GAME 148 - September 14: No No - With an Asterisk

Chicago 5, Houston 0

Quote of the Day: "I can't believe our home fans would cheer that lustfully for the Cubs," (Berkman, on playing a "home" game in front of 25,000 Cubs fans)

I have open with giving credit where credit is due: Carlos Zambrano pitched a great game. You don't get a no hitter pitching badly, and he was anything but.

Having said that, this game was a farce. The Astros players, having spent the weekend in a hurricane, were yawning. Many had little sleep over the weekend, and had gotten up early in an effort to make it in for the morning flight to Chicago - Berkman at 4 AM for the drive from New Braunfels. And then they were scheduled to play the two opening games of their final series against the Cubs in Milwaukee, a so-called "neutral site" - an hour from Chicago. Supposedly this was because the Brewers' stadium has a retractable roof, so that there would be no chance of a further weather delay. Sure, I believe that. I'm sure that the fact that they would get few ticket sales out of a game in, say, Atlanta had nothing to do with the decision. Turner Field was available.

It was an ugly game from the very start in front of a stadium full of screaming Cubbies fans, who booed the Astros when they took the field. I thought about just not watching the game, I was so positive that the game had bad karma. But I stuck it out.

So kudos to Mr Zambrano. He deserves credit for his no hitter. But in my mind, you can put an asterisk next to it. The Astros got a crappy deal. Home game? Yeah, they got to bat last. But they were wearing their red road uniforms.

In better news, Milwaukee lost both games of its double header, completing a weekend sweep. So Houston ended up advancing in the Wild Card race. However, since all these games were lost to Philadelphia, the surging Phillies are becoming as much of a threat to the Astros than the faltering Brewers. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, an afternoon "home game" in the Cubs' backyard.