GAMES 19-21: All the King's Horses and All the King's Men...

GAME 19 - April 27: Reds 6, Astros 2
GAME 20 - April 28: Reds 6, Astros 4
GAME 21 - April 29: Reds 4, Astros 2

It looked so good to start. Bud Lite got a couple of strikeouts in the top of the first. Leading off, Bourn was hit by a pitch, stole second, made it to third on an errant throw, and scored on a sac fly. First run scored without a hit or a walk. Bourn seems to manufacture bases faster than Schutts Sports (official supplier to MLB). I was thinking that this game might be fun.

That was all the fun for a while. Norris had some really good stuff, but ran up a big pitch count early, with strikeouts, full counts, and lots of foul balls. After 5 innings he had given up a pair of runs on 3 hits, 4 walks, and  a hit batsman, and his pitch count was in the high 80s. He allowed singles to the first three batters, with one run scoring, in the sixth before Mills yanked him. This wasn't one of those days where the bullpen was lights out. Fulchino's line looks clean - 1 hit, no ER - but Bud's other 2 runners scored on his watch. Byrdak pitched a perfect seventh inning. Gervacio, just back from a stint on the DL, didn't really seem to be his usual self in the eighth. He gave up a 5 pitch walk to the leadoff batter, Orlando Cabrera, who advanced to second on a ground out. Sammy Whiplash seemed to forget about him, and Cabrera took the opportunity to steal third, and then scored when Sammy balked. Meanwhile, the Astros squandered their chances to score against Harang. That's just how it went in the first game of the Reds series.

And in the second game... More of the same. Too little too late.

And in the third game, as the Astros were swept away to end their homestand. They failed to support Roy O, who came back from bulldozing his parents' tornado-destroyed house, just to pitch another quality start for a loss. More of the same. Too little too late. Enough said; it's no fun write about games like these, and it's no fun to read about them either.

So it all went full circle: The Pirates swept the Reds, then the Astros swept the Pirates, then the Reds swept the Astros. What does that say about the NL Central division?

Luckily, the Astros were off next to Atlanta, to play against the hapless Braves who had lost 9 in a row. What good timing to get back on a winning pace. Only (I'm publishing this post on Sunday, so I already know what happened),  they didn't....