GAME 4 - April 3: Watching Reruns

San Diego 3, Houston 2

Word for the Day: Deja Vu. Impression of having seen or experienced something before.

It's not really worth spending much time writing up this game. Just go back a couple of days and read about the one-run loss.

Same good news: The much maligned pitching was excellent - Chacon gave up only 2 runs over 6 innings, on 5 hits, 4 BBs and 4 Ks. Then Villareal pitched two innings in relief; the 1 run he allowed earned him the loss.

Same bad news: Someone forgot to tell the rest of the guys to hit in a few runs. Pence, Berkman, Lee, and Tejada had exactly one hit (and 5 Ks) between them. The Astros' measly 2 runs were both scored on RBI doubles, one by Loretta and one by Towles, but neither of the scoring base runners had gotten on base with a hit. Of course, 2 runs is twice as many runs as the Astros scored in their first two games combined, so in that sense, this can be seen as offensive improvement. And give credit where it's due: The Padres have pretty awesome pitching.

Bottom Line: Although it's tough to lose the opening series, there's a lot that actually bodes well for the Astros' season. The pitching has been much better than anticipated. The worst game, in terms of opposition runs scored, was the classic Wandy Road Show - which the Astros ultimately won. The second worst game was Oswalt's Opening Night loss. I'm not really worried about Oswalt; the other two losses were despite the pitching, not because of it. I'm not really worried about the Astros' offense yet either - this lineup has just got to score a lot of runs this season. And the agressive baserunning adds energy to the game; everyone expects Bourn to run - but Berkman? He stole another base in this game. Bourn and Berkman lead the major leagues in SBs! I'm not going to make my season predictions until the Astros go back to Houston for their home opener - but despite the W-L record, I'm actually leaning in a very positive direction.