--IF Geoff Blum, who has made most of the Astros' starts at third base since Ty Wigginton has been on the DL, is the Astros' emergency catcher. If somehow J.R. Towles is forced to exit with an injury before Saturday and Ausmus cannot play, the Astros might be forced to call on Geoff Blum behind the plate.

"We'll roll with what we have," manager Cecil Cooper said. "Hey, I got Geoff Blum, guys like that (and until late Wednesday night) Tomas Perez. They can go back there. You noticed I didn't say they could catch. I said they could go back there. No, but they said they've caught before. Blummy has said, 'I'll do it.'"

--CF Michael Bourn was pleased with the improvement of his tender groin muscle, but it's not likely he'll play during the two-game set against the Cincinnati Reds.

"I don't think I'll just try to rush it and be in there (Wednesday) or try to be in there (Thursday)," Bourn said. "I don't think I'll be in there (Thursday). You hit it on the button with that (suggestion that rushing back could lead to possibly tearing the groin). You don't want to rush it and hopefully do something stupid. I'll see where it goes."

--3B Ty Wigginton, who is on the 15-day disabled list with a small fracture in his left thumb, played catch and took batting practice Wednesday afternoon. Barring a setback, he'll take groundballs on Friday when the Astros arrive at Busch Stadium for the start of a three-game series.

"It was by far the best it's been," said Wigginton, who is optimistic about possibly being ready to go on a rehab start by the start of next week. "There's still some soreness."

--The Astros collected seven runs on seven hits in the fourth inning, both season-highs for an inning for the Astros this year. Six of those hits in the inning were with two outs.

--The Astros have scored 36 runs during their winning streak, including at least nine runs in each of the last three. A night after scoring a season-high 11 runs to win a game that was started against 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner RHP Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres, the Astros dismantled Cincinnati RHP Bronson Arroyo.

"We've faced some pretty tough pitching the last couple of games," CF Hunter Pence said. "It just goes to show that this offense -- if we go out with the right approach -- can score a lot of runs against anyone any day."

BY THE NUMBERS: 24 -- Homers allowed by the Astros entering Sunday, which was the second-most in the NL. Of the 24 homers, 14 have been solo shots and the other 10 have been two-run homers, meaning the club has yet to allow a three-run homer or grand slam.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "If these guys got to get fired up for that, I might be the wrong guy for the job. We all have a job to do and go out and play hard every day. If that's what it takes to inspire them, then we have to rethink this thing." -- Manager Cecil Cooper commenting on getting ejected from Saturday's game.