Hampton allowed three hits in four scoreless innings while striking out four as the Astros and Washington Nationals played to a 2-2 tie in 10 innings.

The injury-plagued lefty missed all of 2006 and 2007 and was limited to just 13 games last season because of various injuries, but is hoping to revive his career in his return to Houston, where he won 22 games in 1999.

"I feel like I'm getting there," he said. "I'm a little bit better each and every time out. Tonight, I felt good. Everything was working pretty well."

The 36-year-old had allowed six runs combined in his two previous outings.

"I was very, very pleased with him," Houston manager Cecil Cooper said. "Threw four shutout innings, pitched through a couple defensive mistakes and kept the ball down. That's what we need to see from him."

Hampton threw 65 pitches, which is the exact number he was supposed to get in Friday.

"I feel like as long as I get down in the zone I'm going to be successful and that's all I was concentrating on," he said.

Cooper didn't have anything else positive to say about his team on Friday after the Astros had three errors and continued their sluggish offensive pace.

When asked if he was happy with Houston's performance, Cooper ranted about his team's batting.

"Heck no, I'm not happy with that," he said. "Not at all. We're hitting .220 as a team at spring training. Nobody hits .220 at spring training as a team. Come on, .200 are you kidding me? I don't care if it's spring training, I don't care when it is, .220 is .220."

He undersold his team just a bit as the squad is hitting .224.

Scott Olsen started for Washington and allowed six hits and two runs with two walks in four innings. He was happy with his outing despite allowing a home run by Hunter Pence in the fourth inning.

"The ball was coming out good for the most part," he said. "I wish I would have thrown a lot more sliders there in the fourth inning to keep them off-balance because they were (hitting) the fastball there for a while."

Olsen, who was traded from Florida in November, was 8-11 with a 4.20 ERA in 33 starts last season for the Marlins. He said he threw all his pitches on Friday for the first time this spring.

"It's another step forward," he said. "Next time out we'll take more progression and go from there. I'm right on pace to where I want to be."

Houston's first run came when Kaz Matsui scored when Carlos Lee grounded into a force out. Brad Eldred had a homer for Washington in the sixth and the Nationals added a run on an RBI-single by Alex Cintron in the seventh.

Notes: RHP Brandon Backe is likely to be out 10 more days dealing with strained muscles in his left side. ... Houston OF Reggie Abercrombie returned after missing almost a week with a broken toe on his left foot.