GAMES 125-127 - August 18-20: Nasty Brew

August 18: Milwaukee 9, Houston 3
August 19: Houston 5, Milwaukee 2
August 20: Milwaukee x, Houston y

Quote of the Day: "I'm predicting that [the Astros will sweep the Brewers], I'm going out on a limb. You heard it here first."" (Cooper, according to Kristin Oliphant on Astros.com)

I miss Alyson Footer. She's still reporting for Astros.com, but not every day. More often than not the games and news are covered by Kristin Oliphant, who makes little mistakes in the facts (a no-no in a game where stats are holy). And who prints quotes like the one above, without giving any indication to Cooper's tone when he predicted that the Astros would sweep the Brewers - was he really serious? Joking? Ironic? Hopeful? I don't know the man, but from what I've read of him from others, he doesn't seem the type to jinx his team by making a boastful claim to sweep the team that leads the Wild Card pack. Meanwhile, McTaggert at the Chronicle was also predicting a sweep - with Houston on the losing end.

It would have been sweet if the Astros had swept the Brewers, but it wasn't very likely, given that they would be facing the top of Milwaukee's rotation: newer-Brewer Sabbathia, long-time nemesis Sheets, and Parra to round it out.

While the scores in this series were not as lopsided as the Dback's one, the outcome was the same: The Astros lost the series two games to one.

Monday night, the dreaded Sabbathia was anything but lights out as he gave up 11 hits in his complete game, but the Astros missed opportunities and ended up with only 3 runs, each a singleton. Two were solo homers - one by Wiggington (of course) and the other by pinch-hitter Abercrombie. Sabbathia did them just as much damage at the plate as on the mound. Randy Wolf had been pitching well for the Astros when, in the fifth inning, with runners on first and second and two outs, he decided to walk the catcher to pitch to Sabbathia. This turned out to be the beginning of the end for Wolf, as Sabbathia hit a 2-RBI single that kicked off a 5-run scoring spree. Sampson came in to throw a perfect 8-pitch sixth inning, but every Astros pitcher after than dug their hole a little deeper. Brocail gave up one in the sixth, Wright struck out the side in the seventh but allowed a solo homer in the middle, and Geary gave up one more for good measure in the eighth. But all that was just decoration.

Tuesday night's game was a nice comeback, considering that Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets has a history of good luck against the Astros. Moehler didn't have his best start of the season - he gave up 9 hits in his 5 1/3 innings - but kept the Brewers to only 2 runs, one in each of the first two innings. The bullpen was nearly lights out: Between Sampson, Geary, Hawkins, and Valverde, the Brewers only eked out a single hit in 3 2/3 innings. The difference in the game came in the sixth, when Blum broke open the 2-2 tie with a 3-run home run.

Wednesday afternoon's game was bad luck all around. First of all, I hate afternoon games on work days, since I can't watch them at the office. But even more, I hate squandered opportunities. This game was full of them - not the least, the eighth-inning bases-loaded, no-out chance that got away. The Astros loaded the bases on luck: Tejeda beat out a bunt, Berkman was hit (just barely) by a pitch, Blum made it safely to first on a fielding error. But the luck ended in a blink of an eye, as Pence (not a patient batter) was jammed swinging at the first pitch and set off a double play. Then Newhan swung at his first pitch - and grounded out. Two pitches and it was all over. Wandy, who didn't pitch badly (3 runs, 2 earned, in 5 1/3 innings) got a loss. I'm guessing that he's going to stay "Wandy" in my journal for the rest of the season.

So no sweep, either way, but Houston missed a great opportunity to pick up ground on the Wild Card race. Instead, the Astros leave Milwaukee 8 1/2 games out, with plenty of other teams in between. On to New York for a 4-game series against the Mets, who are probably anxious to avenge their sweep in Houston.