TONIGHT’S GAME: The Astros and Phillies open a 4-gameseries tonight at 6:05 p.m. CT at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia...former Phillie RHP Brett Myers (8-7) will make his 1st career start vs. his former club against RHP Joe Blanton (5-6)...Myers compiled a 73-63 (.537)
record in his eight seasons in PHI with 21 saves, and was a 3-time Opening Day starter for the club...he ranks 15th in franchise history in winning pct. (.537).

WORKHORSE: RHP Brett Myers hurled 7.0 innings in his last start to extend his franchise record for consecutive 6+ inning starts to begin a season to 25, which is tops in the Majors in 2010...Myers’ overall streak is the 2nd longest of it’s kind in any stretch of apps. in franchise
history, trailing only RHP Larry Dierker (26 starts, 6/20/69-4/17/70)...additionally, Myers current streak to begin a season is the longest in the Majors since 2002 when Curt Schilling went 6+ innings in his 1st 35 apps. for ARI...Myers is one of just 20 ML pitchers since 1920 to go 6.0 or more innings in their first 25 apps. to start a season.

MYERS AT THE BANK: Brett Myers’ 27 career wins at Citizens Bank Park are T-2nd w/ Jamie Moyer, trailing Cole Hamels’ 31 career wins.

EASTBOUND: Tonight is the 4th game of a 10-game road trip (1-2 thus far) for the Astros, during which they are taking on the NL Eastern Division...they were 1-2 over the weekend in FLA, and will travel to NY to face the Mets (8/27-29) after the current 4-game series vs.
PHI...the Astros are 9-14 vs. the NL East this season.

YESTERDAY’S RECAP: A solo HR by Hunter Pence in the topof the 8th inning snapped a 1-1 tie, lifting the Astros to a 2-1 win over the Marlins yesterday at Sun Life Stadium...RHP Wilton Lopez (5-0) hurled two scoreless innings to pick up the win...RHP Brandon Lyon earned his 6th save...RHP Nelson Figueroa started the game, allowing a run on four hits and a walk with
seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work...Pence drovein both Astros runs in the victory.

FOR STARTERS: Astros starting pitchers have posted a 2.46 ERA (23ER/84IP) in the last 13 games, lasting at least 6.0 innings in 12 of those games...‘Stros are 7-6 in that span.

FIRING BLANKS: RHP Wilton Lopez’ 19.2 scorless inning streak is the longest active streak in the NL...Lopez also has the Majors top inherited runners pct., stranding 25 of 26 in 2010.

PHUN WITH THE PHILS: Since 2004, the Astros are 26-16 (.619) vs. the Phillies...they are the only NL club with a winning record vs. the Phils in that span...they were 6-2 vs. PHI in 2009 and are 0-3 vs. them thus far in 2010.

CASHING IN AT THE BANK: The Astros 12-7 (.632) all-time record at Citizens Bank Park is tops among NL teams...they are one of just two NL clubs with a .500 or better mark here at CBP.

Best Opponents Record at CBP - NL Clubs
1. Astros: 12-7 (.632)
2. Braves: 31-30 (.508)
3. Marlins: 30-31 (.492)

PHILLIE HUNTER: In 19 career games vs. the Phils, Hunter Pence has totaled nine HR and 19 RBI while hitting .338 (25x74) with a .730 slugging pct.

BOURN TO RUN: Michael Bourn stole his NL-leading 40th base yesterday, giving him three straight 40-steal seasons...Bourn, who led the NL in steals in 2009, leads the NL with 101 SB since 2008.

ROOKIE INFIELD: The Astros started rookies at all five infield positions (including catcher) in Friday night’s game at FLA...Jason Castro-C, Brett Wallace-1B, Angel Sanchez-2B, Tommy Manzella-SS, Chris Johnson-3B...the last team to start five rookies at those positions was the Washington Nationals, who did so on 9/28/08 at PHI.

SLOW, BUT STEADY: The Astros are 37-35 since June 1st, after posting a 17-34 record through May...they were 14-14 in June, 13-11 in July and are 10-10 thus far in August.

ASTROS FIRST 51 GAMES: 17-34----ASTROS LAST 72 GAMES: 37-35

HOT ROOKIE: Since the All-Star Break, Chris Johnson leads the NL in batting (.374, min. 75 AB), is T-4th in RBI (27) and is 5th in OPS (.989)...for the season, among all MLB rookies, Johnson ranks 3rd in batting (.337) and 4th in slugging (.512)...min. 150 AB.

NL - SINCE A.S. BREAK MLB ROOKIES - SEASON
1. O. Infante - .378 1. J. Jay - .362
2. S. Castro - .376 2. B. Posey - .341
3. C. Johnson - .370 3. C. Johnson - .337

NL - RBI SINCE BREAK
1. A. Ramirez - 31
2. C. McGehee - 29
3. H. Pence - 28
4. C. Johnson - 27
4. Uggla/McCann - 27

HOME-COOKIN: The Astros were 6-4 on their last homestand, which concluded on Thursday, and have won 11 of 15 and 18 of their last 27 games at Minute Maid Park...their .667 win pct. (18-9) at home since 6/23 is T-4th highest in the NL.

HOME WIN PCT. - NL (SINCE 6/23)
1. PHI - .774 (24-7) 4. HOU - .667 (18-9)
2. COL - .696 (16-7) 4. ATL - .667 (20-10)
3. SD - .684 (13-6)

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!: On Thursday night vs. NYM, the Astros reached the 30 million mark in all-time attendance at Minute Maid Park, which opened in 2000...in the first 10-plus seasons (2000-2010) of the park, the average yearly attendance has been 2.77 million per season.

INJURY UPDATES: RHP Brian Moehler, on the DL since 7/8 with a rt groin strain, is scheduled to begin a rehabassignment on Tuesday at Round Rock...starting 2nd baseman Jeff Keppinger (toe) and closer RHP Matt Lindstrom (back) were placed on the DL last week,
with both stints beginning on 8/16.

HOT HUNTER: Hunter Pence is hitting .378 (17x45) in his last 12 games with 10 runs, six doubles, four HR and 10 RBI...his 28 RBI since the All-Star Break rank 3rd in the NL...Pence has reached base safely via hit or walk in 26 of his last 27 games...he has hit safely in 23 of his last 27 games at .356 (41x115), and in 33 of his last 39 games at .342 (55x161) with eight HR and 31 RBI...since 7/4, he has raised his avg. from .254 to .284.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: Since the All-Star Break, the Astros are 6th in the NL in runs per game (4.74) and 6th in team batting (.264), posting a 18-16 record in those 34 games...prior to the Break, Houston posted a .238 team batting avg. and averaged 3.45 runs per game (307R/89G), with both totals ranking 15th in the NL.

NL Clubs Since All-Star Break
Batting Avg. Runs Per Game
1. Cardinals - .283 1. Reds - 5.24
2. Brewers - .276 2. Cardinals - 5.03
3. Reds - .272 3. Brewers - 4.89
6. Astros - .264 6. Astros - 4.74

CENTRAL FOCUS: The Astros are 33-24 (.579) vs. the NL Central this season, which is 2nd-best in the division...they recently concluded a stretch where 30 of 33 games from 7/16-8/15 were vs. NL Central opponents, posting an 18-12 mark in that span.

THIS BUD’S FOR YOU: RHP Bud Norris’ career-high 14 strikeouts on 8/14 vs. PIT are tied for the most by an NL pitcher this season (Strasburg also had 14)...for the season, Norris’ average of 9.45 SO/9IP ranks 3rd among NL starting pitchers (min. 15 starts).

SUCCESS VS. SOUTHPAWS: The Astros are 20-14 (.588) in the 34 games they’ve faced a southpaw starter this season.