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.