Astros 7, Cardinals 6

HOUSTON (AP) _ Daryle Ward's leadoff home run in the 12th inning gave the Houston Astros a 7-6, come-from-behind victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. <br><br>Luther Hackman (0-1) escaped

Monday, April 8th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

HOUSTON (AP) _ Daryle Ward's leadoff home run in the 12th inning gave the Houston Astros a 7-6, come-from-behind victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Luther Hackman (0-1) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 11th. But the next inning, Ward hit an 0-1 pitch off the right-field foul pole for his second home run.

Ricky Stone (1-0) pitched two hitless innings and struck out three for the victory.

The Astros rallied for three runs in the ninth off Mike Timlin to tie it at 6.

Jeff Bagwell hit an RBI double with two outs and Lance Berkman was intentionally walked to load the bases. Richard Hidalgo followed with a two-run single to tie it, then Ward grounded out to send the game into extra innings.

Jim Edmonds hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals and also stole home as part of a ninth-inning double steal.

J.D. Drew hit an RBI single in the eighth off Octavio Dotel to put St. Louis ahead 4-3, and the Cardinals added two runs in the ninth off Billy Wagner.

Edmonds singled, advanced on a sacrifice and a groundout and came home as Eli Marrero swiped second. Edgar Renteria doubled in a run for a 6-3 lead.

Edmonds continued his hot hitting in Houston. He is 27-for-62 with six home runs and 14 RBIs in 16 games at Astros Field.

Cardinals starter Darryl Kile allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He is 2-4 with a 4.19 ERA in eight starts against his former team.

Astros starter Wade Willer gave up three runs and six hits in seven innings. He also went 2-for-3.

Fernando Vina's RBI single put St. Louis ahead in the third, but Houston took the lead in the bottom half on Jose Vizcaino's RBI double and Gregg Zaun's run-scoring single.