GAMES 55-57: Guess What! The Astros are NOT the Worst Team in the NL

GAME 55 - June 4: Astros 3, Cubs 1
GAME 56 - June 5: Cubs 8, Astros 5
GAME 57 - June 6: Astros 6, Cubs 3

By the end of the week-long homestand, in which the Astros won 5 of their 7 games, the team has attained a milestone of sorts: The Astros are no longer the worst team in the National League. They're tied with the Diamondbacks for that distinction. I know, it's a pretty dubious claim, but for a team that was alone in the cellar, it's one step at a time to get out. And with Pittsburgh and Milwaukee within a game's reach, the second step could be soon.

The two wins in the weekend series against the Cubs featured solid starting pitching, combined with a basic need that has eluded Houston all season: Good hitting from the heart of the order. All season, Bourn has been the leadoff hitter we've wanted him to be and Keppinger has been better than expected, while our power guys have been in a grotesque slump. Pence started coming back a few weeks ago, Berkman's starting to heat up, and Lee - well, he's improving, especially in the power department. In the past two weeks, Berkman's batting average has improved from .233 to .266, and Pence's from .250 to .277. These are semi-respectable batting averages, and given where these guys were a month ago, it shows a tremendous improvement. If they keep it up, at this rate, they'll be back where they ought to be by the All Star Game. (It's a pretty fair bet that Houston won't be represented there this year!) Lee's batting average is just .217, but given how long he spent under .200, it's at least headed in the right direction. More importantly, he's started to hit for power.

In the two games that Houston won in this weekend's series, the three went 9 for 18 with 4 walks and 2 stolen bases. In the game in the middle that they lost, they went 2 for 11, with 1 walk. It's kind of a "duh," but it shows the value of getting significant action out of the heart of the order. Now, if we could just get a big boost in the extra-base hit department...

The two games that Houston won also featured excellent starting pitching. Paulino, who went into Friday night's game with the absolute worst run support in the league, pitched another beauty. He threw 8 innings, giving up only 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. His fastball is clocking at second highest average in the league. A bit of help from the offense (1 run scored in the first and another two in the fifth) was all he needed to finally (!) earn his first win of the season. When I watched this Sabbath eve game on Sunday morning, I noted one thing that was not apparent from the box score: In the first inning, Berkman hit an RBI single, but got hung up between first and second on a bad base-running move for the second out. This was followed by a double by Lee and a pair of walks to load the bases. Feliz flied out to right to end the inning. Had Berkman stayed on first, and the rest of the scenario played out, Houston would have gotten at least a couple more runs in the first inning. Happily the Astros won, but in a year where runs have been scarce, it's a shame to lose any on messy base running.

Myers had another solid start in Sunday's win - he pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits and a walk, striking out 6. In his usual fashion, he allowed a mess of base runners and then (for the most part) wiggled out of trouble without too much damage. Mills lifted him with 2 outs and 2 on in the seventh, bringing in Lopez to get the last out of the inning. I won't say Myers went out kicking and screaming, but he was clearly not happy to get pulled. For all that I've had misgivings about Brett Myers, from his off-the-field history, he's turned out to be quite a good addition to the rotation this year. He's pitched well, and he's a scrappy fighter. With his ERA right around 3, he's the only Astros starter with a winning record so far this season. Myers got good backup from the pen. Lopez gave up a run in the eighth, but Lyon and Lindstrom combined to finish it up. The Astros got off to a quick lead in the first inning, with base hits from the first 5 batters, including a homer by Lee.

In the losing record department, Oswalt made a mess out of the Saturday night game. When I turned on the computer after the Sabbath ended, the score was 8-3 in the eighth inning. I watched the rest of the game, as much to see and hear Jeff Bagwell (who's in the broadcast booth for Saturday home games) as anything. The Astros did eke out a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little too late. They got into trouble early and often in this game, with Oswalt's seven innings accounting for 6 runs on 9 hits, including a pair of homers. After ten solid starts to kick off the season, Roy ("Available to the Highest Contending Bidder") Oswalt has not fared well in this homestand. Last week he gave up 4 runs and was booted out of the game in the third inning - not his fault, really, but you could tell he was pretty pissed off. Last night, he just had a bad game. Can't win 'em all. Unfortunately, for Oswalt, he can't seem to win hardly any this season. It's not hard to see why he's looking for a change in scenery.

Astros are off to Denver for the next 4 games, and then to New York for a weekend series against the Yankees. Too bad I have to work - this would be a fun week to visit my sisters in Denver and then my sons and daughters-in-law in NY. It's going to be hard to decide which ball game to watch Tuesday night - the Astros or the Nats. I don't generally follow the Nationals, even though they are my "local" team here in Maryland, but for Stephen Strasburg's ML debut, I could make an exception.