"I thought we were rolling along pretty well," he said. "I hit the ball off the end of the bat in my last at-bat. I got a stinger on my finger. I went back out there and tried a few breaking balls and couldn't throw them. I tried to get through an inning of trying to throw a lot of fastballs, but I knew that wasn't going to work. I hit it off the end of the bat."

Oswalt, who exited with a 5-2 lead, gave up four hits and four runs over five-plus innings.

"I'm hoping in two or three days it should feel better," said Oswalt, who has gone a career-high five outings without a decision. "I might skip my bullpen (session) and let it calm down some and see how it feels going into this weekend."

ASTROS 10, NATIONALS 10 (susp., 11th inning): The Astros' bullpen struggled for the second consecutive day, as Chris Sampson gave up four runs (two earned) with four walks, including three RBI walks, over two-thirds of an inning after he was called to protect a 5-2 lead in the sixth. The Nationals scored six runs in the sixth, and the Astros struggled just to tie it before the game was suspended in the 11th inning because of rain.