Jimy Williams came up with a weird, almost makeshift lineup in Dunedin Saturday afternoon, but it worked. Jose Vizcaino, batting third in the order, drove in three runs, and Jared Fernandez had enough command of his knuckleball in the eighth and ninth to close out a 5-3 Houston win over Toronto that pushed the Astros' spring record to 12-9-1.

It was a travel day, of course, the longest of March, so many of the veterans stayed behind in Kissimmee. Thus, the lineup of Bruntlett, Everett, Vizcaino, Berkman, Hidalgo, Lamb, Thompson, Chavez, and Tavares didn't seem to be all that imposing when you wrote it down on paper, but it did some damage against Miguel Batista in his six innings of work Adam Everett, Vizcaino, and Berkman teamed up in the first for a double to LF, a walk, and a single the other way to LF for Berkman and a 1-0 Astros lead. Lamb later ripped a hit to RF but Vizcaino was gunned down at home to cut off the run and end the inning.

The Blue Jays quickly tied the score up against Jeriome Robertson--pitching for his big-league life--in the bottom half, when Vizcaino couldn't handle Robertson's high throw on a 3B-line bounder from Reid Johnson. Robertson then gave up the first of his three walks on the day, got two outs on a strikeout and flyout, but surrendered a single to LF by Josh Phelps. Robertson worked two innings after that, showcasing himself for scouts in the stands and for perhaps a trade at the end of ST. His prior pitching in short stints as a reliever in camp might have prevented him from going further, but he might still have shown enough to draw interest from other clubs. It is not clear whether Robertson will be sent down to AAA eventually or traded away.

Houston broke the game open and gave Robertson the win by putting four on the board in the second inning, but not without a very scary moment for Adam Everett and the ballclub. Everett was hit with a pitch in the region of his upper lip and nose and left the game. Earliest reports are that he suffered a contusion and he is listed as day-to-day, but he is most fortunate the injury was not worse. That HBP came in the middle of a rally started by the bottom of the Houston order. A single to CF by Thompson, who is putting on a relentless hitting show in ST reminiscent of Tony Eusebio's to win a job a decade ago, and a bunt base hit toward 3B by Chavez set things up. After another bunt, this one by Tavares, resulted in a 1-5 forceout, Bruntlett slapped an RBI hit to RF, Everett was hit, and a triple that rattled around RF by Vizcaino gave Houston a sudden 5-1 edge.

Thr pitching in the fourth by Brad Lidge was good, with two strikeouts, and Kirk Saarloos--working with all the concentration of a man about to be hanged--pitched as well as he's pitched this spring in the fifth and sixth, spotting his breaking stuff on corners and down in hard-to-reach places. Will today be good enough to get Saarloos back in the hunt for a spot on the big roster? No, but at worst, he's in the same boat with Robertson, fishing while wondering if he's not actually bait.

Toronto eagerly went after Brandon Duckworth's first two pitches in the seventh for flyouts, then became patient and made him work a little harder. The result was a run on two hits with a walk in between. Fernandez and Chris Tremie formed the tandem in the eighth and ninth, and those few minutes were long and nerve-wracking. Tremie couldn't handle Fernandez's knuckleball very well, and, for his part, Fernandez had trouble throwing it near the strike zone. A double, a walk, and an infield hit at SS on potential double-play ball cut the Astros' lead to 5-3. Then, in the ninth inning, Fernandez gave up a lead-off single, struck out the next two batters, watched as fielder's indifference put the runner at 2B, and surrendered a walk, but after a talking to by Williams, got the 6-4 grounder he neeeded to end it for the save.

The Astros had eleven hits and the Blue Jays collected ten in a game that had the feel of a game in early rather than late March. Houston goes back to Kissimmee to play the Braves Sunday afternoon, with Roger Clemens facing Mike Hampton.