GAMES 63-65: Not at Home, on the Rangers Turf

June 16: Rangers 6, Astros 1

June 17: Rangers 5, Astros 3 [10 innings]

June 18: Astros 5, Rangers 3

The Astros had a disappointing conclusion to their annual Lone Star duke-it-out with the Rangers, coming within a game of being swept in the 6-game series. In Game 1, Wandy reverted to being beaten up (is he tipping pitches or not?), allowing 6 runs (including 3 homers and 6 walks) in the first 4 innings. At the same time, the Astros couldn't figure out the Rangers' Millwood, who held them to only 4 hits over 7 innings. I had hoped that the Astros would get their big chance when he was replaced by Jason Jennings, who was a complete loser when he pitched for the Astros. Unfortunately he's pitching just fine, thank you, for the panhandlers - he threw 2 scoreless innings.

There were actually several bright spots in this miserable game. The first related to Pudge Rodriguez - his solo homer in the fifth accounted for the Astros' only run. That earned him a standing O from the hometown crowd, who were feeling charitable due to a big lead and Pudge's special circumstances - he tied Carleton Fisk for the record for the most games caught. The other bright spots were the Astros' two relief pitchers who took over when Wandy was pulled after 4 innings. Arias threw 3 full scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, no walks, and striking out 3. Byrdak finished it off with a a scoreless eighth.

Game 2 was a milestone game: Pudge broke the record for most games caught, in the town where he played for 12 years at the start of his career. But Game 2 was also annoying - the Astros really should have won it, but they didn't. They got plenty of hits (13, including 5 for extra bases), but left hundreds of runners on base (okay, an exaggeration), had runners erased by double plays, and just played sloppy baseball. (I heard that Coop raked them over the coals after the game - and forgot to congratulate Pudge on his milestone.) The most annoying thing to me was in the tenth inning, when El Caballo led off with a routine ground ball; the shortstop mishandled the ball, but since Lee didn't try to run it out, there was time for the fielder to recover and make the play. That could have cost the Astros a run, since two players later, Pence hit a long drive into deep right, which may have scored Lee - if he hadn't been sitting in the dugout.

While Pudge was celebrating his milestone, he wasn't celebrating his performance in this game. He went 1 for 5, no runs, no RBIs, and was tagged with 2 errors, both of which led to runs. (One of them looked to me like Matsui's fault.) Pence, on the other hand, had a major performance - he went 4 for 5, with two doubles, a single, and a homer. The bullpen logged a good performance, although Jeff Fulchino lost the game in the ninth. Sampson, Hawkins, and Valverde combined for no runs on 2 hits in their 3 innings.

Although the series (and the larger cross-state rivalry series) was already lost, the Astros made a good comeback in Game 3. The Rangers took an early lead off starter Brandon Backe. When I got home from work (late, I'm on a proposal), the Astros were already losing 3-1. But they picked up a run in the fifth when Quintero's RBI single plated Erstad from second. Then, in the sixth, Carlos Lee's RBI single made it a little closer. Then With the bases loaded and 1 out, the Rangers' catcher mishandled a bad pitch, allowing Tejada to score the tying run on the passed ball. Although the Astros went on to load the bases again, they failed to score any more runs in the inning. They bought a little insurance in the 8th, when Pence led off with a solo homer. Quintero singled with 2 outs, then scored on Bourn's triple. (Man, that guy is fast!)

The bullpen was excellent again in Game 3 0. Wright did the heavy lifting this time, pitching 2 2/3 hitless innings. Arias came in to finish off the seventh, retiring his one batter with a strikeout. But he was in the right place at the right time: Since the Astros went ahead on his watch in the eighth, he got the win for his troubles. Hawkins gave up a couple of hits and a walk in the ninth, but did not give up any runs in his inning. Then Valverde threw a very strong ninth to earn his 3rd save of the season - the first since his return from the DL.

Unfortunatly, the pair of losses pushed the Astros back a bit in the standings - from a recent hgh-water mark of 4 games down in the NL Central, they are now back to 6 under. It's a long season, and we're by no means mathematically eliminated, so it's still "interesting," no matter how much the pundits (and many fans) moan and grown about how it's just not our year.

Bad stat of the series: Berkman, who had been doing so much better in June, was hitless in the whole series.

Next stop: Weekend series in Minnesota.