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Brad Lidge

4/27/2006

Lidge has allowed runs in four of his last five outings and has blown his last two save opportunities. The Astros' closer has seen his ERA climb to 6.94 as hitters have batted .316 against him in his rough five-game stretch. Lidge already has given up three home runs after allowing just five in 70 games last season.

1/17/2006

Lidge avoided arbitration and agreed to a $3.975 million, one-year deal with the Astros on Tuesday. The All-Star closer was 4-4 with a 2.29 ERA and 40 saves for Houston in 2005. He set a franchise record for consecutive save chances converted with 24 straight from June 21-Sept. 28.

10/24/2005

For a second straight outing on Sunday, Lidge gave up a game-winning home run in the ninth inning. This time it was a solo shot to Chicago's Scott Podsednik, who broke a 6-6 tie with one out in the bottom of the ninth of Game 2 of the World Series. Six days earlier, Lidge gave up a three-run bomb to the Cardinals' Albert Pujols in Game 5 of the NLCS.

10/14/2005

Lidge continued his mastery of the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night, working two scoreless innings to save a 4-1 Houston victory in Game 2 of the NLCS. The Astros' closer hasn't allowed a run to the Cardinals since May 29, 2003. Since then, he's worked 30.1 innings without giving up a run against St. Louis. He's allowed just six hits and eight walks over that span, while fanning 43 Cardinals.

7/6/2005

Although not a save situation, Lidge saw his first action in nearly two weeks, taking the mound in the seventh inning of Tuesday's victory over the San Diego Padres. The Astros' closer, who had been sidelined since June 24 with a mildly strained right biceps, struck out one and did not allow a hit in his scoreless inning of work.

7/3/2005

Lidge still hasn't pitched for the Astros since suffering a mildly strained right biceps during a session of long toss on June 25. The Houston closer won't work in Sunday's finale against Cincinnati, but Astros manager Phil Garner thinks Lidge may be ready to go on Monday or Tuesday.

6/30/2005

As a precautionary measure, the Astros have been holding Lidge out over the past several days, allowing the closer to recover from a mildly strained right biceps muscle. Lidge, who suffered the injury while playing long toss on Saturday, should be available this weekend, barring any setbacks.

5/25/2005

Lidge battled control problems in Tuesday's loss to the Chicago Cubs, blowing his second save of the 2005 campaign. The Astros' righthander walked two, allowed one hit and surrendered two runs in two-thirds of an inning, suffering the loss.

5/5/2005

Despite striking out three batters, Lidge blew a save and took the loss in Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing three runs on three hits, including two home runs, in 1.2 innings of work. The Astros' closer is still working his way back to full strength after missing some time last week with pneumonia.

After the game, Lidge admitted that his arm is still a bit weak following the battle with the illness. In 12 relief appearances this season, he is 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA and five saves. He has 20 strikeouts and five walks in 12.1 innings.