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.