HOUSTON -- Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs is a delightful sort that fans love for his hustle, his production and an offbeat personality that comes across as host of "Rockies All-Access" on FSN Rocky Mountain.

But deep down, he's wanted to be hated. He achieved that during the Rockies' 3-2 victory over the Astros on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.

Spilborghs dove for Geoff Blum's seventh-inning leadoff line drive. Television replays indicated the ball became dislodged from his glove, but Spilborghs grabbed the ball with his bare hand and held it aloft. Second-base umpire Mark Wegner ruled it a catch.

After the game, Spilborghs' bearded face broke into a wide grin as he described the play -- without a definitive answer. But there was no mistaking his delight during his next at-bat, when he was booed loudly. At one point, fans broke into a "cheater" chant.

"That was probably my favorite at-bat I've ever done," Spilborghs said. "I've never been booed like that before. I don't expect to ever get booed like that again. Maybe a year from now [when the Rockies return to Minute Maid], they'll still boo."

Spilborghs didn't exactly come clean.

"He hit the ball really well," he said. "I ran after it, caught it in the air. Then I just showed him the ball ... that I caught.

"You're trying to show the ball. You're trying to prove that you caught the ball. You do everything instinctively to prove that you caught it. It's part of our instinct, you know?"

Asked about the replay, Spilborghs laughed and said, "Camera angle. ... Bad camera angle."

The sleight-of-hand helped the Rockies win their fourth straight and assure themselves of the victory in the series with the Astros and a winning record on a nine-game road trip that ends Sunday afternoon.

Let's say others didn't have the same appreciation for Spilborghs' center-field acting job. Astros manager Cecil Cooper, who would have had the potential tying run at second with no outs, gave a thumbs down to Spilborghs and the umpiring crew. After the umpires met and didn't change the call, Cooper argued and earned his first ejection as the Astros' manager.

"Big part of the ballgame and they blew it," Cooper said. "It's simple. If they want to censor me or fine me, whatever, then they have to fine me, but I'm going to tell you just the way it is. I thought he blew it. I thought they all blew it.

"I said, 'All four of you guys got together and you didn't get it right. See you later.'"

Wegner said he made the best call he could.

"The best I can tell you is from angle I had I never saw the ball hit the ground," Wegner said. "'Coop' asked me to get help, and none of us could see the ball hit the ground, and the fielder came up with the ball like he caught it.

Blum said it goes along with the Astros losing three straight and seven of their last 11.

"It was a hit," he said. "I saw the ball go in his glove, I also saw the ball bounce and I also saw him raise the ball with his bare hand which is not the glove where the ball went in.

"It's just another bad call. That's the beauty of baseball. It relies on human beings making calls and sometimes they make the wrong call, but that's how things are going right now."

Winning pitcher Aaron Cook, the beneficiary of the play, delighted in Spilborghs' reaction to his villain status. "He loves the attention," Cook said.

Cook didn't bother to look at the replay.

"The umpire called him out," he said. "So that's good enough for me."