GAME 128 - August 22: Santana Wins Duel with the Wizard

New York 3, Houston 0

Quote of the Day: "He pitched eight innings so he beat me there." (Johan Santana, on Roy Oswalt)

As pitching duels go, this was a good one: Santana vs. Roy O. Just because I don't like the outcome doesn't take away from that. All of Oswalt's hits and runs came in the first two innings - 4 hits, including a 2-run homer in the second. But after that, the Mets were helpless against him for the rest of the game as the Wizard set down 20 of the Evil Ones in a row.

Unfortunately, Oswalt's teammates couldn't figure out an angle for scoring against Santana. It wasn't like they didn't have their chances - he only had one 1-2-3 inning. With 8 hits, the Astros had plenty of base runners to work with. In the second inning, Pence was on third with one down, and missed a chance to score on Ausmus' ground ball - a base-running flub that earned him a chat with Cooper after the game. Berkman grounded out to end the fifth with runners on second and third. The only part of the Astros' anti-Santana game plan that worked was the attempt to run up his pitch count, starting with Berkman's 11-pitch strikeout in the first inning. By the end of seven innings, Santana had logged a season-high 121 pitches, and to his chagrin, minor-league teammate Oswalt had outlasted him in the game. But the Astros had no luck against the Mets' bullpen, so the strategy didn't buy them anything in the end.

So, a sad loss for Roy O, after a mostly stellar outing. I told my sons, who live in NY and attended this game, to cheer for the Wizard. I'm thinking that they might not have done that.

In other news... The Astros have picked up Jose Castillo off waivers from the Giants, to shore up the infield with Matsui still out. He didn't play in this game.