Bud Norris took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Houston Astros snapped a four-game slide with a 4-1 triumph over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak to 19 games with an RBI triple in the third for the Astros, who improved to 2-5 against the first-place Cardinals this season.

Norris (4-4) was making a bid to join former St. Louis lefthander Bud Smith as the second “Bud� to toss a no-hitter when he ran into former teammate Lance Berkman with two outs in the seventh. Norris fell behind 3-1 and then tried to slip a 95 mph fastball past Berkman, who smashed a solo blast into the right field stands.

Norris ended up allowing one hit in eight innings while striking out two and walking five.

Houston provided Norris with enough support when it got to Jaime Garcia (6-2) for a pair of runs in the third. Pence laced his triple to deep center and came in when Carlos Lee grounded out to short.

Mark Melancon earned his sixth save with a scoreless ninth.

Ryan Theriot went 0-for-2 for the Cardinals, ending his career-best hitting streak at 20 games.