GAMES 135-137 - August 29-31: Card Sharks!

August 29: Houston 3, St. Louis 2
August 30: Houston 8, St. Louis 5
August 31: Houston 3, St. Louis 0

Quote of the Day: "Never hit a walk-off home run, has he? This would be a good time..." "This would be a fantastic time." (Exchange between Astros TV broadcasters, just before Berkman hit his first-ever walk-off home run Friday night)

No one currently playing in the Majors has gone longer and hit more home runs, without ever having hit a walk-off homer, than Lance Berkman. So the one that he hit to left center on Friday night, in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied 2-2, was pretty sweet. Even sweeter as it set the tone for a weekend sweep of the perennial late season rival Cardinals.

Continuing a recent trend, the Astros' other two runs Friday night were thanks to a long ball - Newhan's 2-out 2-run blast to right in the seventh inning. Up until then, Cards' starter Kyle Lohse hadn't let the Astros do much of anything, let alone get on the scoreboard. But Randy Wolf matched him, giving up 2 runs in his seven innings, only one earned. The unearned run was his own fault, though, as he mishandled a 2-out grounder for a fielding error, then launched it over Berkman's head for a throwing error. The bullpen continued their great support, with two scoreless innings from Sampson and then a close from Brocail, who earned the win.

Berkman hit his game ender off his good friend, ex-Astro Russ Springer. One pitch earlier, Berkman had worked up the crowd with a just-barely foul blast into the right-field seats. Then he launched the next pitch the other way,into left center field. The crowd went nuts and fireworks exploded as Berkman headed for home for the customary brain bashing by his teammates.

Hunter Pence made a nice contribution in the Friday night game also - he went 2 for 3, scored on Newhan's homer, and made an outfield assist, throwing out a runner at first after a caught fly ball in right. It was his 14th outfield assist, tying for the league lead.

Saturday night's game got off to an ominous start, as Moehler gave up a 3-run home run in the top of the first inning. But his teammates didn't make him worry over that for long: The first seven Astros batters got on base, beating up on Braden Looper. Erstad singled, then Wigginton hit another August home run to cut the lead to 3-2. Tejada doubled, Berkman walked, then Blum hit a double, scoring Tejada to tie the game. Pence followed with a 3-run homer, to give the Astros a 6-3 lead that they never gave up.

After his early trouble, Moehler settled down and pitched well through the sixth inning. The Astros threatened to score again in the third inning, after Pence led off with a single and Newhan walked. Two on and no outs - and it all came apart in seconds. With Quintero at the plate Newhan was picked off for the first out. Then Quintero hit a fly ball to center field, which was caught on a bounce by a sliding fielder. But the umpire made an embarrassingly wrong call, saying that the ball had been caught, and the fielder threw to second to double up Pence. There was no doubt about the catch; from every camera angle, the ball clearly hit the ground before the fielder gloved it. The ump refused to get a second opinion, and when Cooper rightly argued for that, he was tossed.

The bad call did not affect the outcome of the game, however. The Astros added a pair of insurance runs on Blum's 2-run homer in the fifth. The Card got two in the seventh, when Byrdak walked a batter and Brocail then gave up a 2-run homer to Pujols. (Pujols has to do that at least once in an Astros series. They should be glad that was all the damage he did in a 4 for 4 game.) Hawkins pitched a perfect eighth to set up Valverde for the save, his 36th.

Carlos Who? Wiggington, still out in left field, substituting for the pinkie-challenged Lee, has gone wild in August. He finished up the month with yet another home run on Sunday, to tie my beloved Bagwell for the "most home runs in August" team record (12). The two-run homer in the eighth gave the Astros a bit of breathing room, as dueling pitchers left Houston with a fragile 1-0 lead late in the game. Wandy pitched very well, carrying a shutout into the sixth inning, when he was pulled out with a strained right oblique muscle. Chris Sampson relieved him, finishing off the sixth and then the seventh inning without giving up a run. Hawkins threw a perfect eighth to set up Valverde for a perfect ninth, his league-leading 37th save of the season. He also set a new Astros team record, for saves in his tenth consecutive appearance.

The Astros scored their first run in the second inning, when Berkman led off with a double, and then scored on Pence's RBI single. Pence also contributed another outfield assist in the first inning - his league-leading 15th of the season.

Wandy was pulled just after he struck out Pujols and then Ludwick to start the sixth. Both batters struck out looking, and both complained to the umpire. La Russa came out of the dugout to continue the fruitless discussion of balls and strikes, and was ejected for his troubles, as he knew he would be.

I had to go to a social event Saturday night right after the Sabbath, so I watched all three games on Sunday. (Yes, I already knew the outcome of the first two!) After losing every series against the Cards this season, 1 game to 2, the sweep was a nice touch. With 5 wins in a row, the Astros finish the month with 21 wins and 9 losses. As good as that is, it's only the third best August record in the league, and unfortunately, the other two teams are both ahead of the Astros in the NL Central. So their terrific play since the All Star break has not actually helped them advance in the standings - they've lost ground to the Cubs and the Brewers. So, as sweet as the sweep was, it probably hurt St. Louis (which is also ahead of the Astros) more than it helped Houston. I never give up on the Astros until they are actually mathematically eliminated - especially when they are over .500 - but it's going to take more than an incredible run to make the playoffs. It's going to take humongous meltdowns from several other teams - especially the Brewers.