HOUSTON -- The Pirates were getting out of Texas just in time.

The Houston Astros, with approval from Major League Baseball, postponed their games tonight and tomorrow against the Chicago Cubs because Hurricane Ike was bearing down on the heart of the city, with high winds expected to begin late this morning and possibly much worse to follow.

The Cubs will not arrive in town until late tomorrow or early Sunday. No makeup dates had been set for the postponed games.

"We're trying to be careful and mindful of our fans' safety," Astros owner Drayton McLane said. "People in the greater Houston area and Harris County have been encouraged to stay home, school has been canceled, and we just want to do the right thing."

The Pirates rushed afterward to make their regularly scheduled charter flight out of Hobby Airport. If that airport would have been unavailable for some reason, alternate arrangements had been made for takeoff from a nearby Air Force base.

"We were monitoring the situation for a few days," traveling secretary Greg Johnson said.

The Astros had been drawing large crowds while surging in the standings the past two months, but it appeared that no more than a third of the paid crowd of 31,101 were in attendance last night.

Pedro Alvarez is working out with his former teammates at Vanderbilt University, where he has been since shortly after Labor Day while awaiting resolution of the case that will decide his future with the Pirates.

Marc Cuseta, Alvarez's former coach on a New York City summer-league team who talks regularly to Alvarez and his father, was reported in yesterday's editions of The New York Times saying the Pirates were unfair in offering $6 million to Alvarez, the No. 2 overall pick, while catcher Buster Posey, the San Francisco Giants' pick at No. 5, received $6.2 million.

"He's obviously in a situation where, to be honest with you, they're trying to take advantage of a lower socioeconomic kid," Cuseta told the newspaper. "It's certainly not because he's not well represented. He's represented by the best agent in the history of baseball."

Cuseta described Alvarez as wishing he were playing baseball.

"That's what his dream is," Cuseta said. "But that's the business of baseball in 2008."

Tom Gorzelanny, wearing a splint on his left middle finger yesterday, will learn the specific nature of the injury after an MRI today.

If Gorzelanny is out for the season, manager John Russell said, the Pirates will consider "several different options" for filling his starts. One is moving Jason Davis or T.J. Beam out of the bullpen. Another is a recall of a minor league player.

• The Pirates have scouted Junichi Tazawa, a 22-year-old amateur Japanese pitcher who made big news in his homeland this week by declaring his wish to play in the majors. But the team is wary of signs that Tazawa will command an enormous bonus.

• Doug Mientkiewicz's stolen base Wednesday, just the 15th of his career, was reversed by the official scorer into defensive indifference, this despite the catcher cocking his arm and the second baseman breaking to the bag.

• Before the home game tonight, the Pirates will honor four minor league players for charitable work: Neil Walker in Indianapolis, Brad Corley in Altoona, Jared Keel in Lynchburg and Austin McClune in Hickory. Roberto Clemente Jr. will participate in the ceremony, as well as one honoring shortstop Jack Wilson as the local Clemente Award winner.

• The Pirates wore stars-and-stripes caps last night in recognition of the seventh anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, and they will wear them all weekend, too. Because one of those attacks occurred in Somerset County, an item from the game last night will be donated to the Hall of Fame.