GAME 93: Seeing Red (Birds)

Astros 3, Cardinals 2

After a disappointing end to the Dodgers series, the Astros came home to face the division leading Cardinals. No disappointment tonight: Moehler had another in a string of good starts, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits in 6 1/3 innings. The bullpen didn't have any trouble holding the score, with a little help from the infield, that is. The trio of Matsui, Tejada, and Berkman ended both the eighth and ninth with double plays. Valverde closed to get his 10th save, earning Moehler his 7th win.

The Cardinals pitchers didn't make it easy for the Astros, who only eked out 5 hits against Kyle Lohse. Happily, one of those hits was El Caballo's fourth inning 3-run homer. With the Astros sporting special caps commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, the blast to left was quickly dubbed a "moon shot." Not much offense to work with, but with the solid pen and excellent fielding, that turned out to be enough tonight.

This is a big series for the Astros - each win against the Cards bumps them up a whole game in the standings. While the Astros were under .500, it was hard to really focus on the division race, but things have changed a lot over the past few weeks! Houston may only be 1 game over .500, but we're only 3 games out in the division, with Wandy and the Wiz taking the mound in the remaining games of this series. Meanwhile, the Cubs had gotten used to the easy life, playing the Nationals this weekend. Now moving on to a more challenging opponent in Philadelphia, they got creamed 10-1. As I'm writing this, the Pirates are leading the Brewers, and the Dodgers are ahead of the Reds (but the night is young out on the West Coast).

Roster news of the day: Puma's back in the lineup, running a bit gingerly, but hitting just fine. Erstad's on the DL with a strained hamstring, and Kata's back up from Round Rock. Sampson, on the DL, is busy focusing on a different medical situation - his wife's about to have a baby. Brocail is in Round Rock for a rehab assignment.

Fashion Statement: It's weird to see Brad Ausmus in LA blue, instead of Houston's brick red jersey, but admit it, he still looks pretty hot. I thought that I might as well cheer a bit for him in Sunday's game, but after the second RBI double, I started having second thoughts. Why couldn't he just hit into double plays? He certainly had plenty of experience doing that for us!