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."