the least, Charlie didn't have it," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said.

Alou, who hit three homers for Florida against the Indians in the 1997 World Series, beat Cleveland on Saturday with an RBI single in the 11th off Jose Mesa. He got a key hit for the second straight day, making it 4-2 with a two-run homer, his 16th, off Nagy in the fourth.

Reynolds allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, nicked only by Sandy Alomar's sixth homer off the left-field foul pole in the second. Derek Bell hit a 433-foot solo homer in the first, his 11th, and made a couple of sliding catches in right field.

"If I saw Derek Bell dive one more time, I was going to puke," Hargrove said.

"I didn't plan on making those catches diving, it just happened," said Bell, who robbed pinch-hitter Shawon Dunston of a hit in the ninth.

Houston scored four runs in the ninth on six straight hits off Worrell and Alvin Morman. Alou had an RBI single, and Tony Eusebio had a two-run single off the left-field wall. C.J. Nitkowski pitched three innings for his third save.

Nagy, who surrendered his major league-leading 22nd and 23rd homers, was chased in the sixth after Sean Berry gave Houston a 5-2 lead with a bases-loaded RBI single.

Worrell, claimed on waivers from Detroit as part of the Geronimo Berroa trade, promptly walked Eusebio to force in a run. Carl Everett, who singled, scored on Ricky Gutierrez's sacrifice fly to the wall in left, and Craig Biggio drilled an RBI double into the right-field corner to make it 8-2.

That left Nagy with his worst line since his first start on March 31 - 5 1-3 innings, eight earned runs and seven hits. Nagy, who walked three and struck out five, was 0-2 with three no decisions this month.

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