Abercrombie, who came in hitting .615, walked and stole a base, while Bogusevic also had a steal and scored a run. Both played the entire game.

Astros manager Cecil Cooper has an abundance of young talent pushing for a spot on the roster.

"They all continue to show you that they are very gifted and have a lot of skills," Cooper said. "Everybody seems to be doing their thing."

With an outfield that is scheduled to start power-hitting Carlos Lee in left field and rising stars Hunter Pence in right and Michael Bourn in center, even if one of Cooper's rising youngsters make the squad it'll be hard to get some playing time.

Throw into the mix veterans like Jason Michaels and Darin Erstad and the odds become even longer. Cooper even liked what he saw from infielder Matt Kata, who got to play some outfield on Tuesday against Tampa Bay.

"There's a lot of guys that can play," Cooper said. "It's crowded. We've got two vets that are going to be hard to supplant but I can't say that we won't. I'll have some decisions to make when it gets down closer. You kind of know which way you're going.

"You've got veterans, Erstad and Michaels, that are proven major league hitters, so they have the edge over the other guys because of that but these kids are all making strong cases. We're going to see Bogusevic as much as we can and the same goes for Reggie."

Venezuela manager Luis Sojo also had to like what he saw from his squad, which is loaded with veteran stars such as the Los Angeles Angels' Bobby Abreu, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez and Baltimore's Melvin Mora.

Sojo's squad got a two-run single from Cabrera and a two-run double from Seattle second baseman Jose Lopez.

Both managers got good starts out of the gate. Houston non-roster invitee Jose Capellan threw three scoreless innings and gave up only one hit. The Venezuelans got three innings out of Boston Red Sox prospect Enrique Gonzalez, who gave up just one run on one hit.

Notes: Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez continues to rehab a strained back muscle. He had an 8-10 minute session off flat ground and is out until further notice. ... Houston's Yordany Ramirez, who is also in the outfielder's mix, is still nursing a sore right hamstring. ... Houston ace Roy Oswalt will make his second appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman" as he and nine of his Team USA teammates will deliver the Top 10 reasons to watch the World Baseball Classic. ... The Astros will see a familiar face Thursday when they play Lee and Panama. Venezuela plays the Braves.