GAME 12 - April 12: Return of the Killer Bs?

Houston 5, Florida 0

Quote of the Day: "Thank goodness I have a good defense behind me." (Backe)

Is it the Return of the Killer Bs? The Astros won their first shutout of the season on "I can get out of this" pitching performances by Backe and the Bullpen and another big night at the plate by Berkman.

The long line of 0s on the scoreboard for the Marlins doesn't totally reflect the pitching story. Backe was 5 cubed - he gave up 5 hits and 5 walks in his 5 innings on the mound, not exactly a lights-out performance. He had runners on base in every inning; in fact he had 2 runners on base in 4 of his 5 innings - and a runner on third base in 3 of the 5 innings. But in each case he got himself out of trouble, to keep the shutout alive.

Geary likewise allowed runners in each of his 2 innings, but kept the shutout going. Brocail logged the only 1-2-3 inning of the night in the eighth inning, dropping his ERA to 1.59. Then came Valverde: WIth the score 5-0, it was not a save situation, but he hadn't pitched in 5 days. After he gave up singles to the first two batters, I wondered if he was headed for another cheat win (see Game 8 - April 7, when he stole Wandy's best start ever). But then he retired the next three on a pair of ground balls and a strikeout, for his first scoreless inning of the season. (Alas, not a record to inspire much of his famous on-field histrionics.)

Berkman is a changed man - changed from last April, that is. He has started 2008 looking like his old self. Berkman went 2 for 4, with his first right-handed homer of the season (#4). He has a noticeable bump in hustle too - while he didn't get another stolen base in this game, he scored the first run on a headfirst dive to the plate. Several of the other players also had multi-hit games: Loretta went 3 for 5, with an RBI double. Lee had a pair of singles. And despite his vilification by the (other) bloggers, Ausmus looked good at the plate: He went 2 for 4, with an RBI double. He did fly out to end the 5th with the bases loaded - but the ball was caught on the warning track.

The defense continues to be a positive factor, as the Astros position players helped the Marlins leave 14 runners stranded. Defense starts with "D," not "B." But to stay with the B theme, we can give some of the credit to Blum, who's covering third while Wiggington is on the DL. Cruz Jr made a terrific catch on a long fly ball by the Marlin's leadoff batter, to set the defensive tone of the game. The Astros infield also logged another double play, kicked off by excellent fielding from Tejada. (He looks so different than Spring Training!) It was their 15th DP of the year, tied to lead the league. The defense also holds another nice league record: Fewest errors - only 3 so far this season.

For the second game in a row, Coop shuffled the lineup, starting Cruz in CF instead of Bourn and moving Pence up to the leadoff spot instead of 7th. That did not solve the big kid's batting woes - he went 0 for 4, getting on base only once on a walk in the 4th. That was actually the exact point in the game where I tuned in when the Sabbath ended - to the sight of Pence being caught stealing. Happily, the Astros were leading 5-0 at that point, and I had brief hopes of the big double-digit blowout that we're all looking forward to. Less happily, although I saw plenty of Astros base runners - including runners on third base in 3 innings, not one of them managed to score. The RISP situation is seriously painful. But hey - the Astros won this game: Let's just think happy thoughts and move on.

In other team news: Newhan was called up from Triple A, to replace Wiggington - now on the DL for his thumb injury.