GAME 9: First Series Win of the Season

April 16: Astros 6, Pirates 3

Last day of Passover, and the Astros give me reason to celebrate with another win. It took me several days, after the holiday ended, to find time to piece together this game on the mlb.tv archives. But given the bad scheduling - between holiday, day games, and off days - I just can't pass up watching the Astros win. It is hard to get a sense of it as a game, though, since I watched it in 3 segments over 4 days.

In his first regular season start since 2007, Russ Ortiz came within one out of getting his first win, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, and striking out 2. Ortiz left the game with the score tied 3-3 and two outs in the fifth, after walking Freddy Sanchez. Wesley Wright came in to retire Nate McClouth to end the inning, making him the pitcher of record in the sixth when Berkman hit a three-run homer that put the Astros ahead for good.

If Berkman's at bat was the most momentous in shaping the outcome, the second most interesting at bat had to be Freddy Sanchez's battle against reliever Chris Sampson in the seventh inning. With two runners on and one out, here's how the pitch-by-pitch ran: Ball, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Sanchez flied out to center, Morgan to third. Seventeen pitches, but Sampson was victorious.

Other notable events in this game:

In the bottom of the first inning, Miguel Tejada speared a hard line drive for a fabulous play, ending the Pirates' two-run opening.

Hunter Pence hit a homer into the left field stands for the Astros' first run in the second inning.

Michael Bourn easily stole his first base of the season in the third inning, as the catcher's throw to second ended up in center field. Bourn went to third on Tejada's ground out. After Berkman walked, Bourn scored the Astros' second run on Lee's fielders choice.

Keppinger continues to make Ed Wade look good - he hit his first triple of the season in the fourth inning. His .467 batting average down in the 8 spot in the lineup is kind of a shock for opposing pitchers.

I love it when pitchers help themselves at the plate. Ortiz became the first Astros' pitcher to break a 0.00 batting average, when he singled in Kepp from third to tie the game. Ortiz moved up to second on Bourn's walk, then to third when Tejada made a big swing - and hit the ball about 40 feet for an infield single. That brought up Berkman with two outs and the bases loaded - and he flied out harmlessly to center field. Happily, Berkman's homer in the sixth was ample penance for that missed opportunity.

Great work by the bullpen: Wright, Sampson, Byrdak, and Hawkins combined for 4 1/3 innings of scoreless work. Hawkins earned the save.

Valverde was not available to pitch because he's out with what appears to be a contagious case of back soreness. Matsui is also out with this ailment.

Enough of this Passover game! The Passover dishes are already put away for next year! It's time to move on to some real LIVE baseball games!