GAMES 138-140 - September 1-3: Striking While it's Hot in September

September 1: Houston 3, Chicago 0
September 2: Houston 9, Chicago 7
September 3: Houston 4, Chicago 0

Quote of the Day: "Valverde got on his knees before the game and did the sign of the cross four times, begging me to go nine." (Randy Wolf, after going nine shutout innings)

I kept telling myself that I should go ahead and write that the Astros are out of the running for the playoffs this year. Although Houston's been dynamite since the All Star Break, up until this week, two other teams have been even better - and those two teams were right ahead of the Astros in the standings. I thought: Maybe August 1, I'll write that it's over. But it just goes against the grain for me to admit that the Astros are out before they are actually mathematically eliminated. This week's outcomes have postponed that occasion: Not only did the Astros sweep the Cubbies decisively, shutting them out for two of the games, they did it at the same time that the Wild Card-leading Brewers were also swept. In three days, the Astros picked up three games on both Chicago and Milwaukee. Since St Louis also had a losing week, the Astros also picked up ground on the Cards, who are now just one game ahead of them. So, with 8 wins in a row, and a 30-15 record since the All Star Break, the Astros are making a run for it. And until the numbers make that impossible, I'm cheering for them all the way.

What a series in Wrigley Field! Not quite as flamboyantly dramatic as the lightning storm that drove them off the field the last time they were in town, the Astros simply outplayed the first-place Cubs game after game. Two shutouts - with starting pitchers still on the mound in the ninth inning. One come-from-behind thriller. Good pitching, good-enough hitting, great fielding all added up to another sweep against a supposedly better team.

Monday's Labor Day afternoon game showcased Roy Oswalt at the absolute top of his game: Pitching into the ninth inning in a shutout, the Wizard only gave up 4 hits, all singles (2 of them in the ninth), and not a single walk. The Cubs were virtually helpless against him. That's two games in a row with 8 or more innings for Oswalt, who looks more and more like his old self as the season goes on. It's a thrill to watch him.

The handful of Astros runs in this game didn't come on the big homers that have fueled their offense recently. Jason Marquis kept them scoreless until the fourth, when Tejada led off with a triple to deep left that took a weird deflection off the ivy-covered wall and rolled almost back into the infield. After Berkman walked, Blum scored Tejada with a sac fly for the first run. Berkman made it to second on the throw to the plate, and then stole third, positioning him to score easily on Pence's RBI single. The same cast of characters figured in the Astros' third run in the eighth: Tejada singled, then moved up to third on Berkman's single. They both moved up a base - Tejada scoring - on a wild pitch with Blum at bat. That inning ended with Berkman stranded on third, when Pence (who had walked) made a poorly executed attempt at a steal. (With all his speed, addressing his lack of success stealing bases might be a good project for next season.) Pence did make a terrific catch in the bottom of the inning to make up for it.

Valverde came in with one out in the ninth after Oswalt had let put two on with a pair of singles. No messing around this time, even though the Astros had a 3-run lead; he shut them down for his 38th save.

Tuesday night's game was a whole different story. Backe gave up a trio of solo homers in his 4 1/3 innings. He was pulled with runners on the corners and one out in the fifth. Nieve - just up from Round Rock in the September expansion - induced a double play to end the threat. Meanwhile, the Astros had pieced together odds and ends of hits, steals, walks, and RBI ground outs to eke out three runs to keep the game tied up at 3-3.

Things got a lot more interesting in the sixth, when Cubs' starter Zambrano was suddenly replaced without explanation. Pence led off with a triple, then scored on Newhan's RBI single. Quintero reached on an infield single and Abercrombie (pinchhitting for Nieve) walked to load the bases with no outs. Bourn singled to score Newhand and Q. Then Wiggington walked to fill them up again. Tejada grounded into a double play, but Abercrombie scored, the fourth run of the inning. Berkman grounded out to end the fun, with the Astros ahead 7-3. Unfortunately, the Cubs ended the fun more decisively in the bottom of the inning when Brydak gave up a walk and then a pair of doubles, scoring two. Sampson, coming in to rescue him, gave up a single to score the third of Byrdak's batters. The inning ended with the Astros only one run ahead, 7-6. The Cubs erased that lead also, as Jim Edmonds hit a solo homer against Brocail in the seventh to tie it up. Brocail got into trouble in the eighth as well, loading the bases with one out before getting the double play to end the threat.

The Astros didn't have any luck in the eighth and ninth agaist Carlos Marmol, so it went to the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. Wesley Wright pitched a scoreless ninth - and then tenth - as the game went into extra innings, tied at 7-7. The Astros didn't have any luck against Cubs closer Kerry Woods in the tenth, but the eleventh was a different story. Berkman walked, and then Blum knocked his first pitch over the fence in right to give the Astros a two-run lead. Valverde insisted that he wanted the ball, so Coop gave it to him - he threw a scoreless inning to notch his 39th save, and to allow the Astros to extend their streak to seven games.

What was nice about this game was how democratic it was: Pence had 4 hits, and Tejada, Newhan, and Quintero each had a pair. Newhan is a fill-in for the injured Matsui. Blum, who's getting a lot of time at third now that Wiggington is covering for Lee in left field, hit the winning homer. Backe didn't have a great start but he didn't blow it either. Aside from Nieve (who was credited for 2/3 of an inning on 2 pitches), none of the six relievers was lights-out, but they kept the Astros in the game, and Wright got the win. The pitchers were helped out by four double plays. A real team effort.

Wednesday night was a rerun of Monday's game. This time it was Randy Wolf who shut down the Cubs, inning after inning. Wolf already had 117 pitches after 8 innings, so it was kind of a surprise to see him come up to bat in the ninth inning. But Valverde had pitched almost every game in the past week, so Cooper let Wolf take it to the end. He only needed another 11 pitches to finish off the Cubs with a shutout win - and a sweep of the Cubs in their den.

The Astros' first run, in the second inning, came from the bottom of the order. Pence hit a two-out single - but stretched it into a double, Newhan walked, and Q singled, scoring Pence from second. That one run stood alone until the fifth inning, when Bourn got a two-out single, and then Wiggington slammed a two-run homer into left center field, giving the Astros a 3-0 lead. That home run was no mean feat, considering that the Cubs' broadcasters spent much of the game talking about how hard the wind was blowing in towards the plate. They were pretty certain, right up until Wiggy hit that blast, that there wouldn't be any home runs in this game. The Astros manufactured a fourth run in the ninth: Newhan led off by beating out a bunt single. Q and Wolf made two quick outs. Bourn's single to center moved Newhan to third. Then came a very odd play: With Wiggington at the plate, Bourn attempted to steal second. The Cubs' infielders were just about to tag him out when Newhan broke for the plate. Newhan beat the throw to score, credited with stealing home. Bourn scrambled safely to second. Wiggington popped out to end the inning, but the Astros got another run - and a 4-0 lead - out of it.

His home run was not Wiggington's only heroic contribution to this game; he also made a terrific outfield assist, nailing a runner attempting to score with more than a little help from Quintero, who made the out with a sweeping tag across the runner's back.

All in all, a fantastic series, as the Astros are sucking in the naysayers into daring to hope for miracles. The miracle won't be the Astros having a great finish though - they have done that before, and could very well do that again. The miracle will be the simultaneous meltdown - with only three weeks left in the season - of the Brewers, the Phillies, and the Cards - all of whom are ahead of Houston in the wild card race. But, hey - I believe in miracles! Don't you?