Houston ? Wandy Rodriguez had his best outing of spring training on Saturday, and then the Houston Astros said the left-hander would be their fourth starter.

Kansas City's Reggie Sanders connects for a two-run double against Houston. The Astros defeated the Royals, 5-3, on Saturday in Houston.

Despite a rough camp, Rodriguez had been penciled in at the position mainly because he’s the only left-handed starter remaining on the roster following Andy Pettitte’s move to the Yankees.

After struggling with his location and walking a total of nine in his prior two starts, Rodriguez allowed 10 hits with two runs and no walks in six innings during Houston’s 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.

“I had good location today and I threw a lot of strikes,” he said. “Today I had to do it well because I had two bad outings.”

Astros general manager Tim Purpura agreed, saying his work on Saturday was key in their decision-making.

“We were watching Wandy real closely and if he would have had scuffled today things could have been different,” Purpura said.

Houston set its 25-man roster by purchasing the contracts of relievers Rick White and Brian Moehler from Round Rock and optioning pitchers Matt Albers and Fernando Nieve and shortstop Eric Bruntlett to the Triple-A team. The Astros also reassigned catcher Eric Munson to Round Rock.

Purpura said sending Bruntlett, who hit a three-run homer against the Royals, to the minors was the most difficult decision of the day.

“Eric Bruntlett’s done a lot for this organization and this team,” he said. “It’s tough to have to send somebody like that down. He’s an asset. He can help us win, it’s just that we don’t have a spot on the roster for him right now.”

Chris Sampson was selected as Houston’s fifth starter, but will be used in the bullpen early as a fifth starter won’t be needed until April 10.

Sampson, who was out of baseball from 1999-2002, said his winding path to the majors makes getting the spot even more exciting.

“I took the unconventional way to get to the big leagues,” an emotional Sampson said as his family cheered in the distance upon learning the news. “I’ve only been pitching for basically four years professionally after three years off. Who would have thought I would have even made it, much less be the No. 5 starter in the Astros rotation.”

Royals starter Brandon Duckworth allowed six hits and one run with three strikeouts in 41â3 innings. Duckworth is Kansas City’s fifth starter.

“Brandon threw well,” said Royals manager Buddy Bell. “I thought he had good command and threw good pitches for the most part. He really only threw one bad pitch, and that was a breaking ball up to Brad (Ausmus).”