GAME 27: El Caballo - Not El Cabrito!

GAME 27 - May 5: Astros 4, Diamondbacks 2

Maybe he was just waiting for Cinco de Mayo? Well, put on a big sombrero and dance! El Caballo finally found his swing and launched a nice fat homer. And he couldn't have found a more dramatic time to do it: With an 8 game losing streak pushing the Astros deeper into the NL cellar, they were tied in the bottom of the ninth when he let loose. Lee had already grounded out 3 times in the game. When he came up to bat with Matsui on first and no outs, I was kind of thinking that maybe they'd have him bunt Matsui over and hope that the Puma could do something. That would have been an interesting surprise - but given how little experience he has bunting in games, he'd probably screw it up. Mills said "swing away," and so he did. It wasn't some cheap shot into the Crawford Boxes either - it was a big blast, nearly 400 feet. (The picture of Lee below is from Spring Training, not this game - just a little mood music.)

Good Astros pitching: Myers pitched 7 innings in a quality start, keeping the Astros in the game against a team that averages more than 5 runs per game. Lyon threw a perfect 5-pitch eighth. Lindstrom gave up a couple of hits, but eked it out, positioning himself for the W when Lee did his thing in the bottom of the ninth.

Other honors in this game: Manzella hit his first homer in the big leagues, with a 2 run blast in the second inning. And Bourn was ridiculous in center field, with a pair of terrific catches in the seventh inning.

So now the big question is: Can Lee remember how to do that again?