Reds split

CINCINNATI – Carlos Beltran and Mike Lamb hit ninth-inning homers, sending the Houston Astros to an 8-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds that ended a draining day.

It started with the Reds beating the Astros 3-2 in 13 innings, finishing a game suspended overnight because of rain.

Beltran had a three-run homer and Lamb added a two-run shot off Gabe White in the second game, assuring Houston of a split.

Left-hander Andy Pettitte was scratched from the second game because of a sore elbow, which also forced him out of his last start. Darren Oliver (3-3), acquired from Florida on July 22, made his first start for the Astros and allowed only Adam Dunn’s single in five innings.

The Reds didn’t get a runner into scoring position until the seventh, when Dunn had an infield single and Cincinnati loaded the bases with none out. Mike Gallo escaped by inducing three harmless flyballs.

David Weathers and Kirk Bullinger finished off Houston’s combined four-hitter.

Brandon Claussen (1-1) got sidetracked by one inning. He threw 43 pitches in the fourth, when Ryan Freel let in a run with a wild throw on Jason Lane’s fly to right.

Claussen lasted 5 1-3 innings, giving up three hits and five walks in his third start for the Reds. Phil Norton relieved in the sixth and gave up Brad Ausmus’ RBI double, the second of his four hits.

A tiny crowd was on hand when the teams handled the first order of business – picking up a game suspended Friday night in the sixth inning with the score tied at 2.

Two players who had just met for the first time finished off one of the majors’ most unusual games of the season.

Josh Hancock, who wasn’t even on the Reds’ roster for the game’s first pitch, wound up getting the victory after catcher Jason LaRue doubled home the winning run in the 13th.

LaRue’s only hit in six at-bats during the marathon game – four rain delays in all – ended an eight-game losing streak that was Cincinnati’s longest in a year.

No one will remember it as fondly as Hancock (1-1), who was acquired late Friday from Philadelphia and didn’t arrive until shortly after the game resumed Saturday morning at 11:30 EDT.

The Reds got him in a deal for reliever Todd Jones that was completed during the game’s third rain delay on Friday, just before the umpires suspended play. He had never even met LaRue until he came in to warm up for the 13th inning.

“I met LaRue on the mound and said, Fastball, slider, changeup, nice to see you,”‘ Hancock said.

After the right-hander set the side down while giving up a pair of walks, he came to the bench and met his manager for the first time as well.

Chad Harville (0-1) set up the long-awaited ending by walking Wily Mo Pena with two outs in the 13th. LaRue then doubled into the gap in left-center, allowing Pena to score easily.

The umpires suspended the game Friday after the third storm of the night moved in. It finally ended 19 hours, 4 minutes after Aaron Harang started it with a first-pitch strike.

The game resumed in a surreal setting. Players warmed up on the field in front of empty stands – the gates didn’t open until 15 minutes beforehand.

Notes: Astros SS Adam Everett had his hitting streak snapped at a career-high 11 games. … It was Oliver’s ninth start of the season and his first since May 21. He made his last 13 appearances in relief. … The Reds’ last suspended game was in 1996, an 8-6 win over San Diego that was played over two days because of curfew.

AP-ES-07-31-04 1830EDT