"Righthander Brett Myers took the loss in Saturday's 5-2 defeat to Milwaukee to drop to 8-7, but he extended his club record for consecutive starts of at least six innings to begin a season to 23.

"I like throwing strikes and getting the ball put in play early, and that usually gets you deep in games," said Myers, who gave up four runs over six innings.

Myers, 29, who last week signed an extension of up to three seasons with the Astros, is three consecutive starts of at least six innings removed from tying Larry Dierker for the longest streak in team history, which Dierker accomplished over the 1969-70 seasons.

Darryl Kile posted 24 consecutive starts of at least six innings in 1997.

"Credit goes to the coaching staff," Myers said. "They could have made any move that they needed to make at any time in any of those starts. Luckily enough for me that they stick behind me for six innings."

Myers is the first pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2002 to tally at least 23 such starts to begin a season; Schilling went 35 with Arizona.

A night after a close call at home plate in the ninth inning gave Milwaukee a 6-5 come-from-behind win, Astros manager Brad Mills was convinced catcher Jason Castro had made the tag on Corey Hart, who scored the game-winning run.

"That is the toughest way to argue a call, to go out there when everybody's running around (and) the umpires want to leave," Mills said. "They're trying to get off the field, and I'm trying to state my case as (the plate umpire) is walking off. It's a bad place to be. It looked like (Hart) was out to me, and it looked like (he) was out to me last night."

Replays seemed to show Hart's outstretched left leg go above the plate as Castro made the tag. "