GAMES 141-143 - September 5-7: Mile High - But Still 6 Games Out

September 4: Colorado 5, Houston 3
September 5: Houston 2, Chicago 0
September 6: Houston 7, Chicago 5

Quote of the Day: "It would have been a good play if I would have made it. I saw it hop when he first hit it. The second bounce just kind of stayed down on the grass and I didn't get the glove down." (Oswalt, of the only hit he gave up in Saturday's game, one that he wished he'd been able to grab.)

I arrived in Chicago Friday for my cousin's daughter's bat mitzvah, just a couple of days after the Astros had completed their sweep of the Cubs. With all of the weekend festivities, I had to play catchup to see the Astros win the mile-high series in Denver, watching the archived games in the middle of the night.

Friday night's loss broke the 8-game winning streak, while Milwaukee logged a win, pushing Houston back to 7 games behind in the Wild Card race. With only three weeks left in the season, every game more than counts now. The Astros not only needed to win every game; they depend on Milwaukee going down in flames. Moehler had a less inspiring start than usual, giving up all 5 of the Rockies' runs in the fourth and fifth innings. It wasn't a bunch of big blasts, just little stuff that all added up: An infield single, a hit batter, a RBI single, a sac fly, a walk, a single... that accounted for the first 3 runs in the fourth. Moehler allowed a leadoff single in the fifth for the fourth run, then he loaded up the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and a single. That was enough for Cooper, and he pulled Moehler after 4 2/3 innings, bringing in September callup Nieve. He walked the first batter he faced on four pitches, for the fifth run. After that, Nieve, Brocail, and Sampson finished up the game with almost lights-out performances - between them they only gave up a single infield hit.

Houston's batters weren't up to the challenge, as the Astros only managed to piece together 3 runs on a motley combination of at bats. They couldn't do much of anything against Rockies' starter Ubaldo Jimenez for the first four innings. They got runners on the corners with one out in the fifth, on Pence's double and Erstad's single, but they were left stranded. In the sixth, Bourn led off with a walk, stole second, and made it to third on the pitchers' throwing error; he scored on Blum's two-out single. Tejada, who had been hit by a pitch got to third and was left stranded. In the seventh, Erstad led off with an infield single, and advanced when Quintero was hit by a pitch. They both moved up a base on Newhan's ground out. Bourn grounded out, scoring Erstad, and Wiggington singled in Q, to make it 5-3. But the fun fizzled out there, and the Astros didn't threaten again in the game.

With the Wizard on the mound Saturday night, I snuck out of cousin Eliza's bar mitvah party as soon as the Sabbath ended to check on the game, hoping that he was continuing his recent brilliant pitching. I was only disappointed in one way: I couldn't stay in the lobby to watch the rest of the game. In the seventh, Oswalt had a one-hit shutout going. I did watch the game late that night, after the party ended, so that I could see Roy O finish up with that one hitter preserved. It only took him 102 pitches for his first complete game shutout since 2005. No Rockie made it past second base; in addition to the lone single, Oswalt walked 2 batters and hit 2 others.

The Rockies' pitchers didn't do a bad job either. Astros' batters couldn't do anything at all against starter Jeff Francis for the first three innings. The game got off to a particularly bad start when Wiggington tried to beat out an infield groundball, and limped off the field injured. It turned out to be a strained groin, and he's day to day. The Astros got a pair of runners on in the fourth, but couldn't score. Worse, they got runners to second and third with no outs in the fifth, and left them stranded. Their only break came in the sixth: After Tejada singled, Pence hit a big blast to left center for a two run homer. That turned out to be all the support that Oswalt would get from his teammates. They had runners on in all the rest of the innings, but didn't manage to score any of them. Loretta and Aberrcrombie each went 3 for 4, and neither scored or earned an RBI for their efforts.

But that Oswalt is just terrific. He's put his weak season start behind him and has become a monster - a good kind of monster if you are an Astros fan. He hasn't allowed a run in 23 1/3 innings. He's pitched 8 or more innings in each of his last three starts, and has won 8 of his last 11 starts. Saturday's one-hitter is even more amazing because of the location: It was only the third time in Coors Field history that a pitcher has thrown a game with less than 2 hits.

Sunday's game started off with another first-inning injury. Wandy got off to a good start, giving up a lead-off single and then striking out the side. But that was it for him; he exited the game with a recurrence of the oblique strain that took him out of his previous start. Jack Cassell got an unexpected opportunity for a virtual start when Wandy couldn't come back for the second inning. (Meanwhile, over in that other fall sport, his brother Matt found himself in a similar situation. The backup quarterback for the Patriots found himself in the game after the main QB injured his knee.) Cassell pitched 4 innings in relief, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and a couple of walks.

The Rockies' starter, Jorge De La Rosa, didn't fool any of the Astros batters - they hit early and often against him, with runners in scoring position in both the first and second innings. They didn't actually make it around to score until the third inning, when the Astros nearly batted around. Bourn led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on Loretta's RBI single (the second of his three hits in this game). Tejada doubled, advancing Loretta to third. Berkman's sac fly scored Loretta and moved Tejada to third. After Pence walked, Castillo scored Tejada with another sac fly. Abercrombie singled, advancing Pence to second, and they both moved up a base on a steal. Ausmus struck out to strand them both, but the Astros had taken a 3-0 lead.

The lead was cut to 3-2, as Cassel gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. The Astros added on another run in the sixth, as Castillo walked, advanced to third on Ausmus' single, and scored on yet another sac fly. But this lead didn't last long. Sampson, relieving Cassell, allowed the first two batters to get on with an infield single and a walk, before giving up a 3-run homer to Brad Hawpe.

In the eighth inning, down 5-4, the Astros found themselves facing ex-teammate Taylor Buchholz. The baby-faced young pitcher has done very well in Colorado, after the Rockies converted him from a starter to a reliever; his ERA was just 1.81 coming into this game. However, he didn't do as well in this outing. Castillo led off with a single and advanced to second on Abercrombie's sac bunt. (It was Abercrombie's third attempt of the game to put down a bunt, and the first that did not go straight back to the pitcher, eliminating the lead runner. But this was a good one that rode the first base line long enough for Castillo to get safely into scoring position. With Ausmus and the pitcher's spot coming up, Coop went to his bench. First Erstad, who bloop-singled to score Castillo, tying the game. Then Newhan, who whacked the first ball he saw out into a vast empty space in center field for an RBI triple. (That was a nice way to celebrate his 35th birthday.) Bourn lined out, bringing up Edwin Maysonet for his Major League debut plate appearance. It would be nice to say he hit a homer for a memorable start, but actually, he popped out harmlessly to end the inning. But the Astros went into the end of the game with a 6-5 lead.

The bullpen, which was much maligned earlier in the season (although not by me), continues to impress me. Brocail pitched a scoreless seventh, and as the pitcher of record when the Astros took the lead, ultimately got the win. Hawkins threw fire in the bottom of the eighth, with fast balls in the high 90s, to preserve the lead. In the top of the ninth, the Astros plated an insurance run when Pence beat out an infield single, stole second, and then scored on Castillo's single. Ex-Astro Wily Taveras made a decent throw to the plate, but Pence scored easily. Castillo made it to second, and poor Willy T ended up credited with a throwing error for his troubles.

That brought Valverde to the mound with a two-run lead. The barrage of flaming fast balls continued, this time with pitches routinely hitting 98 and 99; at least one throw hit triple digits. Valverde allowed one hit, but struck out the side to secure the save, his 40th of the season. The last two batters went down on 6 straight strikes. The Rockies' broadcasters, very familiar with Valverde from his Dback days, can gripe all they want about his mound antics, fist pumping, and emotion. It's a lot less annoying when he's your guy who's throwing fire. I actually find Valverde reasonably restrained - he generally turns his back to the last batter before he starts celebrating with fist pumps and air crosses.

As great as Saturday night's game was, it was kind of a two-man show, with Oswalt's amazing pitching and Pence's game winning homer. I really love games like Sunday's, where lots of different players make a big contribution. Loretta was 3 for 4, with a double and pair of singles. Castillo was 3 for 3, all singles, his other 2 at-bats resulted in a walk and a sac fly. Erstad, Newhan, and Blum all had pinch-hit RBIs. There were 4 stolen bases, one each for Pence and Bourn, and two for Abercrombie.

The streak was broken, but the Astros came out with another series win. But the cost was high: Wiggington's injury may have him out 10 days - half of the rest of the season. Wandy's injured, and Backe now is skipping his Monday start due to arm soreness. Matsui is back from the DL but still not up to playing. In a rare bit of good news from the DL, Geary may be back for the next series.

And the end result? Still exactly where they were at the start of the series, since the Brewers are maintaining their 6 run lead in the Wild Card race. The Astros are having a terrific second half - now 32-16 since the All Star break - but there just isn't much time left. Now it's time to go back home to take on the Pirates in a 4-game series. The Bucs may be eliminated, but they've been a constant pain in the butt to the Astros this season. Hopefully, they'll think that the Astros are out of contention and play their September callups. Unfortunately, the Brewers are also playing an eliminated team.