Astros over .500 entering break after big sweep

Brad Ausmus said his key hit Sunday in Houston made the Astros' recent surge that much sweeter.

Ausmus snapped an eighth-inning tie with an RBI single as the Astros rallied from four runs down to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 and sweep the three-game series. It was Houston's first three-game sweep over Los Angeles since May 14-16, 1993.

Morgan Ensberg singled to lead off the Astros' eighth and Jason Lane walked. Two outs later, Ausmus slapped a single to right field to give the Astros their seventh win in eight games. They've won 16 of 20 to reach the All-Star break at 44-43, which is reminiscent of their 36-10 finish to win the wild-card spot last season.

"It was a great feeling to get the game-winning hit," said Ausmus, who went 11-for-30 (.367) the last eight games to raise his average to .241. "It would be in any game, but it was especially great because of the way we've been playing lately.

"To be over .500 right now, to me that's just as remarkable as the run we had last year. It just shows you how resilient this team is."

Astros manager Phil Garner agreed, recalling that the team was 15 games under .500 on May 24.

"This is a good way to go into the break," Garner said. "It makes you feel good about yourself. And today's win was really big for the way we came back. We have gotten close on a couple of big comebacks before but not quite made it. Wins like this really help your confidence."

This one ended when Oscar Robles was thrown out by center fielder Willy Taveras as Robles tried to stretch a single into a double.

METS 6, PIRATES 1: At Pittsburgh, Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Pedro Martinez the only runs he needed, and New York avoided a sweep by beating the Pirates. Mike Cameron added a two-run double to help the Mets get back to .500 at 44-44 at the All-Star break. Martinez (10-3) struck out four in the first two innings and nine overall in seven innings to win his eighth in 10 decisions.

CUBS 9, MARLINS 2: At Miami, Derrek Lee hit his 27th homer and drove in four runs, Greg Maddux allowed four hits in eight innings, and Chicago completed a three-game sweep. Chicago had lost eight in a row before getting its third series sweep of the season. Lee hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth and homered for the second straight game after missing three straight starts with left shoulder irritation.

BREWERS 8, BRAVES 4: At Atlanta, Geoff Jenkins homered and drove in three runs, and NL leader Carlos Lee had two more RBIs, helping Milwaukee's Chris Capuano beat Atlanta. Capuano (10-6) earned his career-high fifth consecutive win, pitching five innings and leaving with a 5-4 lead after the Brewers rallied for three runs in the fifth.