Paredes caugth in run-down in 9th (c) AP/Gene J. Puskar

With one out in the ninth, pinch-runner Chris Johnson was on second and Jimmy Paredes at first, representing the tying run. Matt Downs hit an excuse-me pinch single into shallow center. Johnson, heeding a stop sign, pulled up at third, but Paredes missed the sign and overran second, getting caught in a run-down, albeit long enough for Downs to advance to second in his wake. With two outs and men on second and third, J.B. Shuck flied out to left to end the threat, and the game.

Henry Sosa had another fine outing, allowing two runs on six hits, fanning and walking three, but Pittsburgh starter James McDonald had a better one, allowing Houston only three hits and one run over 7.1 innings.

Jose Altuve got Houston on the board in the third with an RBI triple. The Bucs answered in the fourth: Andrew McCutchen reached on an infield single to open the frame, then Sosa plunked Derrek Lee. Ryan Doumit hit an RBI double, plating McCutchen, then Josh Harrison singled Lee in. Lee added a Pittsburgh insurance run in the eighth with a solo homer off Wilton Lopez.

The game was delayed 56 minutes getting underway, and several times it looked as though the umps might halt it as drizzle turned into a steady rain.

On Tuesday, Brett Myers (3-13, 4.81) looks to get his first win since June 17. His mound opponent, Pittsburgh's Brad Lincoln (1-1, 3.64), is a former UH Cougar and a Lake Jackson native. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. CT.