Major League Baseball

Split-squad game between Mets, Astros rained out

Published Mar. 21, 2010 9:39 p.m. ET

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The only thing that can phase Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt this spring is the rain.

Rain washed out Sunday's split-squad game between the Astros and New York Mets after one inning with Houston leading 1-0. The game is not expected to be rescheduled.

Oswalt gave up a hit to start the game but struck out the next three batters. The rain began after the bottom half of the inning, and the teams never made it back on the field.

This is the second time this spring Oswalt has had one of his starts washed out by the Florida weather. He missed his start on March 11 against the Washington Nationals as well.

``I got an inning in at least,'' Oswalt said.

Oswalt retreated to the batting cages to get his work in after the cancellation, but he didn't quite reach his target of throwing 75 to 80 pitches.

``The biggest thing is just getting my pitch count up,'' Oswalt said. ``So maybe next start, probably stay the same pitch count. I think it was going to be around 75-80. I still got three or four starts left until the end of the spring. So as long as we're close to 100 pitches by the end of the spring, it's no big deal.''

Including the unofficial numbers from Sunday's outing, Oswalt has tossed seven shutout innings this spring and has allowed just four hits while striking out six. However, his longest outing so far has been just four innings.

Saturday, Astros manager Brad Mills announced Oswalt would be the team's Opening Day starter for the eighth consecutive season, a franchise record.

The Astros' lineup totaled three hits in the first inning off Mets starter Jonathan Niese. Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee and Pedro Feliz all singled with two outs. Pence scored the run on Feliz's single.

NOTES: Astros 1B Lance Berkman had his left knee drained Saturday for the first time since having surgery March 13. He was back in camp to continue rehab Sunday. ... OF Michael Bourn was out of the Astros' lineup for the third straight game after straining his right oblique during batting practice on Friday. He's considered day-to-day.

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