GAMES 80-82 - June 27-29: Astros Beat the Sox Off of Boston!

Friday, June 27: Boston 6, Houston 1
Saturday, June 28: Houston 11, Boston 10
Sunday, June 29: Houston 3, Boston 2

Quote of the Day: "It's fun again." (Doug Brocail)

Okay, the title is a bit of an exaggeration. The Astros won the series by taking two games, winning each by a single run. But hey - that's the Sox we're talking about, leading the AL East! This is huge! And three series wins in a row is definitely putting a better ending on a very ugly month of June. If they can keep this up, the Astros could be back at .500 before the All Star Game.

The series didn't get off to an auspicious start. Runelvys Hernandez, in his first start as an Astro, pitched 5 innings on Friday night, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 3 and fanning 5. Sampson gave up another run in the sixth. Lefty Wright loaded up the bases in the ninth, and Brocail came to the rescue - allowing 2 of the inherited runners to score. But all that was gravy for Boston. Houston only managed to eke out a single run, on Abercrombie's first homer as an Astro. Enough said about this game; let's get on to the good stuff.

I turned on the computer as soon as the Sabbath ended on Saturday night, just in time to catch the Astros coming to bat in the sixth. The Red Sox had just put 5 runs on the board in the top of the inning, and I wasn't really sure that I wanted to keep watching. The Red Sox had taken an early lead off of starter Backe in the third. After two quick outs, Backe gave up a single, a walk, a pair of doubles, and another single, allowing 4 runs to score before ending the inning.

Backe led off the bottom of the inning - and was hit by the first pitch. Bourn used his new best trick - the bunt single - to get on, and Pence moved Backe and Bourn to scoring position on a ground out. Berkman struck out for the second out - his second of three consecutive K's in the game. But the other two B's scored on Lee's single, making it 4-2. Tejada got on with an infield single, bringing up Mark Loretta to face his old team. One pitch, on big swing, and he had himself a 3-run homer, giving Houston a 5-4 lead. The Astros put on another run in the fifth inning, on Lee's solo home run.

Backe gave up a walk and an RBI triple to start the sixth, leading Cooper to bring in Geary in relief. Two singles, a walk, a sac fly, and a double later, five runs had scored, giving the Sox a 9-6 lead. That's about when I tuned in, just in time to watch the Astros go down 1-2-3. Byrdak pitched a lovely seventh, and then it was time for some fun.

Bourn walked, then Pence singled to start the bottom of the 7th. Then Berkman, with 3 K's for the night in his earlier at bats, singled to score Bourn and move Pence to third. Pence scored on a passed ball, making it 9-8, and all of a sudden the Astros were back in the game. Byrdak and Brocail combined for a 1-2-3 eighth, keeping them there.

The Astros didn't take long to complete their rehab - Wigginton led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to tie it up. Erstad got a pitch-hit single, and Ausmus bumped him to second with a nice sac bunt. Bourn sturck out for the second out. Pence walked, to put runners on first and second. Then Berkman completed his recovery from those three strikeouts - he doubled to score Erstad and Bourn, putting the Astros ahead 11-9.

Drama queen time: Valverde started the ninth with a nice strikeout. But then he realized that the Astros were more that one run ahead, so he gave Mike Lowell a nice pitch to hit over the fence, making things more interesting. Now, with a nice tight one-run lead, Valverde was ready: he struck out Youkilis and Varatek to end the game. Houston won: 11-10. It was Big Papa's 20th save of the season.

It's summer, which means it's proposal season for those of us who work for federal contractors. So I was working on Sunday from 8 in the morning until after 11 at night. But from 2 to 5:30 PM, I had two computers going - one for proposal writing, and the second tuned to mlb.tv. Brian Moehler pitched a nice start, 5 2/3 innings, giving up just one run on a third inning solo homer. But the Astros didn't do a whole lot to help him out. Blum (starting at third) hit a solo home run in the second, and Berkman got an RBI single in the fifth, but that was it for Moehler's watch. Lefty Wright came in to relieve him in the sixth, with two out and two on, promptly walked the bases loaded - and then struck out pesky Dustin Pedroia to leave them all stranded.

With the score still a way-too-close 2-1, Wright opened the seventh with another strikeout. But Cooper wanted a right-hander, so he brought in Villareal to face Manny Ramirez. Whack! A home run tied it at 2-2. Villareal put the next two on, and was replaced by Brocail. Two quick outs for Brocail ended the seventh, and three in a row shut down the Sox to end the top of the eighth. With one out In the bottom of the inning, Tejada took 9 pitches to get a single, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Blum grounded out, two away. Then it was pinch-hitter Mark Loretta's chance for further heroics against his old club, and he didn't pass it up. His single scored Tejada from second to put the Astros ahead 3-2.

In the ninth, there was no room for drama. Valverde gave up a walk, but had no other trouble on his way to putting out three batters, to give the Astros the win - and the series. Valverde walked off the mound with a huge grin on his face.

Oh, did I mention that it was Josh Beckett on the mound for the Sox? No slouch (the pitcher, not the sox). Winning three consecutive series against Al teams, two of which are duking it out for the top of the touch AL East - how cool is that? And how much confidence does that build in a team whose lousy June turned around their huge May and left them in the hole? Hopefully, we're well on our way to a humongous second half!

Cooper shuffles the deck... In an effort to shake up the team and to take better advantage of who's hitting, Coop has rearranged the lineup. Bourn, with his improved batting, is still leading off, with Pence in the two-spot. Then there's the BLT sandwich: Berkman, Lee, Tejada. So far so good, if it means that the Astros can beat the Red Sox!

Tomorrow: Welcome back, Jeff Kent! The LA Dodgers are coming to town.