GAME 94 - July 12 How to Beat the Worst Team in the League

Houston 6, Washington 4

Quote of the Day: "Everything looks great when you score six runs and win the ballgame. Guys played just as hard when we lost 10-0, but winning covers a multitude of evils and makes you look good." (Berkman)

The fireworks from the Nationals Ballpark a mile and a half away were my Havdalah candles Saturday night, as the game and the Sabbath ended at the same time. I was spending the Sabbath at my friend Marlene's house on Capitol Hill. My daughter in law had passed me a pair of tickets that her boss gave her, just in case I could get there for the 7 PM game, and I brought them along in my overnight bag. But at 6 PM it was still 90 degrees and humid, and we decided to stay in her cool house and drink a bottle of Gewürztraminer instead. After the Sabbath I got on the Metro at Union Station to head home. At Gallery Place, which intersects the Green Line, the train filled with people in Nats hats and jerseys - fans returning from the game. I thought about asking someone what the outcome had been, but didn't. In the car, driving back from the station, I heard on the radio "Nationals lose to the Astros." Hurray! I went home and watched the whole game on mlb.tv.

I'll start with the worst part of the game and get it over with: Wandy turned the ball over to Chris Sampson in the sixth, with one out and the bases loaded. Sampson's first pitch thumped the Nationals' batter Jesus Flores in the shoulder, to force in a run. But he induced a ground ball from Wily Mo, ending the threat with a 1-2-3 (Sampson-Ausmus-Berkman) double play. Nice work.

That two-fer was one of four the Astros converted in this game, a big factor in Wandy's earning a W out of his start. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs (3 of his making, and the inherited runner who scored on Sampson's hit batsman) on 8 hits, 1 walk, and (uncharacteristically) just 1 strikeout.

The Astros got on the board right away, with consecutive singles by Matsui, Berkman, and Lee scored the first run. Wandy gave it back in the bottom of the inning, and allowed another run in the second inning to give the Nats an early lead. Both of those runs were initiated by a lead-off double. After that he coasted along until the sixth, when he gave up a leadoff home run and then loaded up the bases to set up Sampson's hit batsman.

In the meantime, the Astros had done some damage of their own: Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Then for good luck the Astros scored 3 more in the fifth inning, on Berkman's two-RBI double, and Pence's RBI single. More nice work.

So giving up two runs in the sixth chipped away at their lead, but left them in good shape for the closing team. Sampson, Geary, and Valverde combined for the last three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and no walks between them. More very nice work.

All in all, a very solid game - the kind that this team should be winning routinely. They don't have a lights-out starting rotation, but if they can keep the damage to a manageable level, turn on the offense, score 6 runs, and then turn it over to a tight bullpen, they can win. Unfortunately, statistical history does not bear that out as the recipe for getting to the playoffs. Everyone who trashed Ed Wade in the off season for building up a stable of hitters, without beefing up the rotation, is saying "I toldja so." And they're probably right.

One more game before shutting down for All Star Week - and my son Josh and I will be there. He's riding down from NY with my daughter in law Marissa right now, and will meet me at the ballpark. If I'm only going to get to see the Astros once in person during the 2008 season, the least they can do is win. Right? RIGHT?