(Best E Casino) - Young gunslinger meets old sheriff on the mound tonight, when the San Francisco Giants visit Minute Made Park for the second game of a four-game series with the host Houston Astros.

The Giants will start 24-year-old former first-round pick Tim Lincecum, who burst onto the scene with wins in 10 of his first 11 decisions this season before cooling to just two wins in his last six starts.

The right-handed Washington native reached the majors and made 24 starts last season, winning seven times and posting an even 4.00 earned run average in 146 1/3 innings.

He's pitched to an even better 2.68 ERA through 157 2/3 innings this time around, including an eight-inning performance in a 3-2 defeat of the Atlanta Braves on August 6, when he allowed five hits and two runs while striking out eight.

Lincecum, who's 1-0 in three lifetime starts against the Astros, has struck out at least eight batters in eight of his last 10 starts.

For Houston, 30-year-old right-hander Roy Oswalt is a win away from reaching double figures for the eighth straight time.

A two-time 20-game winner in 2004 and 2005, Oswalt has won 15 and 14 in the last two seasons while surpassing 200 workhorse innings for the fourth and fifth time in his career.

He's 3-0 in his last five outings, including a 7-4 decision over Cincinnati on August 7 that improved his career mark against the Reds to a remarkable 21-1.

Oswalt downed the Giants, 7-3, on May 12 in California, allowing five hits and three runs in eight innings. He's 3-5 lifetime against San Francisco in 11 starts with a 3.99 ERA in 67 2/3 innings.

On Monday, Ty Wigginton finished 2-for-4 with a homer and knocked in all three runs, as the Astros edged the Giants, 3-1.

Brandon Backe (7-11) gave up one run and scattered four hits over seven solid innings to get the win for Houston, which has won five games in a row to reach the .500 mark (59-59) for the first time since June 11 (33-33). Backe also singled and scored a run.

Fred Lewis singled in the lone run for the Giants, who had won six of their last nine games coming in. Rich Aurilia doubled twice for San Francisco.

Jonathan Sanchez (8-9) took the loss after he allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings. The lefty, who had a no-hitter through five frames, is 0-5 over his last seven starts and has not recorded a victory since June 29 at Oakland.

Houston won three of four when these two clubs met in San Francisco from May 12-15.