HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Mike Hampton starts on three days rest today as the Houston Astros hope to lock up their third straight National League Central Division title against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

	SEASON SERIES
	May 18 May 19 May 20 Aug. 3 Aug. 4 Aug. 5 Oct. 1 Oct. 2 Oct. 3	Houston 11, at Los Angeles 3 at Los Angeles 5, Houston 2 Houston 4, at Los Angeles 3 at Houston 7, Los Angeles 2 Los Angeles 2, at Houston 1 at Houston 7, Los Angeles 0 Los Angeles 5, at Houston 1 at Houston 3, Los Angeles 0 Los Angeles at Houston, 2:35pm ET

Today's game is the final regular-season contest at the 34-year-old Astrodome, which opened in 1965 as baseball's first indoor facility.

Jose Lima pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and combined with Billy Wagner on a nine-hitter as the Astros blanked the Dodgers, 3-0, Saturday to move one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in NL Central. Houston also enters today with a one-game lead over the New York Mets in the wild card race.

In the event of a three-way tie, Houston and Cincinnati will decide the division title in a one-game playoff Monday at Cinergy Field with the loser being knocked out of the postseason.

If the Mets are eliminated, the Reds would win a two-way tie with the Astros based on a better record in head-to-head play. Cincinnati won the season series from Houston, 9-4.

Hampton (21-4, 2.95 ERA) allowed a run and seven hits over eight innings in Wednesday's 4-1 victory over the Reds. The lefthander is tied with Lima for the National League lead in wins and is looking to break Joe Niekro's franchise record for victories in a season. The Dodgers, who flirted with starting staff ace Kevin Brown this afternoon, instead send Robinson Checo (2-1, 8.22) to the hill for his second start of the year.

Checo started against Cincinnati on July 28 after being recalled from the minors and allowed one run over five innings in a 9-1 triumph. He has made five relief appearances since.

Houston leads the season series, 5-3.

LOS ANGELES 10-game log	HOUSTON 10-game log
Sep. 26 Sep. 28 Sep. 29 Sep. 30 Oct. 1 Oct. 2 Oct. 3 San Diego @ San Francisco @ San Francisco @ San Francisco @ Houston @ Houston @ Houston W 10-7 W 6-3 L 1-5 W 9-4 W 5-1 L 0-3	Sep. 25 Sep. 26 Sep. 28 Sep. 29 Oct. 1 Oct. 2 Oct. 3 @ Milwaukee @ Milwaukee Cincinnati Cincinnati Los Angeles Los Angeles Los Angeles L 2-3 L 3-11 L 1-4 W 4-1 L 1-5 W 3-0

Los Angeles regulars

POS

NO

PLAYER

HT

WT

B/T

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

AVG

C 1B 2B 3B SS LF CF RF

36 9 23 21 29 5 10 22 43

Angel Pena Todd Hundley Eric Karros Eric Young Adrian Beltre Jose Vizcaino Gary Sheffield Devon White Raul Mondesi

5-10 5-11 6-4 5-9 5-11 6-1 5-11 6-2 5-11

228 199 226 170 165 180 205 190 215

R-R L-R R-R R-R R-R B-R R-R B-R R-R

120 376 574 452 534 265 549 471 596

25 78 176 128 147 66 165 127 150

6 14 40 24 27 9 20 20 29

0 0 0 2 5 0 0 2 5

4 24 34 2 15 1 34 14 33

21 55 112 41 67 29 101 68 98

.208 .207 .307 .283 .275 .249 .301 .270 .252

Complete Los Angeles roster

Houston regulars

POS

NO

PLAYER

HT

WT

B/T

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

AVG

C 1B 2B 3B SS LF CF RF

20 5 7 11 12 22 31 3 23

Tony Eusebio Jeff Bagwell Craig Biggio Ken Caminiti Ricky Gutierrez Lance Berkman Daryle Ward Carl Everett Matt Mieske

6-2 6-0 5-11 6-0 6-1 6-1 6-2 6-0 6-0

210 195 180 200 175 210 230 190 194

R-R R-R R-R B-R R-R B-L L-L B-R R-R

320 559 636 271 264 93 148 460 150

88 170 187 77 70 22 40 150 46

15 35 55 11 7 2 5 33 5

0 0 0 1 5 0 0 3 0

4 42 16 12 1 4 8 25 9

32 125 73 54 25 15 27 108 29

.275 .304 .294 .284 .265 .237 .270 .326 .307

Complete Houston roster

Regulars Statistics source: STATS, Inc.

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