GAMES 20-22: Taking on the Red(s) Menace

April 27: Astros 4, Reds 1
April 28: Astros 8, Reds 3
April 29: Reds 3, Astros 0

The Astros' odd love affair with Great American Ball Park continued this week with a series win over the Reds. It would have been nice if the Astros could have squeezed a sweep out of this strange away-team advantage, but they were shut out in the third game of the series - their first loss at GABP since 2007. Houston's total domination of the Reds in their own ballpark makes me wonder: Perhaps they should reconfigure the field at Minute Maid Park to match?

In Game 1, Monday night, Oswalt kept up his domination of Cincinnati batters. While he did not get a decision - Houston didn't really go to bat for him until the ninth inning, it was Roy O's typical-day-at-the-office start: Seven innings (98 pitches), 1 run on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. It was a matching performance for his last start against the Reds, last week in Houston, which also resulted in a no-decision for Oswalt. He's pitched pretty well this year but still hasn't managed to notch that elusive first "W."

Berkman (still in a -- shhhh! -- slump) managed to swat yet another home run in this game, his 20th in this ballpark. This homer in the sixth inning was Houston's only run on Oswalt's watch, as the Astros waited until the ninth to break the game open. While they couldn't do much of anything against starter Johnny Cueto, they had some fun against the Reds' closer Francisco Cordero. Lee and Tejada kicked off the last inning with back-to-back singles, setting the table for Pence, who hit them in with a double. Pence then scored on Blum's sac fly, to give the Astros a 4-1 lead.

Byrdak relieved Oswalt in the eighth, with Sampson finishing out that inning and pitching the ninth for the win. Valverde, unavailable due to his fielding mishap last week, is still on the mend. By the end of the series, he ended up on the DL, with Fulchino called up to take his roster spot.

In Game 2, Wandy stymied the Reds. He pitched 7 innings (99 pitches), giving up only 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. The performance earned him his second win of the season, and lowered his ERA to 1.69 - third among NL starters. Wandy's been good this year both home and away, and I still predict that this will be the year that he finally gets (earns!) some Respect.

Unlike Oswalt, Wandy had plenty of help from his teammates. The fun started in the first inning with leadoff hitter Matsui - he singled, stole second, and the scored on a throwing error by the Reds' #1 hero Joey Votto. The Reds came back in the bottom of the inning to tie it up, but Pudge Rodriguez's second inning solo homer put the Astros ahead for good. In the fifth, the Astros had a rare Big Inning, scoring 4 runs on Blum's single, Pudge's double, Matsui's single, and then Lee's double. Just for good measure, they scored another pair in the eighth on Tejada's double, Pudge's walk, and consecutive RBI singles by Erstad and Matsui.

Geary and Wright, pitching the last two innings in relief, each gave up leadoff homers to account for the Reds' other two runs in the 8-3 Astros victory. Matsui was the numbers star of the game, going 3 for 5 (all singles), 2 RBIs, scoring twice. He also stole 2 bases, as did Michael Bourn. Pudge was the power star of the game, with a double and a homer, scoring 3 runs. Berkman was 0 for 4, dropping his batting average to a very depressing .164. Everyone knows that it's just a temporary slump, and that he'll be back to his usual greatness at the plate before long (remember last May!). But for now it's a bummer.

It's too bad that the Astros couldn't have saved up a few of those extra runs for Game 3. Instead, they wasted another terrific pitching start - this time by Paulino. The youngster pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up only 1 ER (see the trend?) on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. But he was way outdueled by the Reds' Volquez, who limited the Astros to a single hit, no runs, in his 8 innings on the mound. I hoped for a repeat of closer Cordero's Game 1 meltdown, but no such luck. He threw a perfect ninth.

The Astros only hit was a single by Tejada. Berkman, who had the night off unfortunately, pinch hit with Michaels on first (walked) and two down. He lined out. Sampson pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. Brocail threw a messy eighth, loading the bases on an infield single and a pair of walks. One runner scored on a sac fly before Brocail worked out of the mess.

So the Astros 4-game winning streak ended, as did their 11-game streak in GABP.

Thus ends the month of April: The Astros are in last place in their division, 6 1/2 games behind the Cardinals. Houston's 9-13 record is tied with the D-backs for third worst in the league. The Nats, at 5-16, are much worse than everyone, and the Rockies are just a loss behind. The only good news is that the Astros are even for their last 10 games, which represents a significant improvement over their first 10 games. Let's hope the Nats can stay the course, as the Astros are heading this way for two measly games next week. But first, a weekend in Atlanta. The Braves have only one win more than the Astros this season, so we should have a fighting chance. Meanwhile, the Cards are in Washington; the implications are obvious.