GAME 32 - May 4: Ain't Over 'Til It's Over!

Houston 8, Milwaukee 6

Quote of the Day: "This was without question my biggest win as a manager, but I can't say enough about the guys today -- they all laid it on the line." (Cooper, on the series-sweeping, .500-making win)

Once again, I find myself agreeing with Coop: Just like the Astros' 7-6 loss to the D-backs last week was the worst game of the season - because they didn't really need to lose, this win was the best game of the season - because they didn't really need to win it. The Astros were behind 6-2 after four innings; they went into the bottom of the ninth down by 2 runs with Eric Gagne (9 saves) on the mound. Just look at the stats: The Brewers always win when they are ahead after seven innings. Might as well just fold.

But they didn't fold. They came from behind in the bottom of the ninth, one excruciating base at a time. Wiggington flied out to start the inning. Then at the bottom of the order, Coop called for a pair of pinch hitters: Erstad to bat with Blum on deck. Might as well fold, guys - the 'Stros only have 3 pinch hits all season! (Where's Vizcaino when you need him?) But Erstad dropped a single into center field, and then Blum beat out an infield single - what do you know, there are two ducks on the pond. Bourn up to bat - at least with his speed, there probably won't be a double play. He walked to load the bases. Matsui then grounded out, scoring Erstad and moving up Blum and Bourn. Now the score was 6-5 with two outs, and Tejada (on a 9 game hitting streak) at the plate. He walked to load the bases again, with Berkman up to bat. Now Berkman had already hit a home run and a pair of RBI doubles earlier in the game, so there's no way that Gagne's going to throw him anything worth hitting, right? He didn't - but Berkman just took pitch after pitch until he walked, forcing in Blum to tie the score 6-6. Just one more, just one more... but Lee grounded out to end the inning.

But against all odds, they were alive. They stayed alive through the 10th and 11th, as Valverde threw two beautiful innings, but the Astros couldn't manage to plate a run. Then in the twelfth inning, Brydak - the newest Astro reliever - gave them a scare: Three walks loaded the bases. With two outs, he ran the count to 3-2 before JJ Hardy flied out to end the threat.

Bottom of the 12th: Berkman got on with an infield single - his 4th hit of the day. Brydak had to come to bat; the bullpen was close to empty. He struck out on three failed bunts. That brought Hunter Pence to the plate. Pence was 0 for 5 at that point, with 3 Ks. It was just not his day - well, that's one way to look at it. I tend to see it the other way: He was WAY OVERDUE for a hit. I called for a home run. Really - I told my husband, "He's going to hit a home run." Pence was still taking his warm-up swings and I was already imagining how his Astros teammates were going to be bashing his brains out as he crossed the plate. The actual occurrence of this prediction did not at all surprise me - but it brought tears of joy to my eyes. I'm not kidding. Astros win, 8-6.

After the game, Cooper claimed that he also called this home run. I do call home runs quite often. But to be perfectly candid, I also call them a lot when they don't happen.

The bullpen was the real hero of this game: Unfortunately, Sampson had another poor start. Cooper pulled him in the fourth inning, down 3-2, with one out and runners on first and second. He brought in Borkowski to face Cameron, who had hit a home run in his last at-bat. Remember the worst game, back on Wednesday, when Borkowski came in to pitch in relief and gave up a home run to the pitcher on his very first pitch? Well, lightning does strike twice - he gave up a 3-run home run, generously adding a few points to poor Sampson's ailing ERA, and putting the Astros down by 4.

Okay, that was an unfortunate pitch. But that was as bad as it got: Borkowski pitched a scoreless fifth. Then Geary - the source of a couple of recent nerve-wracking situations - pitched 1-2-3-4-5-6 facing the top six in the Brewers' lineup in the sixth and seventh. Wright did right, with a perfect eighth, and Brocail followed with his usual scoreless inning in the ninth. Throw in the scoreless tenth through twelfth, courtesy of Valverde and Byrdak, and we're talking about 8 2/3 run-free relief innings from the Astros' much-too-often maligned bullpen. When are the blog retards going to stop bitching about the occasional blown game, and realize that the relief pitchers have been pretty amazing recently?

Another reason that the Astros didn't really have to win this game: Before it started, everyone was talking about how hard it would be to beat Ben Sheets, who was out gunning for his 5th win. Sheets was good; the Astros found it hard to run up a big score with him on the mound. But Berkman managed to get a home run off of him in the second, and RBI doubles in the third and fifth, and Matsui hit an RBI double as well. These four runs kept the Astros in the game, close enough to eke out a pair of runs to tie it in the ninth, and the rest is history. Sheets did what I always like to see pitchers do: He helped himself with an RBI double in the second inning. The next guy up also hit a double, but Sheets (perhaps fearing injury) didn't slide and was tagged out at home. In retrospect, that might have cost him the game. One disappointment: I was hoping that Towles would hit a homer off of Sheets. (That's a joke.)

Twenty-two: That turned out to be the magic number for Astros' #22. After going 0 for 22, Cruz Jr finally got a hit, pinch batting in the fifth. But unfortunately, he got hung up deciding whether Bourn's blooper hit would be caught, and didn't make it to second base in time. (Well, that's what the ump said - it looked pretty iffy in the replay.) However, that raised Junior's BA from .63 to .91. Not really in the respectable range, but the right direction. I'm wondering how long the Astros will wait to make a move. It's hard to imagine that, aside from respect for his dad, there's some really good reason to keep him on the roster. He had a great spring, but this isn't Spring Training.

Fashion Statement: I almost did not recognize the Bushes, sitting in their customary spots behind home plate. Due to the gorgeous weather, the roof was open for this day game, and Barbara's big white poof was hidden under a green baseball cap. (Probably a freebie from Earth Day.)

Fun with Numbers:
The Astros' record is now 16-16, back to .500 for the second time this year.
Valverde's ERA is down to 5.29 - he's erased 7 full points in the past two weeks.
Berkman, who went 4 for 5, plus that game-tying walk, had 4 RBIs - giving him 31 for the season, to lead the league. The home run was his 10th of the season, second in the NL after Utley (at 13).
Tejada was 1 for 5, but that single extended his hitting streak to 9 games. His BA - .349 - is fifth in the NL.
Most of the dreadful team batting stats that I listed a couple of weeks ago have been overcome by events. Their on-base percent is the one really poor area - at a measly .307, they are in 29th place among all major league teams. But their batting with RISP and their slugging (8th place) seem to balance it out: They don't get a lot of guys on base, but the ones that do get on are getting some mileage out of their hits.