"Astros slugger Carlos Lee stepped up to the plate for the fourth time Friday night at Minute Maid Park with only a walk to show for his previous efforts.

Brett Myers' latest pitching performance — and the fact the team was awfully close to wasting it — resonated with Lee.

So Lee did something about it, hitting a three-run homer in the eighth inning to jump-start the Astros to a come-from-behind 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"It was a big hit, especially after Myers had thrown a really good game as he has been doing all year long for us," Lee said. "I took advantage of the opportunity. That doesn't happen very often (this season), so you have to enjoy it when it happens."

Geoff Blum, who got a rare start at second base, and rookie Chris Johnson followed with back-to-back singles, and rookie first baseman Brett Wallace drove in an insurance run with a base hit as the Astros (49-65) improved to 7-0 at home against the Pirates (39-76), who are well on their way to an 18th consecutive losing season.

Lee took All-Star reliever Evan Meek's second pitch, a slider, 340 feet into the Crawford Boxes to score Angel Sanchez and Hunter Pence.

"That's his fourth game-winning home run," Astros manager Brad Mills said. "People get on him about his year, but that's a pretty nice thing to have." "