Braves Slide Past Astros

Tom Glavine will be sad to see the Astrodome replaced by Enron Field next season.

Glavine won his eighth straight decision at the Astrodome, and Brian Hunter hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning as the Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros 4-3 Tuesday night.

"Is there any way we can bring this ballpark to Atlanta?" Glavine asked. "I'm probably one of the few people who will be sad to see it go."

The Astros played their second game without manager Larry Dierker, who had brain surgery Tuesday to remove life-threatening malformed blood vessels that caused him to collapse from a seizure in the Astros dugout Sunday.

"I knew sooner or later I'd win another game," Glavine said. "But your hope is you don't let your losses get too far ahead of your wins. That's why this one was big for me. I know I can still salvage a winning season."

The Astros got the early lead but Glavine, who had lost three straight starts, held on.

"I've pitched some pretty good games here," Glavine said. "There are just certain ballparks that you feel comfortable in, and I've always felt good about pitching here."

"A lot of it is that it's a pitcher's park and it has a great mound. As a pitcher, any mound like this one like this one is what you're looking for."

Jeff Bagwell hit his 22nd homer for Houston, tying Chicago's Sammy Sosa for the NL lead. After hitting 18 of his first 20 homers on the road, Bagwell has homered in consecutive games against the Braves in the Astrodome.

The loss snapped Houston's four-game winning streak and kept the Braves from losing five in a row for the first time since 1996.

Glavine (4-7) allowed three runs and five hits over eight innings, struck out eight and walked three. He is 8-0 with a 1.10 ERA since Sept. 27, 1991, at the Astrodome.

"A win is a win. They're in first place. We're in first place. We've got to win these to stay in first place," Hunter sad. "Glavine kept us in. The key is for the pitcher to keep us in, and we'll get our confidence back."

With the game tied at 3, Javy Lopez lead off the ninth with an infield hit off the glove of shortstop Ricky Gutierrez. Otis Nixon came in to pinch run and stole second. After Scott Elarton (4-2) struck out the next two batters, Hunter singled up the middle, scoring Nixon.

"With guys like (Greg) Maddux, Glavine and John Smoltz you don't worry about their numbers," Galante said. "You know they are as good as anyone in baseball. When he hits his spots, he's tough. They've been losing to other people, not us."

John Rocker pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 17 opportunities.

Astros starter Chris Holt, 0-6 in 10 starts this year, got his third straight no-decision, allowing five hits in seven innings. Holt, who missed last season with shoulder surgery, hasn't won in 21 appearances since beating the Braves on April 10, 1997.

"Hopefully, someday, I'll get a victory," Holt said. "It's crazy. The point is we lost. I threw a bad pitch to Andruw and that cost us. You can't make those mistakes."

Houston took a 3-0 lead in the fourth when Bagwell homered, Richard Hidalgo hit an RBI double and Carl Everett added a sacrifice fly.

Atlanta tied it in the fifth off Holt on Andruw Jones' two-run homer and a fielding error by second baseman Craig Biggio that allowed Randall Simon to score from second.

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