GAME 55 - May 29: Short and Sour

St Louis 3, Houston 2

Quote of the Day: "I still ain't throwing shutout all the way through it. But it's not easy to throw seven shutout, especially when people expect you to..."" (Roy Oswalt, sounding a bit frustrated)

Roy Oswalt pitched a quality start (not at all a given this season), but the Astros offense was on vacation again tonight, leaving Roy O holding the bag for the loss. After 2 consecutive poor outings, Oswalt pitched well, once he got out of the first inning. He got the first out quickly, before allowing a single and a pair of walks to load the bases, and then a single to score 2 runs. It looked like the Cards were going to get a huge inning, but Oswalt shut them down to end it. After that, only a solo homer by Pujols interrupted his 7 innings of solid pitching.

Unfortunately, much like the previous night, the Astros offense wasn't up to even this minor challenge. It amounted pretty much to a pair of solo homers, one by Lee in the seventh and the other by Berkman in the ninth. Berkman also had a double but was left stranded. Brocail pitched a perfect eighth, in another good performance by the bullpen.

All in all, a bit more of a whimper than a bang, as the Astros lose 3-2, and give the series to the Cards. But it's a long season, and we'll see plenty more of the Cardinals before it's over. One item of good news in this series: No bench-clearing brawls, or even signs of ill will, like the events that spoiled the last trip to St Louis. No little chats between Pujols and Backe (who didn't pitch in this series). Hopefully that's all over now, and the contention between these two teams can go back to the sportsmanship and respect that has been seen in the past.

Next stop: Milwaukee. Friday's game is in the evening, and Saturday's game will likely end before the Sabbath does, so I will have my weekly opportunity to demonstrate that I actually do have priorities in life: The Sabbath takes precedence over baseball. At 9:15, we'll make Havdalah to separate the Sabbath from the rest of the week, i.e., baseball. At 9:20, I'll be watching Friday night's game on the mlb.tv archive.

GAME 54 - May 28: Wandy Returns

St Louis 6, Houston 1

Quote of the Day: "He throws perfect today... good location, good breaking ball. Everything was good." (Wandy Rodriguez, unfortunately talking about opposing starting pitcher Adam Wainwright)

This game wasn't fun to watch, and it isn't fun to write up either. Wandy Rodriguez's return from the DL went pretty much as the pundits predicted: He has historically pitched well in Houston, but poorly on the road. This game was no exception. By the end of the first inning, the Astros were down by 3, thanks to a single, a throwing error by Matsui, a rather odd decision to walk Pujols to load the bases, followed by a bases-loaded 4-pitch walk, an RBI ground ball, a wild pitch, ... you get the idea.

Wandy gave up another 3 runs over his 5 innings, but even that was not an insurmountable lead. Wiggington came back in the second inning with a solo home run, generating a moment of hope, but it didn't really ever materialize. The Astros were basically shut down by the Cardinals' starter Adam Wainwright, who held them to just 3 hits while striking out 8 over the first 8 innings.

Wandy's line for his return from the DL doesn't read quite as nicely: He only lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up 6 runs (3 earned), on 6 hits, 4 walks, and one strikeout. Jack Cassell, back up from Round Rock to replace NIeve, pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless 1-hit ball, and Valverde came in to pitch a scoreless eighth.

The only other high spots of this game were Bourn's triple (probably a double for anyone else!), and another nice outfield assist by Pence.

In other bad news, the Cubs came back in the bottom of the ninth from a 1-0 deficit to win their game, putting the Astros back in 3rd place in the NL Central. Hey, it's a long season...

GAME 53 - May 27: Another Decisive Win for Chacon

Houston 8, St Louis 2

Understatement of the Day: ""It was one of those nights when everything pretty much went well for us."" (Shawn Chacon)

No doubt about this win for Shawn Chacon. The pitcher formerly known as ND ("No Decision") pitched 7 innings, giving up only 2 runs on 7 hits (2 solo homers), no walks, and striking out 7. It would have been criminal for him not to get a win tonight. But his teammates put 4 runs on the scoreboard in the top of the first and never relinquished the lead.

It was a very big night at the plate for Hunter Pence, who has left his days of embarrassing strikeouts and oh-fer games long behind. The career-best 5 for 5 game put his BA well over .300, where it belongs. He hit 4 singles and a double, with 2 RBIs. He also had an outfield assist, with a perfect throw to Towles to nail a runner at the plate.

Other offensive stars of this game: Matsui went 3 for 5, scoring twice. Tejada had only one hit, but it was a 2-run homer in the fifth inning. Berkman only had one hit, but walked twice - and scored all three times he was on base. The scoring put him at 30 runs so far this month, setting a new club record for May runs; it broke Jimmy Wynn's 27 from back when I was in junior high. Towles was hitless, but got on base three times, once when hit in the butt with a pitch, and twice on walks - including an RBI walk with the bases loaded off of reliever (and ex-Astro) Russ Springer.

On the Other Side, Pujols had a great game: He went 4 for 4 with a homer, a double, and a pair of singles. His .360 BA, 12 homers, and 34 RBIs would seem to qualify him for All Star status this year - but the competition for first basemen is pretty stiff, with Berkman leading him in every category.

This win puts the Astros tied with the Cards for second place in the NL Central, a game and a half behind the Cubbies, who won tonight. Happily, despite the contention for the lead in the standings, there were no bench-clearing brawls or pitches near any of the batters' heads in this game. The good sportsmanship of previous years between these two teams has been absent this season - a sad change, if you ask me. A friendly rivalry is nice, and the Cards have really been the Astros main rival in the division for years. But the bitter relationship this year between some of the players - especially Backe and Pujols - has been ugly, and is probably undeserved by the Cards' first baseman. It's just as well that Backe won't be pitching in this series.

The Rotating Door... Lots of movement in the pitching staff coming up, as the Astros welcome back a couple of Wounded Warriors (or Groaning Groiners) from the DL. Wandy will be back on the mound to start tomorrow night's game, and Geary is expected back in the bullpen next week. Moehler is staying in the rotation, and struggling Sampson is moving to the bullpen. Young Sampson seemed philosophical about the change - mainly he's glad to keep his place in the big leagues. Veteran Moehler is frankly thrilled at the turn of his luck, way up from the start of the season. He came to Spring Training as a nonroster invitee but didn't make the team. To make room for Wandy on the roster, while keeping both Sampson and Moehler, Borkowski has been designated for assignment. It's sad to see him go - he was a real inning-eater last year, and is the only remaining pitcher from that bullpen. But his pitching this year has been frustrating, and Borkowski wasn't surprised at the news: "The moral of the story is pitch better."

In other pitching moves, Nieve has already been sent down to Round Rock after his last terrible performance in Sunday's fiasco, and Cassell was called back up. It's not clear yet how they will make space on the roster for Geary when he comes back. Will they send someone down or perhaps carry an extra pitcher in the roster? Well, if the Astros opt for reducing the bench, they could always use Backe to pinch hit - his .276 BA is far better than some of the bench!

Happy Birthday #40 to Jeff Bagwell!

Here's a birthday toast to my favorite all-time Astros player, Jeff Bagwell, who celebrates his 40th birthday today. I love the this year's Astros team, the new guys, the kids, but I do miss seeing Bagwell out there on the field, in the dugout, at the plate in that funny-looking crouching stance, just before he whacks the ball into the stands. He really epitomizes to me what made the Astros a team that could cause a fan, long gone from Houston, to continue to cheer for a hometown team: Sportsmanship, athleticism, attitude, team spirit. I think that core stays with the team, through guys like Berkman and Oswalt, while the new guys bring new characteristics to make this team special. Seeing Bagwell back in uniform, in the dugout and on the practice fields, was the best thing at Spring Training this year.

In case turning 40 makes him feel old, here's a story about that:

The most memorable game of my childhood was that 24-inning marathon against the Mets. It was on a school night in April, and my dad had taken us to the game as a special treat. But by the end of the 18th inning, at around midnight, he made us leave to go home, where my mother was worried that something terrible had happened to us to make us so late. So we weren't there to see Bob Aspromonte hit a ground ball between the exhausted Mets' shortstop's legs, scoring Norm Miller in the bottom of the 24th for the 1-0 Astro's win. But it stands in my memory as a notable game, more for the scoreboard than for what was happening on the field (not much!). There were funny messages on the Astrodome's programmable scoreboard throughout the game, like "The Judge wants to go to bed" (Judge Roy Hofheinz had an apartment in the Dome), and "I think I'm going to throw up." Back in those days, that was considered to be very high tech.

So what does this have to do with Bagwell's birthday? Well, actually, he wasn't born yet! That game was April 15, 1968. Jeff Bagwell was born a few weeks later on May 27th. He's only 40 - just a kid!

Happy 40th Birthday to Jeff Bagwell! It was great to see him in uniform hanging out with the Astros and the minor league guys at Spring Training. Hope to see that a lot more in the future!

GAME 52 - May 25: Peeeeeeeee-yiouuuuuu!

Philadelphia 15, Houston 6

Quote of the Day: "I thought I was throwing strikes, but when I was missing, everything was up and they just killed me." (Borkowski, after giving up 6 runs in the seventh inning)

You have to be careful what you wish for. I got my wish: I didn't have to see Lidge facing the Astros again this season. But it didn't turn out quite the way I might have wished. There was a blow-out today, but it was the Astros bullpen that got blown away, giving up 11 runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Up until Cooper decided to take out Sampson after 5 innings, the Astros were actually in pretty good shape. They got on the board right away in a kind of odd way. Tejada and Berkman's singles in the first inning set the table for Carlos Lee. His big swing on a 2-2 pitch came around and the follow-through smacked plate umpire Jerry Crawford in the head. There was a 10 minute delay while Crawford left the game, and another umpire replaced him. Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels got a few extra warmup pitches, then Lee went back to the plate and promptly hit the ball into the Crawford Boxes (no relation to the poor umpire). Crawford the ump was taken to the hospital for a CAT scan, and later reports say that he was okay, cleared to work on Monday.

Unfortunately, Houston's 3-run lead didn't last long. The Phillies came back with a 2-run homer in the next inning. Then it was a bit of a ping pong match for a few innings. Philadelphia tied it in the third, but the Astros got two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Each team scored one run in the fourth. That's where things stood in the top of the sixth, with the Astros leading 6-4, when Cooper replaced Sampson and let the bullpen take over.

Nieve was the first reliever. Poor Nieve - he has not had a great time since he was called up from Round Rock, and today was the worst, from the very first batter on. He gave up a lead-off homer to Burrell, then a single, double, and single to the next three batters. Coop had seen enough - he replaced Nieve with lefty Wright, whose walk, RBI ground ball, and double allowed another 3 runs to score. Total damage in the sixth: Five runs. Phillies lead 9-6.

A three-run deficit would have been a cause to roll over and die for the old Astros. But it was just a challenge for this year's team. No sweat; they've made up 3 runs in late innings before. Loretta opened the bottom of the inning with a pinch-hit double, just to get things rolling. But the next three - the top of the Astros lineup - went down in order. Hey, okay, still three innings to go.

Borkowski was the next to take his chances on the mound. It was truly painful: Three singles, a double, a triple, and a home run later, the Phillies had batted around and added on 6 more runs. Okay, down 15-6 was perhaps more than the Astros new come-from-behind strategy could handle. They pretty much laid down and died after that. The lone bright spot in the bullpen was Villareal, who pitched 2 perfect innings. Or perhaps the Phillies were just too embarrassed to really try to score again.

Nieve was sent down to Round Rock after the game, and Jack Cassell was called back up. It was a very disappointing stint in the big leagues for Nieve, to say the least - his ERA in 4 appearances was 18.0, and the crowd at Minute Maid Park was not stingy with the boos.

There's always something to like: Four Astros base runners - Bourn, Berkman, Tejada, and Lee - had steals in this game. Berkman's 10th steal ties his previous season high - and it's only May.

Luckily, the Cubs and Cards, one game ahead of the Astros in the NL Central division, both lost today, so the Astros did not lose any ground on them.

The Astros have Memorial Day off, before they go to St Louis to take on the Cards. The division lead is on the line, and this year's Astros have not been afraid to win on the road.

GAME 51 - May 24: Another Heart Thumper

Houston 4, Philadelphia 3

Quote of the Day: "Honestly, I thought it was going to go extra innings or I was going to get booed like a banshee. I don't what else in the magic show I've got left."" (Brocail, on his rescue in the ninth inning)

No, it's not a cut and paste error. Saturday night's game had the same score as Friday's. It had another similarity as well: Both games went down to the very last pitch, in extremely tense ninth innings, before the Astros were able to do their victory dances and ritual head-bashings on the field. (If I were a Phillies fan, I would have called this blog entry "Another Heartbreaker.")

The ending of Saturday night's game was certainly scary and exciting, although happily no one was hurt. The Astros came into the ninth inning protecting a 4-3 lead. Valverde wanted to close, but Coop forced him to sit out a game, after the excitement of the previous night. So Brocail took the mound in the ninth inning, one night after wiggling out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Maybe he craved the thrill of danger. Back-to-back singles put runners on first and second. Then, with apparently mixed signals, Brocail whirled and threw to second - but no one was covering the bag. The runners ended up on second and third with no outs. The batter flied out to shallow center for the first out. Rollins was intentionally walked to load the bases, hoping that a double play would end the threat. But Victorino's fly ball to left field put that in doubt, as the runner on third tagged up and dashed for home.

Coop has to share the credit for what happened next: He had just put Erstad in left field, as a defensive replacement for Lee. Erstad demonstrated why he is the only player to have won Gold Gloves as both an infielder and outfielder. He backed up, ran forward to make the catch, and let his momentum carry him forward on the perfect throw to the plate. Ausmus made the catch, tagged the runner, and held the trophy ball aloft, as the home plate ump gave a big out sign. Double play, game over. Brocail, backing up home plate, lifted Ausmus off the ground in a huge bear hug. And for the second night in a row, the Astros celebrated a win that was snatched from the jaws of defeat. The Phillies just looked stunned.

The offensive hero of this game was Carlos Lee. The fun began in the first inning, with the Astros down 1-0. Bourn got a leadoff single, then (duh!) stole second. Matsui and Tejada made outs and Berkman walked to bring up Lee with two outs and two on. His double scored the two Bs to give the Astros back the lead. The same trio combined for another run in the fifth. Bourn led off with a double, Berkman walked again, and Lee hit a single to left, scoring Bourn easily. When the cutoff man mishandled the ball, Berkman took off for home, but was tagged out. The Astros scored again in the sixth, when Wiggington and Loretta combined hits to eke out another run. Wiggington went 2 for 3 in this game; he's 7 for 10 so far in this series, with 4 doubles.

Moehler, still subbing for Wandy, pitched a good game: Six innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned), on 4 hits, 1 BB, a HBP, and 3 Ks. Brydak, Villareal, and Wright combined for 2 scoreless innings to get the Astros to that very exciting ninth inning.

GAMES 50 - May 23: A Scary Squeaker

Houston 4, Philadelphia 3

Quote of the Day: "I felt a little dizzy. I said you know what, I have to be in the game. Thank God it hit my glove first. If that didn't happen, I don't know where I would be right now." (Valverde after being drilled in the face by a line drive - and then finishing the game)

The Astros and the Phillies came into the Friday night game well matched, with identical 27-22 records. Their run totals for the season matched at 293, and they even had the same number of hits - 442. So it's not surprising that the Sabbath games were close ones. Happily, this week Houston came up on the winning end. Last week when the Sabbath ended, I had a pair of losses to choose between; this week I watched both games end-to-end on Saturday night, and went to bed happy in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

The Sabbath games had another similarity: Both went down to the very last pitch, in extremely tense ninth innings, before the Astros were able to do their victory dances and ritual head-bashings on the field. (If I were a Phillies fan, I would have called this blog entry "A Pair of Heartbreakers.")

For a few minutes on Friday night, though, events went beyond tense, to just plain scary. Jose Valverde is an emotional pitcher, with a dramatic flair. But he's taken drama to a new level with his performance in the ninth inning on Friday. With a comfortable 4-1 lead, Valverde gave up a lead-off single to Burrell, which stretched to an extra base on Bourn's fielding error. The next batter grounded out, moving the runner to third. On a 1-2 count, Feliz hit a hard line drive straight at Valverde. Quick reflexes deflected a bit off the power, but the ball smacked Valverde hard on the side of his face, flattening him. The runner scored from third, while Rex Jones and the Astros players rushed to the mound to check on Valverde, who was face down and not moving much. After a few minutes, Valverde got up, looking a bit dazed, and making facial contortions to check that his jaw was still intact. Unbelievably, he convinced Coop to let him stay in the game.

The on-field drama continued as the next batter singled, putting runners on first and second, with one out and a two-run lead. Chris Coste came in to pinch hit - his BA as a pinch hitter is over .500 with a slugging percent above .800. Valverde got him swinging for the second out. Then Rollins whacked his third hit of the game, a double to deep right field, scoring the runner from second. That hit could have tied the game but Pence made a great throw and held pinch runner (and ex-Astro) Eric Bruntlett on third base. Victorino hit a fly ball to center for the third out, the Astros won 4-3, and the party began. Big Papa managed to escape without any head bashing from the mob, given his injury, but his fist pumping over his league-leading 15th save was more emphatic than ever.

With all of this focus on the excitement last moments of the game, I would be remiss not to relate how the Astros got to the ninth inning with a lead to protect. Hero #1 was Brandon Backe. For the second start in a row, Backe pitched his "best game of the season." After a second inning home run to Burrell, he treated the Phillies very cruelly, with perfect 1-2-3 innings from the fourth through seventh. He exited the game in the eighth, with one out, to a well-deserved standing ovation. Backe pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up only 1 run on 6 hits, 1 BB, and 6 Ks. Brocail had a few hairy moments in relief, when the runner on first stole, putting runners on second and third with one out. He struck out Victorino, and intentionally walked Utley, loading the bases. But he induced Howard to ground out to end the threat.

Hero #2 of this game was Hunter Pence, who connected for two solo homers - including a tape-measure blast to the railroad tracks. Berkman only had one hit, but it was a good one - a one-out triple in the eighth. He scored on Lee's sac fly. The other Astros run was scored in the seventh inning on hits by the Astros' offensive problem children, Towles and Bourn. This time they came through, and that extra run made the difference in this close game. Wiggington had two hits in this game, including another double. He's really been on a tear since coming back from his bruised rib injury.

GAME 49 - May 22: The Return of Brad Lidge

Philadelphia 7, Houston 5

Quotes of the Day: "He text-messaged me. It just said, 'I hate you.' " (Lidge, after inducing Berkman's game-ending pop-up) "He thought it was hilarious, which I knew he would." (Berkman, on good buddy Lidge's response)

I have a confession to make: In the bottom of the ninth, with Houston down by two, a runner on base and Berkman at the plate, I was torn. Of course, I was hoping for the Puma to whack the ball into the stands to tie it up. But facing Berkman on the mound was one of my favorite ex-Astros, now closing the game for the Phillies. It was just really difficult for me to wish for a bad outcome for Brad Lidge. It's not his fault that he's the enemy; Lidge didn't ask to be traded to the Phillies in the off-season. He's thriving there, with a microscopic ERA, and a perfect save record. Unfortunately, both of these stats improved in the ninth inning of this game, when Lidge induced a pop up from Berkman to end the game, earning his 12th save, and whittling his ERA down to 0.43. I'm glad for him - really. I just don't want to see him on the mound for the rest of the weekend.

The big loser of this game was Roy O, even though he didn't actually get the decision. After coming back from his early season woes, he had been getting back on track, picking up some wins. In last weekend's loss to the Rangers, he had a lousy start, and an even worse end, as he left the game with what appeared to be a groin injury. He appeared to be healthy, coming into the game. But the game started on a hairy play - Oswalt dived from the mound to catch a leadoff bunt. He made an amazing catch, but was he all right? He got up and continued pitching, but the outcome was very similar to last week: 6 innings, 5 runs on 11 hits, a pair of walks, and 4 Ks.

Thanks to some Houston pop in the bottom of the inning, Oswalt left the game with the score tied 5-5, so he didn't end up with the loss. The honors for that went to lefty Wright, who threw a perfect 7-pitch seventh inning before surrendering a homer to Pat Burrell to lead off the eighth. Nieve gave away an insurance run that the Phillies didn't need, as the Astros didn't manage to pull off their new signature come-back this time.

There's always something to like, even in a loss: Berkman seemed to have come back from his batting slump in the Cubs series, when he went 1 for 10 with 8 Ks. He hit a pair of doubles and a single in this game, and picked up his league-leading 45th RBI. Wiggington went 3 for 4, with double doubles. And Bourn continues to get some hits, hitting 2 more in this game, and notching his lead-leading 21st stolen base.

Three more games in this series. I am hoping that the Astros will put up some big scores, and that Lidge won't need to pitch again this weekend.

GAME 48 - May 21: A Sensible Decision

Houston 5, Chicago 3

Word for the Day: Decision. The act of reaching a conclusion.

Shawn Chacon wasn't really enjoying his new Major League record: The most no-decision starts ever to open a season. He didn't like his new nickname: ND. On his tenth try, he was really, really hoping to get a decision. And after just six batters, it looked like he was well on his way. Unfortunately, he was going in the wrong direction. After a walk, home run, and a pair of doubles, Chacon and the Astros were down by three runs - and not yet out of the first inning.

Then Chacon settled down to business. Over the next six innings, no one could score off of him; other than a single in the second and a double in the seventh, the Cubbies largely spent the top of each inning watching from the dugout. Brocail followed with a perfect eighth, and Valverde's no-hit ninth saved the game.

Happily, the Astros are finding that they can get fired up and win games in a new way - one that doesn't depend on Berkman lighting all the matches. In Tuesday's win, it was Pence's grand slam. Wednesday, it took back-to-back singles from the top of the lineup - Bourn, Matsui, and Tejada and a home run from El Caballo to take a 4-3 lead in the third inning. Blum's RBI single in the fifth added an insurance run, which the great pitching made superfluous.

Bourn had a long awaited great night at the plate - he went 3 for 5, raising his BA to .208. Okay, it's still low, but you gotta start somewhere. After being demoted in the lineup, he's back to batting at the top. GIven his speed, a few extra hits could really add value - he's just as likely to be in scoring position within a few pitches. Bourn got his 20th steal in this game.

It wasn't Berkman's night at the plate, however. He went 0 for 3 - and the 3 were all strikeouts. At least in this game, he didn't sling the bat across the field on the third strikes! After his stunning road trip, Berkman has come home to find a base hit hard to get; he only had one hit in 10 at bats during the Cubs series, and he struck out 8 times! However, the lack of hits didn't figure into his ability to contribute to Houston's score. In the fifth inning, he was hit in the ribs by a pitch. That must have rattled the Cubs pitcher a bit - the last thing he expected was for Berkman to steal a base - he made it to second without even needing to slide (#9 for the season). Then he hustled to score that insurance run on Blum's single. Berkman's fielding was excellent also - he totally robbed Theriot of a hit with a lunging grab of a sharp liner. The replays showed a rare sight - Berkman parallel to the ground, flying though the air to snag that ball.

The star of the game, though, was the very decisive Shawn Chacon. WIth his first W in an Astros uniform, he now very proudly holds a 1-0 record for the season.

GAME 47 - May 20: Slammed!

Houston 4, Chicago 2

Word for the Day: Slam. An act of shutting forcefully and loudly.

SLAM! Hunter Pence slammed the door in the Cubbies' face to give the Astros this series-tying win. Literally - with one out and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Pence whacked an opposite-side homer into the right-field stands. The Astros took a 4-2 lead, and held on to it against the highest run-scoring team in the league.

Pence has left his batting woes from April so far behind. He was 3 for 4 in this game, with a single and double in addition to his home run. His batting average is now .293, on its way into the comfortable threes where it belongs. In May, over the course of his 16-game hitting streak, he batted over .350 and logged 4 of his 5 season home runs.

Credit for this game has to be shared between Pence and the pitching staff. Sampson had a fine start: In 6 2/3 innings, he gave up only a pair of runs - on a 2-run homer in the fourth, on 7 hits, 1 BB, and 4 Ks. Brocail came in to pitch the seventh, with two outs and two on, and struck out Soriano to end the inning. He then pitched a scoreless eighth. Valverde came in for the ninth to protect the Astros' 2-run lead. He struck out the first batter. His keep-'em-interested trick of this game was a walk/wild pitch combo that put a runner on second with one out. But two ground balls later, the game was over. The Astros beat the Cubbies, picking up the game they lost yesterday, to sit 2 1/2 games out in the NL Central. With the Cards' late-night loss on the West Coast, Houston is only half a game out of second place. Everyone says, "It's just May, too early to keep count," but the win or loss in May could be the difference when they are one game ahead or behind on the last day of September. Last May, the Astros were on pace for a losing season; today they are on pace for 90 wins.

It was save number 13 for Valverde, who is tied for the league lead. Big Papa's ERA, at 3.75, is down about 9 from early April when the other bloggers and many of their rabid so-called fans were trash-talking him. Good for Lidge to be doing so well in Philadelphia - and I hope that we don't see him on the mound when the Phillies come to town this weekend. But Ed Wade didn't cheat the Astros on this switch.

So what do Craig Biggio and I have in common? Answer: We both called the home run. Biggio was interviewed, sitting in the stands with his wife and a bunch of youngsters; the kids verified his claim that he had called that grand slam. I, of course, was sitting in my kitchen, drinking a glass of Rioja and chanting "Home Run, Home Run, Home Run..." To be candid, I have to admit that I do that whenever a slugger comes to the plate with runners on base. But this time, it was extra loud. It was weird to see Biggio sitting in the stands, looking like some young family guy with a day job and kids. Of course, that's just what he is now: He's just accepted the (unpaid) position as the coach of his oldests son's high school baseball team.

The guy that made Major League batting look like T-ball for the past few weeks was not looking so comfortable in this game. One day after breaking his 17-game hitting streak, he hit a single in his first at-bat to start a new streak. He walked in his second at bat. But he then struck out in his last two chances, both times losing the grip and sending his bat flying on the third strike.

The Astros finish the Cubs series Wednesday night, with Chacon on the mound. Will he break his own Major League record for no-decision starts?

GAME 46 - May 19: Berkman is Human. Astros Lose.

Chicago 7, Houston 2

Quote of the Day: "We had a chance. We came up short. There's another game. " (Tejada, summing up the game)

One thing about statistics: Sample size is critical. So you have to take that into consideration when noting that the Astros have decisively lost 3 of their last 4 games - outscored by 16 runs. Overall for the month of May, though, Houston has a 12-5 record, best in the Major League, with plenty of big and exciting wins. Still, baseball crowds tend to be pretty fickle: What have you done for me lately?

Speaking of lately, the first game of the home stand wasn't a great start. Playing against the NL Central first-place Cubs, the Astros really need to win this series. A sweep could have put them in first place; every loss puts the Astros another game behind in the standings. There was really very little to love about this game: The Cubs took the lead in the fourth, on a 3-run inside-the-park home run off Brian Moehler (still subbing for Wandy). Don't blame it on the fielding - replays show that the home run should have been called anyway.

The Astros inched back, a run at a time, and were only a run behind after 6 - still a very winnable game. But Houston followed the lead of its two streakers (Berkman at 17 games and Pence at 16), who couldn't find anything to hit - they both went 0 for 4 in this game. Meanwhile, after Byrdak's perfect 9-pitch sixth, the Astros bullpen couldn't get out of an inning without making things worse. Nieve gave up a run on 3 hits in the 7th. Wright put on a pair in the 8th on a single and a walk; Borkowski allowed one of them to score, and then gave up a 2-run homer in the ninth. Final damage: Cubs 7, Astros 2.

Enough said. Bummer of a game. But as Scarlett says, "Tamarah is anuthuh day."

GAME 45 - May 18: That Was Fun. Now Let's Go Home.

Houston 5, Texas 4

Quote of the Day: "It's a miracle." (Berkman)

The Astros cheated the Rangers out of a sweep and sent them back to a losing record in the last game of the longest road trip of the season. "Cheated" is probably not the right word, since Houston was ahead the whole game, and led 5-0 until the seventh inning. But Texas crept back bit by bit, until by the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and a runner on first, I had almost bought in to the Arlington crowd's certainty that their victory was near. Almost.

Backe pitched a very nice game, probably his best of the season. He threw 7 1/3 innings, allowing 3 ER on 5 hits, no BBs, and struck out 5. He had 1-2-3 innings for the first three, then pitched himself out of trouble in the fourth, when back-to-back singles put runners on first and third with no outs. But Michael Young popped out to Matsui, who then threw out the runner from third, unwisely trying to score. Backe struck out Milton Bradley (second in the AL in BA, first in OBP) to end the threat. The same cast of characters had better luck in the 7th inning, when the Rangers finally found a way to score off Backe. Young hit a single, and Bradley homered to make it 5-2. To give Backe credit, it was actually quite a nice pitch, but Bradley managed to whack it over the fence. Unfortunately, Backe gave a nice pitch to the next batter, who also hit a bomb, and the lead had shrunk to 2 runs.

That was it for Backe. Brocail came in to finish off the seventh, and continued into the eighth. With 2 outs and a runner on first, Valverde was brought in early. His first pitch was slammed into deep left field; Brocail's runner scored, making it a very nerve-wracking 5-4.

Meanwhile, after scoring their runs in the fourth and fifth innings, the Astros didn't seem inclined to add only any more. So Valverde took the mound in the ninth, with that teensy-tiny lead to protect, and the two guys who hit the home runs in the seventh due up. Valverde struck them both out. Just to make things interesting, he let the next guy hit a single, to put the winning run at the plate. Just to make things more interesting, he took it out to a full count. Strike 3 - game over - Astros won. It was Valverde's 12 save, and his ERA is now down to 3.91.

Enough about the pitching. The Astros scored their 5 runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Tejada and Berkman opened the fourth with back to back singles. After Lee was robbed by a great catch, Pence beat out a ground ball for an infield single to load the bases. Then Loretta showed great restraint at the plate (not a common characteristic among the 2008 Astros), walking to force in Tejada for the first run. With the bases still loaded and one out, Wiggington hit a ground ball; they got Loretta at second, but Wigginton beat the throw to avoid the double play, allowing Berkman to score. Then Towles, who is batting something like .034 in the past 10 games, hit a double to score Pence. Bourn struck out to end the inning.

In the fifth inning, Matsui led off with an infield single. Tejada doubled, scoring Matsui, to make it 4-0. Berkman's second single of the game put Tejada on third, and Lee hit a sac fly to
score him - 5-0. That ended the Astros' offensive frolics for the game; happily the pitchers managed to control the Rangers damage - just barely - to pull off the win.

Interesting notes: Bourn was caught stealing twice in this game. The first time was really suspect - maybe the second baseman waved the ball in the vicinity of Bourn's back, but the replays did not support the notion that he was actually tagged. After not being caught stealing for the first 6 weeks of the season, Bourn was caught 3 times in this series. Coop seemed to feel pretty strongly about it - he argued at length with the umpire and was ejected for the second time in the series.

Berkman went 2 for 5, extending his wild and crazy hitting streak to 17 game, with his batting average topping .400 during the game. It's now .399. While Chipper Jones' batting average is higher, it has come down a bit, while Berkman's keeps creeping up. Tejada went 3 for 5, scoring twice. Bourn, Matsui, and Pence each had two hits. Pence kept his own hitting streak going to 16 games.

The Astros did not hit any home runs in this game, unusual for this year's team. They also did not have any errors, which had been the norm for this years team until recently. After starting out the season with so few, they have made so many in the past few games, they are now (at 27) in the middle of the NL pack. Worse, they've allowed 11 unearned runs to score in the past 5 games. That's tough for Cooper to swallow; apparently he had a C2J meeting with the team Saturday, after Friday night's 5-error, 6 unearned run game.

The Astros finished the 10-game road trip 7-3, after a 5-1 homestand to start the month. Now back to Houston for a week, starting with the first-place Cubs.

GAMES 43-44 - May 16-17: Bad Nights at the Not-So-OK Corral

Friday, May 16: Texas 16, Houston 8
Saturday, May 17: Texas 6, Houston 2

Quote of the Day: "Bad night at the OK Corral, buddy,' that's what I say." (Cecil Cooper on Friday night's loss)

Well, I didn't really think that the Astros were going to win every game for the rest of the season. Game after game, the Astros flirted with losing, but managed to find a way to come back. They just never quit... until they did.

The good thing about Friday night's loss to the Rangers was that it could have been worse: Remember those 18-3 shellackings from previous years, when the Astros got kicked in the butt by the Silver Boot? In comparison, 16-8 was relatively respectable.

It was trouble from the start. Texas scored 3 in the first inning. After 4 innings, the Astros trailed the Rangers 8-2, and it appeared that starter Shawn Chacon would finally get his first decision of the year. But Houston came back with the big inning, scoring 5 runs in the fifth, and another in the sixth to tie the game. By that time, Chacon was long gone, but tying it up kept him from being eligible for a decision - now with nine starts, and a perfect 0-0 record, Chacon has a major league record. One of dubious distinction, but a major league record nonetheless.

Tie game! The come from behind magic had struck again! But It didn't last long. Wright gave up a pair of runs in the seventh to make it 10-8. Then Villareal fell apart in the eighth, allowing 6 Ranger runs on 3 home runs, a triple, 2 singles, and a walk. A pair of errors in the inning (2 of the 5 in the game!) saved Villareal's ERA from taking the hit - 4 of the runs were unearned, since they came after what should have been the third out. The mystery to me (since I was not watching this Sabbath eve game) is why Villareal was pitching long enough to give up 6 runs? Why wasn't he taken out after the first two home runs? With the Astros recent ability to come back in late innings, it wasn't completely out of the question for them to have a big ninth. Villareal stayed in, and being down 8 runs was a bit much. The Astros went quietly in the ninth.

Despite the blowout score, the Astros did score 8 runs in this game, so there was some nice hitting going on. Berkman - the DH - went 2 for 4, raising his BA to .394. Erstad, getting a start at first base, also went 2 for 4, with a pair of doubles and 2 RBIs. Lee and Matsui also got two hits apiece. Bourn got his 18th stolen base. And Cooper got kicked out in the 7th inning, after objecting to a play at home. It was his second ejection of the season. (Perhaps that's why Villareal overstayed his welcome - Coop wasn't there to take the ball?)

I already knew of the Friday night debacle before the Sabbath ended - I picked up a copy of the sports section at the Fainchstein's house Saturday afternoon. However, I assumed that this was just a momentary setback, and rushed home right after the Sabbath to catch the end of the Saturday night game. With Roy O starting, it could have been over already by the time I turned on my computer, two hours into the game.

But unfortunately, the game wasn't over - Oswalt had a ratty start, giving up 6 ERs on 11 hits - including two more home runs. Two of his ERs were runners he left on base in the 7th inning, when he suddenly left the game in the middle of an at bat, with a 2-0 count. Byrdak let one runner in, and Nieve allowed the second one to score.

Meanwhile, the Astros hitters didn't fare as well. Houston cobbled together one run in the first inning, and scored on Berkman's solo homer in the fourth, and that was that. After going 2 for 3 Saturday night, including home run #16, Berkman's batting average is sitting at .399 (it went over .400 after the first two at bats). His hitting streak now stands at 16 games. Pence went 1 for 4, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.

Groin Groans: Oswalt left the game with a strained right groin. He apparently felt the problem in the sixth, but was prevailed upon to continue pitching into the seventh. He's day to day. Meanwhile, Geary's been put on the 15 day DL with a strained groin injury. Nieve came up from Round Rock to fill in. Meanwhile, Wandy threw 4 innings of a simulated game, and may be back from his groin injury in a week or ten days.

GAME 42 - May 15: Un-frickin-Believable!

Houston 8, San Francisco 7

Quote of the Day: "No baseball team should have you hyperventilating in May." (Richard Justice, on the Astros' spate of wild-and-crazy, come-from-behind wins)

The Houston sportswriters can't find enough adjectives to express their disbelief. As usual, Alyson says it best: "Borderline absurd." "Just wrong," says Richard Justice. "Unreal... too weird." Ortiz says "There's something special going on."

It was another one of those games. I was at work that afternoon, peeking now and then at the pitch-by-pitch to see how the game was going, and it wasn't looking good. After three innings, the Astros were down 6-0. Not a great start from Sampson, to say the least. And, after Cooper had finally forced Tejada to take a day off, Loretta wasn't doing too well at shortstop: He made two errors in the game, each of which had allowed a run to score. The Astros picked up a trio of runs in the fourth when Berkman hit a 2-RBI single, then advanced on a stolen base and a ground ball, and scored on Loretta's single. But the Giants came back to score another one in the bottom of the inning, making it 7-3.

That's where things stood until the eighth inning, when the come-from-behind magic kicked in. The GIants got the hard out right away: Berkman grounded out to lead off the inning. Then San Francisco's good luck took a dive. Lee homered. Blum struck out, but the pitch went wild, and he made it safely to first base. Loretta singled to put runners on first and second with one out. Then Cooper made a move: He brought in Erstad to bat for Towles. That decision paid off big time when Erstad hit his first-ever pinch homer, tying the game. They put a couple more runners on, but that was all the damage the Astros managed in the inning. Geary and Byrdak kept the Giants from scoring in the bottom of the eighth. Then came the ninth, with the Puma leading off.

Kaboom! Whooooosssh! SPLASH!

That was the sound of Berkman hitting the first pitch of the ninth inning into McCovey Cove. It was the first time an Astros batter had accomplished this feat. Berkman is a monster. Home run #15. Three more RBIs in this game. Hitting .391. Hear the Puma roar!

Valverde took the mound with the Astros suddenly ahead 8-7. Ground out. Strike out. Another strike out. GAME OVER! Astros win another series! They are now 6 for 7 on this road trip. DId the Astros win 6 games on the road last season?

Other news of the game: Geary left the game in the 8th with a strained groin injury. He has been phenomenal, with his 1.47 ERA. Hopefully, he won't be out long. Pence extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Lee and Loretta both went 3 for 5. Bourn and Towles continue not to hit.

I left work right after this game ended, and ran home to watch the game on the mlb.tv archive.

GAME 41 - May 14: Stinky Cheese

Houston 6, San Francisco 3

Quote of the Day: "I actually said, 'He's trying to sneak some cheese by the rat.' You don't sneak cheese by guys that hit the fastball." (Cooper, on Tejada's go-ahead RBI at bat)

This one started out with a bang: Matsui singled, then stole second, and scored on Tejada's RBI single. Then Berkman launched one into center field for his 14th homer, giving the Astros a 3-0 lead in the first. When Moehler (still subbing for Wandy) had a 1-2-3 inning, I entertained a fleeting fantasy: Maybe the Astros would have that big blowout win, and I could just sit back and enjoy a stress-free game while they coast to victory.

Hah! Moehler's three singles, one home run, and one throwing error allowed the Giants to come back to tie it up in the bottom of the second inning. Meanwhile, the Astros didn't do diddlysquat to better the scoreboard for the next 5 innings. So it was that after 6 innings it was tied 3-3, and once again, the Astros starting pitcher left the game without a decision.

Things got better in the 7th inning, when Cruz Jr walked to open the inning. (Actual hits are rare, but Cruz does have a patient demeanor at the plate, and manages to walk now and then.) He advanced to second on Bourn's sac bunt, then scored on Tejada's second RBI single of the game, to give the Astros a 4-3 lead.

The Astros bullpen was phenomenal again - six of them combined to pitch 4 scoreless innings to finish off the game after Moehler came out: Byrdak, Villareal, Wright, Geary, Brocail, and Valverde. But back in the 8th inning, it wasn't a done deal that Houston's precarious one-run lead would be enough. Pence opened the inning with a single, and - don't faint - Ausmus hit a 2-run homer (his first of the season) to make the lead a little more comfortable. It was amusing to watch the scene in the bullpen afterwards, as the team gave Ausmus the rookie treatment: They totally ignored him for a minute or two, before reverting to the usual ritual headbashing and knuckle kisses. The three-run lead was more than enough to give the Astros another late inning (but not CFB) win.

Berkman's home run was his only hit of the game - lowering his batting average (a rare occurrence) to .388. But the home run put him on top of the majors in that category. Tejada was 3 for 5 with the two RBIs that counted - the first one and the one that put them in the lead to stay. Pence got a pair of hits, raising his batting average to a very respectable .287. I will be very surprised if he isn't in the threes pretty soon.

Some guys get all the luck. Starting pitchers work their butts off and leave with no decision, then some reliever gets lucky, makes the last out of the inning before the Astros take the lead, and bingo: Instant W! This time it was Villareal who pitched 4 pitches to one batter to end the sixth, just in time for the Astros to get ahead in the seventh.

Fun and games, as the Astros win 5 out of 6 in this road trip, after winning 5 out of 6 at home. As long as it lasts, I am lovin' it!

GAME 40 - May 13: Forgettable...

San Francisco 4, Houston 2

Quote of the Day: "This was a night of bad defense, mental errors and weak hitting." (Alyson Footer, on a game not to remember)

These West Coast road games don't end until well after midnight my time, here in the Washington DC area. So I don't get a chance to write them up until the next day. I don't generally have a problem remembering the game a day or two later, with a little help from the pitch-by-pitch and box score to resurrect the details.

But Tuesday night's loss was just, well, forgettable.

Nothing much really memorable happened, or at least nothing much from the Astros. Berkman kept his hitting streak going - but that was more due to a generous call by the scorer, who marked his third inning ground ball a hit, rather than an E3. Bourn let a hit turn into a double in the first inning when he seemed to forget to throw the ball back to the infield after getting it. (It was ruled a double, not an error.) Towles let a run score on a passed ball. Pence and Matsui crashed into each other in a failed attempt to catch a pop fly in right field. Happily neither of them came away with more than bruises - for a moment I envisioned something like the Lee-Everett leg-snapper. Backe lost, but didn't really pitch that bad, once he got out of the first inning. Byrdak, Villareal, and Wright were nearly perfect in the 2 innings they shared. Lee got a homer and was responsible for both Astros RBIs. But the Giants pitcher hit a home run too. Happily, both the Cards and the Cubs lost, so no set-back in the standings.

That's about a wrap. It's 10:15. Time to watch the next game...

GAME 39 - May 12: Another CFB Win!

Houston 7, San Francisco 3

Quote of the Day: "If Lance had the career he has had so far in a larger market, his name would be all over the place. If he ever hit like this in New York or Boston, he would be the next president." (Roy Oswalt, on Lance Berkman)

Another game, another come-from-behind win for the new fangled Astros. This time they waited until the sixth inning to come back from a three-run deficit. Happily, after giving up a pair of runs in the third on a bunt single and pair of doubles and another in the fourth on a solo homer, Oswalt was untouchable. That gave him the staying power to remain in the game through the eighth inning - long enough for the Astros to put the game winning runs on the scoreboard. It was win number 4 for Roy O - now he's caught up with Valverde for the team's win record.

The game-changing runs were a team effort, of course, but as usual they were fueled by Lance Berkman. Berkman went 3 for 4, with a HR, double, and single, scored twice, and had 2 RBIs. Pence and Loretta opened the sixth inning with back-to-back singles, then Tejada's sac fly scored Pence for the first Houston run. Berkman hit a whopper to center field for two more, tying the game at 3-3. It was Berkman's 13th homer of the season, tying Utley for the NL (and ML) lead.

The pattern was the same, with different batters, to score run #4 in the seventh: This time Cruz and Ausmus led off with singles, and Pence hit the sac fly to score Cruz. Astros lead, 4-3. They put on insurance runs in the eighth, loading the bases with Berkman's double, Lee's IBB, and Wiggington's painful chest-thumping. With 1 out and Cruz Jr at the plate, the best I anticipated was a run-forcing walk - Cruz has many more walks than hits this season. But he came through with his second single of the game, scoring Berkman. Then Lee and Wiggington came in on a very peculiar play - the Giants' reliever threw a pickoff to first base, but no one was there to catch it, and runners made tracks. The second baseman fielded the ball, but made just as bad a throw to the other side of the diamond, allowing both runners to score on the pair of errors.

As it turned out, these SF brain farts didn't affect the outcome. Oswalt continued to knock 'em dead in the bottom of the eighth, and Geary and Valverde finished off the Giants in the ninth to win the game. But not without a little drama: Geary allowed a lead-off single, then got two quick outs. After he walked the next batter, setting up a save situation, Cooper called for Valverde. The next batter hit a little bunt single to load the bases, before a pinch hitter harmlessly flied out. It was save #9 for Valverde - and a nice continuation of his total dominance after that ugly season start. (Meanwhile, Brad Lidge is 10 for 10 in save opportunities, and has a measly 0.50 ERA. Good for him - as long as he's not pitching against the Astros!)

The Astros are now 5 games over .500, and only 1.5 games behind in the NL Central. Take that, all ye nay-sayers and so-called fans who trash the team and the players on the Chronicle blogs! Now who are the LOSERS!?

I am not, by the way, bad-mouthing the Astros sportswriters - Justice, McTaggert, and Ortiz at the Chronicle and of course Alyson Footer at Astros.com - for reporting factually on the team and the players. Or even for writing less-than-optimistic predictions for 2008, especially in the first couple of weeks of the season. They are professional sportswriters, not Astros fans. I'm sure that it's a lot more fun for a sportswriter to be covering a contender than a loser - although Alyson is truly a master at Astros Angst. But when it comes down to it, their reputations depend on sound reporting and dispassionate sports analysis.

I, on the other hand, am a plain old fan with a subscription to mlb.tv, good grammar, and a website. I can publish the most blatantly wishful thinking and outrageously optimistic predictions with no concern for my reputation among readers or colleagues. To the best of my knowledge, I'm the only person who reads my blog entries anyway, so I can say what I want. At the end of the season, when the Astros win the Pennant, and go on to sweep in the World Series, I can laugh and say, I toldja so - just read my 2008 game diaries! And if they don't enjoy such heady success, I can just hide in my comfortable obscurity.

But I am pretty sure about it: This time the Astros are going to WIN the World Series.

GAME 38 - May 11: Who ARE These Guys???

Houston 8, LA 5

Word for the Day: Suharashii. Excellent (Japanese)

This is definitely a different Astros team. It's not just the new faces - they have all become familiar since Spring Training. It's just a whole different game. The Astros of the past few years were not a come-from-behind kind of team; if they were behind after 7 innings, they nearly always lost. The run production often sucked; their game was based on great pitching and good fielding. With Oswalt, Clemens, and Pettitte on the front, and Qualls, Wheeler, and Lidge on the back, who needed to score many runs? The defensive qualities of Everett and Ausmus (as much his brain as his arm) more than made up for their weak batting. And under the leadership of Bagwell and Biggio, it really was a team that you could call "The Good Guys" without being embarrassed. Maybe just a little evangelical for my taste, but you could pretty much bet that that their individual press coverage would be more likely to say "good citizenship" than "bad sportsmanship."

So who are these 2008 Astros? The starting pitching is a big question mark, but the much maligned bullpen has actually been pretty good. The offense is finally showing off its expected power explosion, with Tejada, Berkman, and Lee the scariest heart of any order in the league. We haven't yet seen Pence at his best, but he's getting there, and Towles and Bourn will get better too if they are allowed to keep playing. The running game is fantastic - the Astros already have more steals than they did all season last year. It's not just Bourn and Matsui and Pence who are running; Berkman's stealing bases, and even Lee has one. The defense has been quite good - very few errors and lots of double plays go a long way in helping the pitchers.

So, after a long preamble to this Game 38 writeup, who are these guys? They are the 2008 Astros team who can come from behind in the eighth inning to decisively win a series-sweeping game on the road against a LA team that just one week ago was the hottest team in baseball. They are the 2008 Astros team who had two outs in the seventh inning before spoiling the opposing starter's no hitter, and then went on to spoil his whole day. And very puzzling, they are the 2008 Astros team whose #4 pitcher has a 3.53 ERA, and not one single decision - win or lose - to show for his first eight starts of the season - while the closer leads the team in wins.

Chacon's latest redefinition of a no-no was already a sure thing when I had to turn off the game after the seventh inning to go to my son and daughter-in-law's place for a family Mothers' Day dinner. The Astros were down 2-0, when Pence's 2-out single broke up LA's Hiroki Kuroda's no hitter. Pence managed to score the Astros' only run, as Kuroda and his replacement Joe Beimel went on to walk the next 3 batters. The RBI walk was Loretta's, pinch hitting for Chacon. Bourn hit a long fly ball, which was just barely caught in center to end the inning disappointingly, with the bases loaded.

Wesley Wright came in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, leaving Chacon in line for the loss but not a win. Wright gave back the run to LA, without making an out. Geary finished off the inning by pitching to only two batters, inducing a fielders' choice and then a double play.

At that point, I had to pick family over baseball; I closed the computer and left for the dinner party. Just before we arrived at their place downtown about 40 minutes later, my second son called to say "Happy Mothers' Day - and oh, by the way, your team is winning." I couldn't believe that they were still playing, but they were still in the eighth inning, and the Astros had a big fat lead.

Six runs in the eighth, come from behind, on the road no less - this is definitely a new Astros team. Matsui singled, then Tejada, then Berkman, scoring Matsui. Lee singled, scoring Tejada. Pence singled, scoring Berkman. Five consecutive singles to open the inning put the Astros ahead 4-3. Pence stole second as Wiggington struck out, taking away the double play opportunity. Then Ausmus singled, scoring Lee and Pence. Erstad's double moved Ausmus to third, and Bourn's sac fly pushed across the sixth run of the inning. Matsui, up for the second time, flied out to end the fun. But the Astros were ahead 7-3.

Brocail came in to pitch a scoreless eighth. Then the Astros plated another run in the top of the ninth, on Tejada's infield single, Brocail's sac bunt, and Pence's RBI double. Brocail gave back a pair of Dodger runs in the bottom of the ninth. With Andre Ethier coming to bad (3 hits already), Coop went for the Papa Grande. It took Valverde 9 pitches and a full count, but Ethier popped out to end the game. Save #8 for Valverde.

Meanwhile, it was no decision #8 for Chacon. Hopefully Chacon won't try to pace Valverde for the rest of the season! He pitched another terrific start. After a 2-run homer in the first, he held the Dodgers scoreless for the next 5 innings, giving up 7 scattered hits and 1 walk, striking out 3. But all for naught - Geary, who pitched to just 2 batters in the bottom of the 7th, was the pitcher of record when the Astros batters finally woke up in the eighth. The only consolation Chacon might take from this is one for the records books: He's now tied for the major league record of most no-decision games to start a season. Chacon seems puzzled about whether this is a record that he wants. After the game he said, "I don't know how excited I am about it, but I can't do anything but keep trying to pitch well and keep our team in the game. If the relievers get all my wins, fine. They can take them. But I definitely want to get a win before I get a loss.""

Other special features of the game, besides the come-from-behind win: Bourn made an spectacular catch in the ninth inning, crashing into the outfield wall but keeping the ball in his glove. The runner on third tagged up and scored, but Bourn turned a for-sure extra base hit into a sac fly.

Pence went 3 for 4, with 2 runs and 2 RBIs, and a pair of steals for good measure. He's pulled his BA up to a much more respectable .273. For the first time in more than a week, it was not the Lance Berkman Show - in fact, he lowered his BA in this game, with only 1 hit in his 4 at bats. (He's still batting .382.) This win was much more of the Total Team affair: The Astros scored their 8 runs on 10 hits - 8 singles and 2 doubles.

GAMES 36-37 - May 9-10: California Surfin'

Friday, May 9 - Houston 7, LA 1
Saturday, May 10 - Houston 5, LA 0

Quote of the Day: "Everybody's got to have a best start, and a worst one. So I think we'll have to wait until the end my career until we can properly put it into context." (Berkman on his amazing season start)

I might have had a little trepidation about the Astros' ability to keep the good times going, once they left off playing last-place the Nationals in MMP, and headed out to take on the hot-hot-hot Dodgers on the road. But the first two games, which I watched Saturday night after the Sabbath, didn't provide much reason for worry: The Astros hitters put early-inning runs on the scoreboard, while the pitchers didn't give the Dodgers much of anything to hit. Recipe for success. Perhaps Cooper will even have a chance to grow his fingernails back out for a few days!

Both of the starting pitchers - Brian Moehler on Friday night and Chris Sampson on Saturday - gave Cooper something to be happy about. Moehler, who hadn't started a game in a couple of years, pitched 5 scoreless innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 BB, and 5 Ks. Sampson, who has been beat up in his past couple of starts, only lasting a few innings, redeemed himself Saturday - he shut out the Dodgers for 7 innings, giving up only 3 hits and 1 walk, and striking out 3. With the Astros scoring their runs in the early innings, that set up both Moehler and Sampson for an elusive accomplishment - a win by the starting pitcher. (Let's hope Chacon can follow up with the same in Sunday's game!)

The bullpen was terrific: Aside from Borkowski's 1 ER in the 9th inning on Friday night, Byrdak, Geary, Wright, and Villareal combined for 5 scoreless innings in the two games - with a total of 1 hit and a pair of walks. Geary was lights out on Friday night - he threw 2 perfect innings in just 25 pitches, 20 of them strikes. Wright pitched a perfect 8th inning on Saturday night. After he walked the first runner in the ninth, Villareal finished off the inning without a hitch.

With the pitchers so dominating - giving up only 1 run in 18 innings - the hitters didn't have to do much to earn them a win. In both games, the Astros scored some runs in the early innings and coasted from there. Continuing his wild and crazy streak, Lance Berkman led the offense. He went 3 for 4 on Friday night, with a home run, double, and single, walked once, scored twice, and had a pair of RBIs. On Saturday night, he was 2 for 3, with a double, a single, and a walk. Berkman is getting a lot of attention in the baseball press: His recent amazing run of hits is starting to send them scurrying to the record books. Meanwhile, he leads the league in RBIs (35), is second in home runs (12 to Utley's 13), and second in BA (.386 to Chipper Jones .400). He also leads the leagues in slugging (.788) and OPS (1.256).

The running game continues to be on. It's pretty much a given that if Michael Bourn gets to first base, he's on second. (His problem is getting to first.) He had a steal in each game - that makes him 17 for 17 this season. But it's contagious! Carlos Lee also stole a base on Saturday night - his first of the season.

The Astros got 2 errors on Saturday night - both on the same play, a pop fly to shallow left. Tejada came way out, Wiggington following, and Lee came way in. Miggy should have just let Lee have it, but called for the ball, and flubbed the catch. Then the ball dribbled right in front of Lee, who booted it. Happily, with the runners ending up on second and third and no outs, Sampson managed to get out of the inning on a trio of ground balls, without either of them scoring.

Now that the Astros are 3 games over .500, I've started to pay a bit more attention to the other teams in the division. Things are actually getting pretty interesting: The Astros have moved up from solidly at the bottom of the division, to a mere 2 1/2 games from the top, with the Cards and Cubs close enough to spit at.

GAME 35 - May 8: Can't Win 'em All

Washington 8, Houston 3

Word for the Day: "Ugh." Exclamation of disgust, annoyance, or dislike.

So let me tell you about my day: I went to this after-work company event for "Women in Leadership," drank a beer, networked with my chick friends from the office, heard an inspirational speaker, had a nice time. But by 7:30 when it ended, I was ready to roll - I figured that I would miss the first couple of innings of the Astros 8 PM game, but I'd be able to catch most of the Astros series sweeper against the Nationals.

Got a friend to drop me off at a subway station in Virginia, but she let me off on the wrong side of the Kiss & Ride, and I wandered around in the dark for a while before I found the entrance. Then I waited 15 minutes for the next train. That train huffed and puffed (figuratively speaking - it's electric), and had engine problems that required everyone to be offloaded at Rosslyn. Next train that passed was dark. We all got on the third train.

Everyone on the train was already grumpy when we pulled into Foggy Bottom and the drunk GWU students got on by forcing open the doors. Since the Metro folks are always warning that messing with the doors will break them, that pissed off the tired riders even more, and a verbal discussion ensued between some of the students and other riders. The discussion was getting pretty heated, and I was thinking of getting on the emergency call phone to report the problem to the driver. Meanwhile, a very large and somewhat scary gentleman sitting in front of me started to mutter, "I been at work since 4 AM and don't need those muthahfuckahs to break the door and screw my ride," and other similar sentiments. Just at that point, we pulled into Metro Center, and I got off. Of course there was no security guard on the platform to report the incident to.

Eventually my Red Line train came, and I rode out to my stop at Grovesnor-Strathmore. The Strathmore part of the station name comes from the music center of the same name, which shares the parking lot. That evening's concert by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra had just ended. The good news was that I didn't need to pay for parking, as they open the gates for the concert crowd. The bad news was that it took a really long time to get out of the parking lot.

I did eventually get home, around 10:30 - three hours after I left the Tower Club, which is only 15 minutes from my house - by car. I should have just called my husband for a ride, live and learn.

So it was that when I logged into MLB.TV for the end of the game, I was pretty sure that it was going to be a bad game to match the rest of the evening. And it was - the Astros were down 7-1 in the middle of the eighth when I turned on the game. They did manage to eke out a couple of runs in the bottom of the inning, gave one back in the ninth, and ended up losing 8-3.

A few game notes: Backe pitched pretty well for his 6 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, 3 BBs, and 9 Ks. He also got a hit in the 5th inning and did a bit of base running, which might have contributed a bit to his having trouble getting through the sixth. Byrdak pitched a perfect 7th in relief, but Villareal had a lousy 8th, giving up 3 ERs on 3 hits, a pair of walks, and a wild pitch that scored a run. Wright broke his streak of nearly flawless recent pitching in the 9th. The first couple of batters got on (one on an infield hit), before he induced a double play that scored a runner. The next batter flied out to end the 9th. Although he gave up an RBI, Wright actually pitched pretty well. Houston backed up the pitchers with 3 DPs in the game.

The Astros got 10 hits, all but one of them singles, but didn't manage to put much together in terms of runs. Berkman got 2 more hits, driving his BA up to .368. Tejada got a pair of hits, and scored 2 of the Astros' 3 runs.

I got all the rest of my game info, after the middle of the 8th from Alyson Footer, the pitch-by-pitch and box score. I didn't have the heart to watch the rest of the game on the mlb.tv archive.

Next up: Big Road Trip out West. Dodgers (hot), Giant (not), and then back to Texas for the annual duke-it-out with the Rangers. (Maybe they won't beat us 18-3 again this year.)