HOUSTON(AP) -- The Houston Astros were just glad to see Tommy
Hanson out of the game.

One inning after the Atlanta Braves' rookie pitcher left, Miguel
Tejada hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the bottom
of the ninth to give the Astros a 2-1 victory Wednesday night.

Hanson had been overpowering for eight innings, striking out
seven and allowing five singles and no walks in his longest
major league outing.

So Houston felt it had a chance when closer Rafael Soriano (1-5)
entered to try to get the save.

Kaz Matsui led off the ninth with a single and Lance Berkman
doubled to left. Carlos Lee was intentionally walked and
Tejada's single up the middle handed Soriano his fourth blown
save.

Tejada admitted he was glad to not have to face Hanson.

"Not just me," Tejada said. "Everybody was. The way the game was
going, the way he was pitching, we weren't doing much.

"The kid is unbelievable. He pitched a great game. I just tried
to hit the ball up the middle with the bases loaded. That's what
I do best."

Astros manager Cecil Cooper was another person happy that Hanson
was out of the game.

"We probably wouldn't have gotten anything off of him," Cooper
said. "It didn't look like it. We had chances and we didn't
really do anything against him. That kid's pretty impressive."

The Braves, who have lost six of seven, were stunned.

"It (the loss) was awful the way he pitched," Atlanta manager
Bobby Cox said. "He pitched terrific baseball. He had everything
going.

"Hanson was right at 100 (pitches). He wanted to go back out and
could have come back out. But you have to be careful. You always
want to start your closer with a clean inning. You don't want
him to come in with men on. And we've got confidence in him."

Hanson was pragmatic about the loss.

"That's just the way it goes sometimes," he said. "We did a good
job of keeping runs off the board. That's just baseball.

"Everything felt really good. I would definitely say that was
one of my better starts."

Hanson would have liked to go one more inning.

"I understood the situation (in the ninth) 100 percent," he
said. "He's the manager and I do what he says. Every start, I
want to go back out. (Cox) is the one who decides when I come
out of the game. That's the way it goes."

Jose Valverde (4-2) struck out two in a perfect ninth for the
win.

Houston's Wandy Rodriguez went seven innings, allowing one run
and three hits, striking out six.

Rodriguez, who retired 10 of 11 hitters from the second through
the fifth innings, has limited opponents to one run or less in
11 of his last 13 starts.

The Braves went ahead in the second inning when Yunel Escobar
led off with a walk and went to second on Brian McCann's infield
groundout. Matt Diaz drove in Escobar with a single to right.

NOTES: Astros 3B Geoff Blum left the game in the third inning
with a contusion to his right lower leg and a mild ankle sprain.
He was injured sliding into second base. Chris Johnson made his
major league debut replacing Blum. ... It was the fifth straight
game decided by one run for Houston. The Astros are 4-1 in the
games. ... The Braves are 24-21 in one-run games after going a
majors-worst 11-30 last season. ... The Braves have had 84
quality starts, nine more than all last season.