HOUSTON (AP) -- The fire alarm was false. Chris Holt's performance was real.

	Holt

Holt (3-6) allowed eight hits in eight innings as Houston stopped a four-game losing streak.

"Definitely, I've got that confidence out there now," he said. "I feel a whole lot like I did in spring training. I'm confident about everything I'm throwing."

Chicago's only run came on Carlos Lee's seventh-inning homer.

"He is going back to the way he did in spring training," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "He's throwing a lot of sinking fastballs and changing speeds and getting a lot of ground balls.

"Coming out of spring training, he was our best pitcher. He was lights out. I think maybe his first few starts he tried too hard. Since then, he's pretty well calmed down. He's given you an idea of what he's capable of."

White Sox manager Jerry Manuel remembers Holt.

"Chris was on my Arizona Fall League team and I knew he had good pitching instincts," Manuel said. "He showed that today."

Fans were startled by a first-inning fire alarm. When a siren went off with the Astros batting, fans were told to leave the stadium. Seconds later, fans some started to rise from their seats to leave, the command was withdrawn. Play was delayed about one minute.

Astros spokesman Rob Matwick said a smoke detector went off inadvertently.

Houston's Mitch Meluskey fouled a pitch off one of Enron's girders above the third-base line in the second inning, the first ball to hit Enron's ceiling.

The ball careened back into fair territory and was caught by pitcher Kip Wells (3-5), but was ruled a dead ball by plate umpire Travis Katzenmeier.

"I didn't know what the ruling was. I thought it was an out," Meluskey said. "I couldn't believe it but I guess that work in the weight room has paid off."

Richard Hidalgo hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, his 17th. There have been 98 home runs hit in 27 games at Enron Field, 20 short of the entire 1999 total at the Astrodome.

Wells, a Houston native, gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings.

"I guess I lost a little zip in the sixth inning after a tough fifth," he said. "I made a handful of mistakes with pitch location and they took advantage of it. The pitch to Hidalgo was hittable and he really drove it."

Meluskey put Houston ahead in the fifth inning with an RBI double that hit in front of the Grassy Knoll in deep center and rolled up to the fence, 436 feet away. Meluskey then scored on Craig Biggio's single.

"Kip pitched OK, he pitched out of a couple of jams," Manuel said. "Sometimes he lights your eyes up but we've got to get him throwing into the sixth and seventh innings."

Pinch-hitter Matt Mieske hit a fly ball to right field in the eighth that Magglio Ordonez missed, with two runs scoring on the error.

Game notes
Frank Thomas needs to score one run to become the sixth active player with 300 home runs, 1,000 runs scored, 1,000 RBI and 1,000 walks. ... Jeff Bagwell needs two RBI to reach 1,000. Bagwell broke Jose Cruz's team record of 942 earlier this season. ... The White Sox purchased the contract of INF Tony Graffanino from Triple-A Charlotte and placed INF Craig Wilson on the 15-day disabled list. ... Jay Powell pitched a perfect ninth after missing 15 games with tendinitis in his right shoulder.