Three in a Row - Thanks to These Killer Bs!

After a long drought, Central Florida is getting a few raindrops and the Astros are getting a few wins! We'll get to the details of which players get kudos for Sunday's squeaker against the Nats in a minute. First, we need to acknowledge a few of the fans whose boisterous cheers contributed to the win - a new set of Killer B's.

Fan of the Day is Baylen from Omaha, who was at the game with his granddad. Baylen was wearing an Astros hat - courtesy of the Sunday stadium giveaway - and his grandfather admitted that he was just developing his loyalty to the team. We were sitting in the first row, right over the Nats dugout, and Baylen really, really wanted a game ball. When he finally got one, that was step 1 in cementing his fandom. But I'm hoping that seeing himself featured on Astros Fan in Exile will make him a lifelong fan-atic of baseball, Spring Training, and of course - the Astros!

To round out our set of Killer B's we have Bill, Bill, and Bob. Bob is Carole T's significant other, and felt left out that she got Fan of the Day credit Thursday without him. (Well, she was the one who recognized me!) Anyway, these guys surely contributed plenty of cheers (if not beers) to the game Sunday, resulting in...

ANOTHER WIN!

Let's talk about baseball: First of all, welcome to Pudge Rodriguez, who caught his first game in an Astros jersey today. Batting second in the lineup, he pleased the crowd with a base hit in his first at bat.

Today's game was all about pitching. The Astros started with Brian Moehler who looked very sharp, despite getting smacked with a hard-hit ball in the first inning. He stayed in to pitch a very economical three innings of no-hit ball: His pitch-count was 27, but I could swear that one inning he got out with about 3 pitches. According to reports after the game (thanks, Alyson!), it's just a bruise and he hopes to get his work in with a couple more Spring starts. After 14 innings, Moehler's got a 1.29 ERA and a WHIP of 1.00 - not a bad showing for a starter who was a nonroster invitee last March.

Jeff Fulcino, who the Astros picked up from KC, came in to pitch the other two innings that had been planned for Moehler. He gave up only one hit, no runs, no walks. Fulcino's also having a terrific spring: He has pitched more than 12 innings in 8 appearances (one as a starter), with a 2.19 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00.

Valverde was tough - after allowing a triple, he struck out two to shut down the Nats without any scoreboard damage. I was hoping for a bit of an emotional display, for the sake of my camera, but he just gave a tiny little self-satisfied clench of the fist to end the inning. Brocail, Wright, and Geary each pitched a hitless inning to complete the shutout against the Nats.

As tough as Houston's pitching staff was, the Nats were matching them inning by inning. Special kudos to John Lannon, who threw the first 6 scoreless innings, to keep his 0.00 ERA intact.

It looked like the Astros might break it open in the eighth inning, loading the bases before Towles struck out looking to end the inning. Down to the bottom of the ninth, it was starting to look like someone was going to need to decide whether to take the tie or plan an extra inning... With one out, speedster Bourn on third base, and Newhan on first, Erstad hit a ground ball. Newhan charged into second, breaking up the Nat's attempted double play, while Bourn dashed in to score. "Walkoff fielders choice" doesn't have quite the same cachet as, say, "walkoff three-run blast" - but hey, this spring, we'll take it and say "Thank you, Darin!"

For those of you who were hoping to see some awesome photos of this game, courtesy of my new camera, be patient. Here's my picture of the game - not yet even formatted. I've always wanted to take one of those flying shortstop photos and almost fainted when I realized I'd finally got one. I have lots more good ones to post, but haven't had a time to format and upload them yet. Check my website Photo Album later - I'll get some more posted after the game tonight.