Rodriguez allowed just two hits and tied his career best with 10 strikeouts to lead the Houston Astros to a 7-0 victory against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.
“I’ve never seen him do that before,” Astros manager Cecil Cooper, who received an extension through 2010, said of Rodriguez’s rare display of emotion. “It’s good for him. Wandy has been as good as any pitcher in the game right now. He is really throwing the ball well.”
Astros catcher Ivan Rodriguez came out of an extended slump with only his second multi-hit game. His two doubles gave him three this year and his two runs batted in doubled his season total. But he wanted to talk about his pitcher.
“He did a great job,” Pudge said. “He threw a lot of strike ones. He used his fastball a lot and his breaking ball was good. It was a 12-to-6 breaking ball. He threw a great game.”
In the seventh, Rodriguez (1-1) issued his first two walks but struck out Laynce Nix, filling in for the injured Jay Bruce, to end the threat.
“Tonight, my breaking ball was very nice, so I used it a lot,” Rodriguez said.
And about the first pump?
“I felt happy because in that situation, I wanted to get that guy out and I did.”
The Reds were impressed.
“That was as good a curveball as I’ve seen Wandy throw,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “He threw it on any count and at any time. The velocity difference on it was 15 to 20 miles per hour and this early in the season, our hitters weren’t able to adjust to it.”
Reds starter Aaron Harang (1-2) went six innings and allowed five runs on 10 hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Chris Sampson and Jeff Fulchino each pitched a hitless inning to complete the combined two-hitter and Houston’s first shutout this year.
Back-to-back RBI singles by Hunter Pence and Geoff Blum gave the Astros a 2-0 lead in the first. Carlos Lee doubled into the left-field corner to drive in Michael Bourn for a 3-0 lead in the fifth.
With the bases loaded in the seventh, Blum hit a two-run double to right. Ivan Rodriguez then doubled in two more for a 7-0 lead.
NOTES: Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui sat out his fourth straight game with a sore back. . . . Pitcher Brandon Backe threw a two-inning simulated game before the game Saturday and pronounced himself fit. It was his first live outing since straining his left intercostal in early March.
