ST. LOUIS (AP) - Doug Fister pitched effectively into the eighth inning and gave the Houston Astros breathing room with a two-run single in a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
Colby Rasmus hit his 150th career homer in his first game back in St. Louis since 2011. Fister had been 0 for 2 on the season before hitting the first pitch from reliever Seung Hwan Oh up the middle to put the Astros up by three in the seventh.
Matt Adams and Brandon Moss homered for the Cardinals, whose season-best five-game winning streak ended.
Fister (7-3) allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings, his longest outing of the season, to win his sixth consecutive decision. The Astros have won the right-hander's last nine starts overall.
The hit gave Fister four career RBIs, and the first since he had one in 2013 for Detroit.
The Astros' 6-7-8 hitters were a combined 6 for 7 against Jaime Garcia (4-6). Rasmus also singled, Carlos Gomez singled and scored twice and Marwin Gonzalez singled and doubled with an RBI.
Fister retired 14 straight after Adams homered leading off the second, a streak that ended on Moss' 15th homer in the sixth that cut the Astros' lead to 3-2. Moss has four homers in his last seven games.
Garcia has lost four of his last five decisions. The lefty is 2-6 with a 6.15 ERA in 10 career starts against Houston.
Will Harris worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save in as many chances.
The Astros are making their first trip to St. Louis since the hacking scandal of the team's data base last year.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: SS Carlos Correa (left ankle) returned to the lineup after missing three games.
Cardinals: Reliever Seth Maness (elbow) and C Brayan Pena (knee) remain on rehab assignments with Double-A Springfield with no firm call-up plans.
UP NEXT
Astros: Collin McHugh lasted just 3 2-3 innings his last start, allowing four runs in a loss at Texas. He has a 9.49 ERA in the first inning.
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright is 13-1 with a 1.57 ERA in his career against Houston, including seven victories his last seven outings. He had a season-high nine strikeouts last time out in a victory at Cincinnati.
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Cardinals vs. Astros game highlights