GAME 34 - May 7: Five in a Row

Houston 4, Washington 3

Quote of the Day: "You're on the edge of your seat every pitch." (Cooper, on winning another close one)

I wonder if Cecil Cooper bites his nails. If he does, they must be pretty much gone by now, after the Astros' third Last-At-Bat Win in a row.

The Astros ended this game in a situation that is becoming quite familiar this season: Bottom of the ninth and gotta get a run! Matsui led off with a walk (his third of the game), then stole second base (his second of the game). Tejada fanned for the first out. No sense taking a chance with Berkman - he hits everything in sight right now. They walked him to set up the double play - his second IBB of the night. Now that might have been just a little bit irksome to Carlos Lee - being the guy that they walk Berkman to pitch to. In the same situation in the 7th, El Caballo had struck out; this time he was waiting for the right pitch. Strike 1 looking. Strike 2 looking. Third pitch went wild, advancing Matsui to third. Next pitch looked promising - Lee lobbed it into center field for a walk-off RBI single.

Roy O went out in search of his 4th season win, and he did pretty much what he was supposed to: He pitched a very nice game - 7 innings, giving up 3 runs, on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts (a new season high for him). The amazing thing about the 9 Ks was that 8 of them were in the first 3 innings. He also helped himself with a fourth inning single that knocked in a pair of RBIs. Nice game, all in all - but not good enough for the win, as the Astros were a bit stingy with the runs. When Oswalt left the game after 7, the score was tied 3-3.

Happily the relief pitchers - Brocail and Valverde - did their jobs, giving the Astros some time to remember that they needed to score another run. Valverde was the pitcher of record and got the win - at four, he leads the team in the "W" department. This time (unlike a coupe of his wins in the bad old days last month) his win was earned - he had pitched a perfect ninth. His ERA is now down about 8 points from its high water mark.

The Astros had only 7 hits - and only one, Berkman's 4th inning solo homer, was for extra bases. So they needed a little something extra in this game: Base running. They seemed to be able to steal at will against the Nationals. Back to back steals by Pence (third) and Wiggington (second) in the fourth inning set the table for Oswalt's single to score a pair of runs. Then in the ninth, Matsui's steal and advance to third on the wild pitch set him up to jog home on Lee's single. The running game has been terrific this year - it completely changes the dynamics of the game. It's a simple basic tenet of real estate - Location, location, location. There are a lot of ways that a guy on third can score with less than 2 outs.

More help in the defense department too: Bourn threw a bullet to Ausmus to take out Wily Mo's attempt to score from second on a single in the 7th.

Oddity in this game: Paul LoDuca had to leave in the middle of his at-bat in the 7th, after hitting a foul ball and collapsing in pain. He wasn't hit by the pitch; something just seemed to snap. His poor replacement, facing an 0-2 count, struck out on one pitch. As LoDuca was entering the dugout to leave the game, a couple of guys in the stands appeared to be screaming at him. I read later that they were ejected from the stadium. Sometimes I'm just as glad to be a fan in exile, watching the games online, and not having to be around drunk and obnoxious so-called fans.

In other news, the Astros traded Stephen Randolph to Philly for a player to be named later.