ESPN.com Houston/Los Angeles recap

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Saturday, May 26 10:10pm ET
Astros lose sixth straight game

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Luke Prokopec allowed two runs and six hits in 8 2-3 innings. And he also killed a bird with a warmup pitch in the third inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 7-2 win over Houston on Saturday night.


	Marquis Grissom gets some well-deserved high-fives after the first of his two homers Saturday.

Just a few days earlier, on the flight home from a road trip, Prokopec was watching the video of a Randy Johnson pitch killing a bird. He recalled that Friday with first-base coach John Shelby.

"I said to him, `Naw, that will never happen again,' " Prokopec remembered. "Then, the very next night, I swear to God. That was the craziest thing I've ever seen."

Prokopec (6-1) took a four-hitter into the ninth before fading. He retired the first two batters and was one out away from his first complete game in 11 major league starts.

But he surrendered Lance Berkman's 12th homer and a single by Moises Alou, who drove in Houston's other run with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly. Gregg Olson came on for the last out.

"I couldn't quite finish it off, so I guess it just wasn't meant to be," Prokopec said. "The last thing I was expecting Berkman to be looking for there was a changeup. It was a good pitch, so I take my hat off to him."

Marquis Grissom homered twice and drove in five runs for the Dodgers, helping extend the Astros' losing streak to a season-high six.

Grissom hit a three-run homer in the third off Shane Reynolds (4-4) and a two-run homer in the eighth off Nelson Cruz for his fourth multihomer game, his second this season.

Reynolds stranded five runners in the first two innings. He was one out away from leaving two more on base in the third, but Grissom homered after a one-out single by Shawn Green and a two-out walk to Dave Hansen.

Adrian Beltre greeted Cruz with a leadoff homer in the eighth. Hansen walked and Grissom followed with his 10th homer, his 11th hit in a span of 22 at-bats.

Grissom robbed Castilla of extra bases in the seventh with a running catch before crashing into the fence. It was one of four stellar defensive plays the Dodgers made in support of Prokopec, who walked none for the fifth time in eight starts.

"I'm kind of labeled as a fourth outfielder, but I don't think I should be a fourth outfielder on any team," said Grissom, a 13-year veteran and four-time Gold Glove who has played in two All-Star games and has 155 career home runs. "I have enough built up inside me to prove all of baseball wrong."

Grissom has started the last two games in place of left fielder Gary Sheffield, still on the active roster despite a torn ligament in the left index finger on his glove that has bothered him since April 25.

"Marquis is capable of hitting home runs, and he can hit just as many as I can," Sheffield said. "He has power and speed, and he's a great outfielder. If you ask somebody to do something for a short period of time, they might be able to do it. But to do what I can do over the course of a year is a different story."

Mark Grudzielanek had a two-out RBI single that made it 4-1 in the fourth. Reynolds retired the next 10 batters before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. He was charged with four runs and eight hits in seven innings.

Houston's Vinny Castilla hit a third-inning popup that fell between the mound and first.

It was the only hit of the game for Castilla, who hit three drives to the warning track that were run down.

"That's Chavez Ravine at night," teammate Craig Biggio said. "This is one of the biggest ballparks in the game once that sun goes down. Every time we tried to get rallies, their outfielders made some plays and took it away."

Game notes
Alou was robbed of a home run by CF Tom Goodwin in the seventh. ... Paul LoDuca, leading off for the fourth straight game, has hit safely in all 15 games he has started. ... Sheffield expects to sit out at least another week while wearing an apparatus to stimulate blood flow in his ailing finger. He is in a 3-for-31 batting slump. ... Dodgers SS Alex Cora turned in the defensive gem of the game, making a diving grab of Biggio's first-inning grounder in the hole and making a one-bounce throw to first.