Houston ? Craig Biggio collected his 3,000th hit, and Carlos Lee made sure he could celebrate it in style.

Biggio had five hits for just the second time in his career, and Lee hit a grand slam in the 11th inning to give the Houston Astros an 8-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.

“I think it was the way it was supposed to be done,” Biggio said as he choked back tears. “To have it happen here – that was a special atmosphere that was out there today.”

Lee’s shot to left field off Brian Fuentes (0-3) came on the first pitch. Biggio singled in the 11th, and Hunter Pence followed with a double before Lance Berkman was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Biggio became the 27th player to reach the mark with a single to center field in the seventh inning. The Astros second baseman was thrown out trying to stretch the play into a double on his third hit of the night, which tied the game at 1.

He added his fourth hit on a single to right field in the ninth for hit No. 3001 and his first four-hit game of the season.

Biggio is the first player to reach 3,000 hits since Rafael Palmeiro on July 15, 2005, with Baltimore.

The 41-year-old, who entered the season needing 70 hits to reach the milestone, has played his entire 20-year career with the Astros, making him the longest-tenured player in franchise history.

“This was just unbelievable the way it all came down,” Astros owner Drayton McLane said. “We tied the game, and then we lost the lead, then the grand slam. We’ll all remember this the rest of our lives.”

Biggio entered the game needing three hits to reach 3,000. The first came on a single to center field in the third inning.

The second hit, also a single, came on a grounder to third in the fifth. Atkins badly overthrew first base on the play, leaving the official scorer to pause for several tense seconds before calling it a single and ruling an error that allowed Biggio to advance to second.

The sellout crowd stood and chanted ‘Bi-ggi-o’ at each bat, and cameras twinkled with each pitch. Fans held signs that read ‘Mr. 3,000’ and ‘Biggio’s Hit Parade.’ One woman wore an orange shirt that featured block letters that read ‘Biggio’ and ‘3,000.’

Fireworks went off, the counter in left-center field with red illuminated numbers ticked to 3,000, and a giant banner with his picture and 3,000 that spanned from the train track to the roof of the stadium was unveiled after the hit.