GAME 52 - May 25: Peeeeeeeee-yiouuuuuu!

Philadelphia 15, Houston 6

Quote of the Day: "I thought I was throwing strikes, but when I was missing, everything was up and they just killed me." (Borkowski, after giving up 6 runs in the seventh inning)

You have to be careful what you wish for. I got my wish: I didn't have to see Lidge facing the Astros again this season. But it didn't turn out quite the way I might have wished. There was a blow-out today, but it was the Astros bullpen that got blown away, giving up 11 runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Up until Cooper decided to take out Sampson after 5 innings, the Astros were actually in pretty good shape. They got on the board right away in a kind of odd way. Tejada and Berkman's singles in the first inning set the table for Carlos Lee. His big swing on a 2-2 pitch came around and the follow-through smacked plate umpire Jerry Crawford in the head. There was a 10 minute delay while Crawford left the game, and another umpire replaced him. Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels got a few extra warmup pitches, then Lee went back to the plate and promptly hit the ball into the Crawford Boxes (no relation to the poor umpire). Crawford the ump was taken to the hospital for a CAT scan, and later reports say that he was okay, cleared to work on Monday.

Unfortunately, Houston's 3-run lead didn't last long. The Phillies came back with a 2-run homer in the next inning. Then it was a bit of a ping pong match for a few innings. Philadelphia tied it in the third, but the Astros got two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Each team scored one run in the fourth. That's where things stood in the top of the sixth, with the Astros leading 6-4, when Cooper replaced Sampson and let the bullpen take over.

Nieve was the first reliever. Poor Nieve - he has not had a great time since he was called up from Round Rock, and today was the worst, from the very first batter on. He gave up a lead-off homer to Burrell, then a single, double, and single to the next three batters. Coop had seen enough - he replaced Nieve with lefty Wright, whose walk, RBI ground ball, and double allowed another 3 runs to score. Total damage in the sixth: Five runs. Phillies lead 9-6.

A three-run deficit would have been a cause to roll over and die for the old Astros. But it was just a challenge for this year's team. No sweat; they've made up 3 runs in late innings before. Loretta opened the bottom of the inning with a pinch-hit double, just to get things rolling. But the next three - the top of the Astros lineup - went down in order. Hey, okay, still three innings to go.

Borkowski was the next to take his chances on the mound. It was truly painful: Three singles, a double, a triple, and a home run later, the Phillies had batted around and added on 6 more runs. Okay, down 15-6 was perhaps more than the Astros new come-from-behind strategy could handle. They pretty much laid down and died after that. The lone bright spot in the bullpen was Villareal, who pitched 2 perfect innings. Or perhaps the Phillies were just too embarrassed to really try to score again.

Nieve was sent down to Round Rock after the game, and Jack Cassell was called back up. It was a very disappointing stint in the big leagues for Nieve, to say the least - his ERA in 4 appearances was 18.0, and the crowd at Minute Maid Park was not stingy with the boos.

There's always something to like: Four Astros base runners - Bourn, Berkman, Tejada, and Lee - had steals in this game. Berkman's 10th steal ties his previous season high - and it's only May.

Luckily, the Cubs and Cards, one game ahead of the Astros in the NL Central division, both lost today, so the Astros did not lose any ground on them.

The Astros have Memorial Day off, before they go to St Louis to take on the Cards. The division lead is on the line, and this year's Astros have not been afraid to win on the road.