Astros rookie homers on first pitch in majors

First pitch in the big leagues, home run.

Mark Saccomanno quickly made a name for himself Monday night and helped the surging Houston Astros creep closer into playoff contention.

Called up from the minors earlier in the day, Saccomanno arrived at the ballpark minutes before the opening pitch. He pinch hit for starter Alberto Arias in the fifth inning and drove Ian Snell's first delivery the opposite way into the right-field bullpen to lead Houston past the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.

"He walks up there like he isn't nervous at all. And he just hits it out," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said.

The solo shot snapped a scoreless tie and triggered a three-run inning for Houston, which has won three straight and 11 of 12 to move 10 games over .500 for the first time this season. Suddenly, the surprising Astros are only five games behind Milwaukee, which leads the NL wild-card standings.

Saccomanno became the 22nd player to hit a home run on his first pitch in the majors.

Kevin Kouzmanoff was the last to do it, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He accomplished the feat for Cleveland on Sept. 2, 2006, becoming the only big leaguer to hit a grand slam on his first pitch.

"I went up there very nervous. I don't even remember it, my legs were so weak," Saccomanno said. "It was a great feeling to hit it out. It was like a dream."

In other NL games, it was San Diego 4, the Los Angeles Dodgers 0; San Francisco 6, Arizona 2; Philadelphia 8, Florida 6; and Cincinnati 5, Milwaukee 4.

The 28-year-old Saccomanno batted .297 with 27 homers and 84 RBIs for Triple-A Round Rock this season. He was in Austin, Texas, at 2:30 p.m. on Monday when he got the call to join the Astros, so he hopped a flight to Houston at 4:30 and arrived just in time.

"I didn't get a chance to get any swings before the game," Saccomanno said. "So I went down to the batting cage in the second inning with (coach) Dave Clark. I was thinking about what to do and I said if I got in I might take a pitch. He said, 'If you do, I'll fine you,' and I knew he would."

After Saccomanno's homer, the next four batters got hits - including RBI singles by Miguel Tejada and Lance Berkman.

"Who would have thought that a guy coming off the bench would do that?" Snell said. "I threw him a fastball down and away and he went and got it."