GAMES 68-69 - June 13-14: The Spiral of Doom, Continued...

Friday, June 13: Yankees 2, Houston 1
Saturday, June 14: Yankees 8, Houston 4

Quote of the Day: "I have no concern with stealing and running bases. That's not why we lost. We lost because we didn't hit." (Cooper, on the 3 CS in Friday night's game)

The Yankees picked a great time for their first trip to Minute Maid Park. With the Astros continuing their seemingly endless June descent from the giddy days of May, it was a great opportunity for them to please the ubiquitous Yankee fans-in-exile who packed the stadium. For the poor Astros fans who managed to win the lottery for the opportunity to buy over-priced tickets to these games, it was a bum deal.

It was a bum deal for Shawn Chacon Friday night too. After waiting so long for his first decision this season, he was robbed of a chance to earn a "W" in this game. Rare for the Astros rotation these days, he pitched a terrific start: 6 1/3 innings, giving up only 1 run on 6 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. The only run he gave up came in the first inning, when Abreu reached first on a fielders choice, stole second, advanced to third on Ausmus' throwing error, and scored on a single. But once again, it wasn't Chacon's night for a decision. He left a 1-1 tie game with one out in the seventh and two runners on, his pitch count over 100. Wright came in and promptly set down the next two batters to end the inning.

Unfortunately, Brocail gave up a lead off homer to Jeter to open the eighth. That was all the damage that the Yankees could do against Astros pitchers. Brocail finished off the inning without any trouble. Valverde, pitching in yet another non-save situation, gave up an infield single to start the ninth, advance the runner on a balk, but kept the Yankees scoreless to give the Astros a chance.

They had a lot of chances, despite only getting 6 hits. The Astros had runners in scoring position stranded in numerous innings; they left the bases loaded in the fourth. The defining statistic was the running game, however: Cooper tried to make the most of his base runners, having them attempt to steal and steal again. The strategy worked in some cases, as Berkman, Bourn, Wiggington, and Matsui all succeeded in stealing second base. But it failed in three tries also - most damagingly when Berkman and Bourn unsuccessfully attempted steals of third base after successfully stealing second. In Berkman's case, the batter at the plate got a base hit, so the failed attempt cost the Astros a precious run in such a tight game.

At least Friday night's game was close. Saturday's game was another matter: Spotted to a nice lead in the first inning, on Carlos Lee's 3-run homer, there were a few moments of hope for the sell-out crowd of Yankees fans-in-exile, and at least one evil (or at least badly behaved) Astros fan in the right field bleachers. The Yankees scored their first run on a Jeter homer to lead off the second. But the slo-mo replays showed Hunter Pence making a terrific leap right on target to catch the ball, until a fan in a red Astros jersey decided to try for the play instead. He knocked Pence's glove out of the way and Jeter got the home run.

After that bit of just plain bad luck, it was Wandy's pitching that hurt them. When he's on he's on, when he's not... This was one of those games where his control escaped him: Five innings, five ER, on 6 hits, 3 walks, and just one strikeout. Although the Astros managed to add on another run in the seventh, on Ausmus' RBI double, the damage was done on Wandy's watch, and he earned the loss.

Cooper looked to have a short hook for the bullpen. Byrdak walked his first two batters in the sixth, and was promptly replaced by Sampson, who ended the inning without any problem. Wright interspersed a couple of singles with a couple of strikeouts in the seventh, but escaped without any runs scoring. But Cooper had more patience for Geary, who gave up runs in both of his two innings. Not that it mattered; the game was lost back on Wandy's watch.

With this loss, the Astros have now dropped six series in a row, with a record of 4-13 since May 27, when the spiral of death began. From a brief flirtation with the top of the NL Central division (they were only a game or two out a few weeks ago), they have plummeted to within half a game of the bottom. With the team now 3 games under .500, and 11 games behind the Cubs, the Chronicle staff is asking whether they should run The Tombstone again? My opinion: Definitely yes! Look what it did for the Astros in 2005!!! They kicked butt after that!

There have been a couple of interesting bright spots, offensively, over the course of Houston's tailspin. Since Towles was sent down to Round Rock ten days ago, Ausmus has added 40 points to his batting average. It's still only .235, but that's a big improvement over his buck-and-change numbers. Bourn has added on about 20 points in the same timeframe. Lee has put some padding on his BA, and has had some nice power hits too. Unfortunately, Berkman - who always said that his heydays in May were fun while they lasted - has dropped nearly 40 points from his loftiest BA, when it hovered around .400. The loss of his power in the middle of the order has been a killer. Pence too has seen a reduction in his hitting, but not as steep.

Standard disclaimer: I saw the scores and stats for these games after the Sabbath ended, and once again, did not have the heart to watch much of the reruns. I read the pitch by pitch, the box score, and the various game write-ups. Alas, in these tough times for the Astros, Alyson is not writing the daily game reports on Astros.com. I miss her perfect balance of angst and tough love.

One more chance on Sunday (Miriam's birthday and Father's Day) to squeeze a win out of this horrible home stand before the Astros hit the road.