Hairston Leads Padres WIth Homer

SAN DIEGO 2, HOUSTON 1---------------------------

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Chris Young turned in another solid pitching effort at home and Scott Hairston belted a two-run homer to lift the San Diego Padres to a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night in the second of a four-game set. Young (1-0) struggled at times with his location but lasted 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits despite walking five batters against three strikeouts.

Continuing a trend of dominance in pitcher-friendly Petco Park since the beginning of the 2007 season, Young improved his home ERA over that span to 1.68. Joe Thatcher issued a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to cut the lead in half, but escaped without further damage before Cla Meredith and Heath Bell each tossed a scoreless frame. All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman worked around an infield single by Hunter Pence in the ninth to convert his first save chance of the season.

Hairston provided all of the offense San Diego needed when he deposited a fourth-inning offering from Houston starter Brandon Backe into the left-field seats to build a 2-0 advantage. Houston loaded the bases in the top of fourth thanks to two walks issued by Young, but the 6-10 righthander struck out Backe to end the threat. Backe (0-1), coming off a 2007 campaign in which he made just five starts after recovering from elbow surgery, surrendered two runs over five innings while striking out three and walking three.

Miguel Tejada singled and scored the lone run of the season for the Astros, who have managed just 10 hits in two games.