GAME 98 - July 20: Too Good to Last

Chicago 9, Houston 0

Quote of the Day: "It was frustrating, especially when I'm out there throwing warmup pitches and he [the home plate umpire] is staring me down. You can't say anything to them. They're going to throw you out of the game if you do." (Backe, upset over the called strike 3)

In a way, it's a good thing that the game wasn't close. If it were, Backe would probably be even more upset than he already is. But that bases-loaded called strike 3 against him really doesn't account for a 9-run deficit. That fifth inning, with 3 singles to load up the bases with no outs, was the only time that the Astros were really in the game, offensively. It was their bad luck that the next batter up, after Tejada, Blum, and Pence got on, was JR Towles, who waved the bat anemically in the direction of the incoming ball to strike out. Backe, a good hitter, came to the plate, down 3 runs already. It would have been a good time for a home run, but he struck out looking on a pretty iffy call. Matsui popped out to end the inning without plating a single run. And that was it for the Astros' attempts to score. Ryan Dempster totally shut them down.

Those few runs that Backe allowed in his 6 2/3 innings would have been plenty to win the game. But Sampson, Byrdak, and Paronto combined to give up 5 more runs in the ninth inning, pretty much nailing the coffin closed. (Same Paronto who played such a big role in last Friday night's 10-0 shellacking by the Nats - I suspect that his trip up from Round Rock will be short.)

All in all, a pretty dismal day at the ol' ballgame.

The Pirates are coming to town tomorrow. There but for Pittsburgh, the Astros would be in the NL Central cellar. The Pirates are coming in on a 5-game losing streak. Hopefully the Astros can jump on the bandwagon...