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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) -- Geraldo Guzman made his long-awaited major league
debut look easy.
Guzman, a former carpenter, scattered four hits over eight
innings to lead the Diamondbacks to a 2-1 victory and a three-game
sweep of the Houston Astros on Thursday night.
"He's been pitching in Latin ball, and there you are pitching
for your country and city," Showalter said. "I've been allowed to
go down there and you can cut the tension with a knife.
"From where he came from, I don't think he felt this as
pressure."
Guzman (1-0), who left baseball in 1990 and worked seven years
as a carpenter in the Dominican Republic before resuming his
playing career, certainly didn't appear awestruck. He struck out
three and walked one.
"There was no reason to fear any type of situation, it was just
a baseball game," Guzman said through an interpreter. "I was only
trying to do what I know to do, keep the ball down and throw inside
and outside."
Matt Mantei pitched the ninth for his third save to send the
Astros to their 11th loss in 13 games. Houston was swept for the
fifth time this season in a three-game series.
"The first one is always the best one, so I hope a made a good
one," Guzman said.
Center fielder Steve Finley made a wall-crashing catch with two
outs and a runner on second to help preserve the lead for Guzman to
end the eighth inning. Finley fell on the warning track, remained
there for several minutes, but then walked off the field.
"Once the ball hits my glove, I feel I have it," Finley said.
"It was just a game situation and I felt I had to go for it."
Guzman, 27, took up carpentry after he was released by the
Montreal Expos in 1990. He signed a minor league contract with the
Diamondbacks on Nov. 12, started the season in Double-A and worked
his way to his first major league game.
"I didn't think I was ever going to be back in baseball,"
Guzman said. "I didn't ever imagine something like this could
happen."
Guzman gave up two hits in the first inning and then retired the
next 10 batters until Moises Alou started the fifth with a single
to right field.
"His poise was unbelievable," Diamondbacks catcher Damian
Miller said. "From the first inning on, he was around the zone. He
threw mostly fastballs and sliders. When you are going through your
off-speed stuff like that you are going to get a lot of guys out."
Following Richard Hidalgo's single, a double-play grounder by
Chris Truby got the Astros within 2-1.
The Diamondbacks took a 2-0 lead off Chris Holt (3-10), who lost
his fourth straight decision.
Tony Womack led off the game with a single, went to third on
center fielder Hidalgo's fielding error on a single by Luis
Gonzalez and scored on Finley's sacrifice fly.
"He (Guzman) was good," Astros manager Larry Dierker said.
"He was not throwing all that hard, but the ball was moving in
both directions and he had good control.
"I don't know where they find all these pitchers. They keep
finding pitchers that get people out. They must have a scout behind
every backstop."
Jason Conti hit a triple in the fourth and scored on Miller's
sacrifice fly.
Holt struck out six and allowed four hits. "I felt good," Holt said. "I had 130 pitches, but I could
have gone back out there. I had good velocity and my arm felt
strong. We just didn't score enough runs."
Game notes
Jeff Bagwell played in his 1,400th major league game,
becoming the sixth player in franchise history to play in that many
games. First-base coach Jose Cruz holds the team record with 1,870
games. ... Gonzalez hit for the cycle on Wednesday and went
7-for-14 in the series. ... The game marked only the third without
a homer at Enron Field this season. ... The teams combined for just
eight hits, the lowest total at Enron Field. The previous low was
nine hits when Houston played Colorado on May 8. ... The Astros are
0-for-49 when trailing after eight innings.
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