GAMES 16-18: SWEEP!

GAME 16 - April 23: Astros 4, Pirates 3
GAME 17 - April 24: Astros 5, Pirates 2
GAME 18 - April 25: Astros 10, Pirates 3

You could say "It was just the Pirates," and you'd probably be right to downplay the Astros sweep this weekend. It was just the Pirates. The same Pirates that were just coming off of being swept at home by the Brewers, who had outscored them 36-1, with a 20-0 shutout to make sure that the insult was complete.

On the other hand, the Pirates might have come to Houston hoping to lick their wounds and regain the Pride and Passion that's advertised on their MLB website. After all, they did arrive  with a better win-loss record (7-8) than the Astros' (5-10). So which is the better team? Or which is just worse?

With the Pirates' pitching staff exhausted from the drubbing by the Brewers, facing the top of the Astros rotation, you might have guessed (or at least hoped for) the outcome: The Astros swept them away.

In Game 1, the Pirates were up against Ray Oswalt, who is night and day different this April than last year this time. He held Pittsburgh scoreless through six innings, before giving up 3 runs in the seventh on a pair of home runs. Only 2 of the runs were earned, but it was his own fielding error that was responsible for the third one. But don't beat him up too much for that - it was his first error since 2006. Happily, the Astros managed to score their 4 runs on Oswalt's watch, earning him his second win on his fourth quality start of the season. More happy news from the bullpen as Lyon and Lindstrom combined for two perfect innings to save Oswalt's win. What does the Astros' Wiz have in common with the Wizard of Oz? Both of them had to deal with the aftermath of a tornado. In Oswalt's case, he had to run down to Mississippi over the weekend, after his parents' home was damaged by a deadly tornado. Luckily no one in the house was injured. I watched this Friday night game after the Saturday night game ended.

In Game 2, Wandy finally earned a win with an excellent start. He pitched into the eighth, giving up 2 runs (only 1 of them earned on a solo homer) on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts. Competing with the other Astros starting pitchers for the best BA on the team, Wandy hit a single batting right handed in the sixth. (He's batting .375 so far this season.)

But Wandy wasn't the most notable pitcher in this game. Pirates starter Chris Jakabauskas got the most attention - and I bet he wished that he didn't. In the first inning, with 2 Astros on base and 2 outs, he was beaned by a hard line drive off Berkman's bat, and fell to the ground holding his head and kicking his legs. It was a pretty terrifying sight. After about 10 minutes, he was helped off the field, and was taken to the hospital to be checked out. But to add insult to injury, both the runners scored off the relief pitcher and Jakabauskas was tagged for the loss. The poor guy wasn't even supposed to be there - he was called up from the Pirates Triple A team to fill in their depleted pitching staff. Happily, news reports the next day indicated that his injuries were scary, but not serious - a concussion and contusion, but not a fractured skull. Berkman appeared to be horrified by the whole thing. He ran to the mound and was patting Jakabauskas, and looked like he was nearly in tears. According to reports he went to visit Jakabauskas in the hospital, and the Pirates players were very complementary about what a mentch Berkman is. Well, they didn't actually say "mentch."

Other things to like in Game 2: Pence is starting to hit - he went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs in this game, pushing his batting average up towards .200. That's puny, but a whole lot better than where it was a week ago. Feliz also went 2 for 4 with a homer (his first) and 2 RBIs. Bourn kept the Pirates' score down with great defense - another outfield assist to throw out a runner at the plate. I also really like hearing Bagwell's voice from the broadcast booth for Saturday games.

Game 3 on Sunday was just what the Astros needed - a big blowout, low stress win to seal the deal for the sweep. By the end of the fourth inning, they were sitting on a 8-1 lead. The Astros earned their 10 runs (season's first double digits) on only 10 hits - 5 singles, 2 doubles, a triple and a homer. But they got a lot of freebies in this game,  including 8 walks! The runners were dashing around the base paths with impunity - the Astros had six steals, 3 of them by Bourn. It was hard to keep Bourn off base - he got a single and walked 3 times. Unfortunately, walking Bourn is kind of like giving up a double. He's turning into a dream leadoff man, with his .435 OBP and 8 stolen bases.

Other than Myers (the Astros pitcher who isn't hitting well), all of the starting lineup participated in the double-digit offensive frenzy. Everyone except Kepp got a hit (but Kepp did manage to get an RBI and to score a run). Berkman only had one hit but it was a big one - his first homer of the year. Carlos Lee (AKA El Slackero, El Cabernet, and other less-than-flattering nicknames) was good for a pair of hits, including a triple, scored twice, added 2 RBIs to the other 3 he's collected in the last 3 weeks, and even stole a base. No kidding. The catcher was apparently so shocked he forgot to throw to second. Feliz and Pence had 2 hits and a steal each.  Pence finally pushed his batting average over .200. (Next stop .300.)

While the Astros were collecting give-away bases right and left, the Pirates actually were hitting pretty well off starter Myers - and wasting nearly every opportunity. Myers gave up 11 hits (all singles) in 6 innings, but the Pirates only managed to score twice off of him. Reportedly, he was a bit miffed at being taken out of the game with only 91 pitches, but Mills told him that it was all he needed him to do. With a big lead, he gave the bullpen some exercise. Sampson pitched a scoreless seventh - his ERA is only 1.04 after 8 appearances this year. Byrdak gave up a run in the eighth. Fulchino pitched a perfect ninth in a far-from-save situation.

Fine with me. I love an exciting walk-off homer win, or a come from behind surge - as long as the Astros are on the high-fiving, butt-patting end of it. But it sure is nice, once in a while, to just kick back and not worry while the guys are looking like baseball is FUN again. And, hey, by the way, the Astros are just 2 games under .500, have won 8 of their last 10, and are just 3 games behind the division-leading Cards. Not bad for a team that was 0-8 not long ago.

Next stop: A day off before the Reds come to town. The Pirates just swept the Reds before dropping 6 games in row. But that's no reason to relax.