GAME 22 - April 23: The Slugfest Continues...

Houston 9, Cincinnati 3

Word for the Day: Contagious. Exciting similar emotions or conduct in others.

"Right now, it's contagious," said Cecil Cooper after the the Astros' fourth win in a row, referring to the sudden spate of hitting and scoring. It seems like nearly every guy in the lineup has suddenly gone from batting two-something to three-something, or close. Multi-hit games are the norm for players that were going oh-fer just a week ago. Pence has added about 100 points to his BA, and nobody wants to hear about Tejada's birthday hijinks.

The Reds got off to an early lead on Ken Griffey Jr's first-inning home run. But there they sat for most of the game, while the Astros came back in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead on back-to-back doubles by Lee and Pence, followed by Loretta's RBI single.

But it was the 4th inning that did in the Reds. Bronson Arroyo - who historically has bad luck against the Astros - got in and out of trouble to start the inning. He walked Pence, then gave up a double to Loretta to put runners on second and third with no outs. Then, he struck out Towles and Sampson, and looked to be getting out of trouble. The Old Astros (last week) would have just folded at that point. But the New Astros came back with a vengeance: six consecutive 2-out hits, scoring 7 runs. Matsui singled, scoring Pence and Loretta. Erstad singled, moving Matsui around. Tejada singled, scoring Matsui; then Berkman singled to score Erstad. That was it for Arroyo, but his replacement gave up a double to Lee and an infield single to Pence, allowing 3 more runs to come in. At 9-1, things were looking good for Sampson to get his first win of the season.

Sampson pitched through seven innings, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits, 1 BB, and 6 Ks. Quite an improvement over the two-thirds of an inning that he lasted in his previous start. Wright pitched a scoreless eighth, and Geary - after a leadoff solo homer to Encarnacion - ended the game without further Reds runs. Final score: 9-3. While not quite double-digits, a very respectable offensive display from a bunch of guys who couldn't seem to score a run in the first couple of weeks of the season.

Every one of the starters, except for Sampson, got at least one hit. Pence went 3 for 4 with a double, two singles, a walk, and a pair of RBIs. Erstad was 3 for 5. Lee got a pair of doubles, scoring twice. On the fielding side, there were two more double plays. Matsui misplayed a grounder for an error - but the Astros still have the fewest in the league.

Hey, take a look at the standings: The Astros moved up a notch. There are now two teams below the Astros in the NL Central. This is not a bad team, no matter what those yahoos (who pretend to be fans) rant and rave on the Chron.com blogs.