CINCINNATI -- Darren Oliver was getting impatient, just like everybody else.
The left-hander couldn't wait for the first game to end so he could make his first start for the Houston Astros. By the time he took the mound, a whole lot had already happened.
Oliver pitched five stingy innings Saturday, setting up an 8-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds that finished off another draining day at Great American Ball Park.
It started with the Reds beating the Astros 3-2 in 13 innings, completing a game suspended overnight because of rain. Oliver had to wait out yet another rain delay and extra innings before showing his stuff in the second game.
"I should have known something that that was going to happen, after all of the other delays," he said.
It worked out just fine. Three Astros combined on a four-hitter, and Carlos Beltran and Mike Lamb homered in a six-run ninth inning that assured the Astros of a split.
Left-hander Andy Pettitte was scratched from the second game because of a sore elbow, which also forced him out of his last start. Manager Phil Garner decided to skip his turn in the rotation, giving him a few more days to fully recover.
"It feels better," Pettitte said. "We felt that if I went out there and reaggravated it, it could be a DL situation. I probably won't pick up a ball for several days. I'm pretty sure I should be able to make my next start."
Oliver (3-3), acquired from Florida on July 22, made his first start for the Astros and allowed only Adam Dunn's single in five innings -- exactly what Houston needed to get through a long day.
"If he doesn't go as long as he does, it's going to be tough," Garner said.
The Reds didn't get a runner into scoring position until the seventh, when Dunn had an infield single and Cincinnati loaded the bases with no outs. Mike Gallo escaped by inducing three harmless flyballs.
Brandon Claussen (1-1) got sidetracked by one inning. He threw 43 pitches in the fourth, when Ryan Freel let in a run with a wild throw on Jason Lane's fly to right.
"When you're in situations like that, you definitely learn a lot about yourself," said Claussen, who threw 118 pitches.
Claussen lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and five walks in his third start for the Reds. Phil Norton relieved in the sixth and gave up Brad Ausmus' RBI double, the second of his four hits.
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