Old pal Wolfie keeps Astros' hopes alive

Randy Wolf pitched 6 2/3 strong innings, Lance Berkman hit a two-run homer and Houston beat host Cincinnati last night, 5-0, to keep the Astros' slim playoff hopes alive.

Houston pulled within 3 1/2 games of the wild card with four games left, trailing New York and Milwaukee for the top spot.

Wolf (12-12) allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked two, improving to 6-2 in 12 starts since being acquired from the Padres on July 22.

Cincinnati put runners in scoring position in the second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings but Wolf managed to work his way out of trouble every time.

Geoff Geary, LaTroy Hawkins and Doug Brocail pitched the final 2 1-3 innings and allowed only two hits. Hawkins has not yielded an earned run in 22 games spanning 19 innings since coming to the Astros from the Yankees on July 30.

Cincinnati's Ramon Ramirez (1-1) went five innings and allowed two runs and four hits in his fourth major league start.

Berkman drove in Kaz Matsui with a two-out drive to left in the first inning. It was his 29th homer of the season.

The Astros added three runs in the eighth. Hunter Pence walked with the bases loaded and Humberto Quintero added a two-run single.

In other games:

* At St. Louis, Adam Wainwright (11-3) pitched out of two bases-loaded jams and the Cardinals beat Arizona, 4-2, to dampen the Diamondbacks' playoff hopes. The Diamondbacks, who stranded 11 runners, entered the night three games behind first-place Los Angeles in the NL West.

Arizona's Mark Reynolds struck out once to tie the major league record for strikeouts in a season with 199. The Phillies' Ryan Howard set the mark last season.

Wainwright pitched into the seventh inning, allowing seven hits and five walks. Wainwright, 7-1 at home this year, has won his last six decisions and hasn't lost since June 2. He was sidelined from June 8 to Aug. 22 by a middle finger sprain.

* At Washington, Hanley Ramirez homered on the game's first pitch, top prospects Cameron Maybin and Gaby Sanchez combined for six hits and Florida beat the Nationals, 9-4.

Officially eliminated from playoff contention a night earlier, the Marlins gave Sanchez his first major league start and he responded by going 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.

Maybin, Sanchez's teammate at Double-A Carolina this season, went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt to raise his average to .500 (14-for-28) with Florida.

Josh Johnson (7-1) wrapped up a strong finish to 2008, with wins in his final three starts. The right-hander, whose season began in July after he was sidelined about a year because of reconstructive elbow surgery, went six innings, allowing two runs and six hits.

Washington's Tim Redding (10-11) turned in his shortest start of the season, giving up seven runs in 2 2-3 innings.

* Lou Piniella plans on managing the Chicago Cubs next year and could stay around longer.

"I've got a year to go on my contract and we'll see where it goes from there," the 65-year-old said. "But I'm not looking five or six years ahead or four or five years ahead, put it that way. Like I said, I've said many times that I'm perfectly content year to year." *