GAME 150-152 - September 16-18: Astros Lose Heart

September 16: Florida 5, Houston 1
September 17: Florida 14, Houston 2
September 18: Florida 6, Houston 1

Quote of the Day: "We survived Ike... Bud killed us." (slogans on the back and front of tee shirts that the Astros wore on Thursday)

Before the hurricane, when the Astros were on their frenetic pace to challenge for the Wild Card slot, every game was fascinating, every run worth comment, every pitcher's line interesting to dissect.

Since the hurricane, it's all just more of the same bad baseball: Ugly pitching, virtually no offense, lackluster fielding, loss after loss. Even the dependable heroes are swept into the mess: Berkman without a hit, game after game - the longest hitless streak in his career. Oswalt, carrying the franchise's longest stretch of shutout innings, beat up in his start.

It's not worth talking about the individual games, only the net effect: The Astros are not yet mathematically eliminated. But as the other teams ahead of them buzz about, this five game losing streak has taken the Astros pretty much out of the race. It's not that they aren't capable of pulling off a last minute miracle, especially with the light competition the rest of the season (all losing teams). It's just that they don't seem to have the heart for it anymore.

But hey - it's not over till it's over, right?