Houston Astros Baseball

Game 2 Vs Padres Preview

The hard-throwing right-hander(C. Young) hopes to prove that he has overcome the injury Tuesday night when the San Diego Padres host the Houston Astros in the middle game of their series.

Young went 9-3 with a 1.82 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 118 2-3 innings over his first 20 starts last season. In the final game of that stretch and the third after he pitched in his first All-Star game, the 6-foot-10 hurler injured his oblique and never quite recovered. He lost all five of his decisions since the injury, posting a 5.96 ERA while fanning 53 batters in 54 1-3 frames over his final 10 starts.

He will try to put the injury behind him and continue his success at home, where he went 4-2 with a major league-low 1.69 ERA in 2007. He has won both of his career starts against the Astros (0-1) with a 3.75 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 12 innings, but hasn't faced them since June 25, 2005.

Young hopes to gain some inspiration from watching reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy throw a gem in Monday's season-opening 4-0 win. Peavy and relievers Heath Bell and Cla Meredith held the Astros to only four hits, while the Padres (1-0) produced 14 in getting to Houston ace Roy Oswalt.

Tadahito Iguchi is looking to build on an impressive debut for San Diego, going 3-for-5 with a run scored on Monday to improve to 9-for-23 (.391) with three homers in six career games against the Astros. The second baseman signed a one-year, $3.85 million contract in December after hitting .304 in 45 games with Philadelphia last season, helping the team to an NL East title.

Iguchi is seen as a solid No. 2 hitter in the Padres' lineup. He excelled in that role with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, helping them sweep Houston to win the 2005 World Series.

The Astros will counter with Brandon Backe, who is still trying to recover from having Tommy John surgery in August 2006. The right-hander underwent another procedure before the start of 2007 and did not pitch until September, going 3-1 with a 3.77 ERA in five starts.

That was enough for Houston to sign him to a one-year, $800,000 contract in January and assure him of a spot in the rotation.

"My understanding is he's 100 percent healthy," Astros general manager Ed Wade told the team's official Web site. "I know that when I served as general manager of Philadelphia, we tried to acquire the healthy Brandon Backe numerous times and couldn't get him.

"I'm excited about having Brandon here. I hear people talking about how he's a big-game pitcher. Every fifth day's going to be a big game. He's going to have a significant role in our rotation."

Backe is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three career starts against San Diego. He has only started once at Petco Park on Aug. 2, 2006, allowing one run and seven hits in 7 2-3 innings to earn a 7-1 victory.

(Houston Chronicle)

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