GAME 157 - September 24: Close to the Last Gasp...

Houston 5, Cincinnati 0

Quote of the Day: "We live to dance a few more days. We just have to keep winning and hope for divine intervention." (Cecil Cooper)

The Astros win, the Mets and Brewers lose. Houston lives for another day. To stay alive, they need to win all the rest of their games this season, while the Mets and Brewers lose virtually all of theirs - a long shot, to say the least. But with 5 games left in the 2008 season, a team that was generally written off since the end of May is still mathematically eligible for the postseason. Who woulda thunk it???

Well, actually, I would. I've been saying it all season. By the end of Thursday's game, the run may be over - their magic number for elimination is down to 2. But for now, it's still possible.

Great game as the Astros regained their strong starting pitching and solid bullpen, resulting in their league-leading 13th shutout of the season. A large part of the credit for the win goes to the Astros' two late-season additions to the pitching staff - Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins. Wolf pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, giving up 8 hits and a pair of walks, and striking out 7. With all those base runners scattered across the innings, the Reds had plenty of chances to score, but Wolf worked his way out of trouble each time. He left the game with two on and two outs, replaced by Geary, who ended the threat on a single pitch. Hawkins pitched a scoreless eighth and Brocail came in to close.

Berkman gave Wolf a quick lead, with a two-out two-run homer in the first inning. It was his 29th homer of a very erratic season, and his 44th against the Reds - a record for a single player against a specific team since 2001. For a while, it looked like a replay of the previous game offensively - homer in the first and that's all, folks. But Houston had some fun in the eighth inning, scoring 3 on singles and walks alternating with outs: With one out Tejada singled, and advanced on Berkman's walk. Blum hit an infield single to load the bases. Pence showed great patience (!) at the plate, drawing the RBI walk on a 3-2 count. After Wiggington struck out for the second out, Quintero came up to the plate. Working on a 22 at-bat slump, one might not expect a good outcome - but he singled to the gap in left, scoring Blum and Berkman.

Meanwhile, scoreboard watching... The Cubs broke a 6-6 tie with a 3-run outburst in the ninth, beating the Mets. But Milwaukee beat the Pirates to pull even with the Mets in the lead for the Wild Card. With 5 games to go, they lead the Astros by 3 1/2 games.

In other news, Chris Sampson's injury seams to be a slight tear in a tendon in his elbow. While he's considering surgery, he claims to be available to pitch for the rest of the season. That doesn't really sound like a good idea.