GAME 105: This Bud's for Us!

Houston 2, Cardinals 0

"We needed a win in the worst way," said Coop. And then the Astros got a win in the best way - from awesome pitching from their newest emergency callup, Bud Norris.

Astros regulars have been anticipating the appearance of top prospect Norris for some time. In yesterday's blog, I expressed a hope that the rest of the guys would do the right thing and score big for Norris' first outing. That turned out to be a fairly useless wish - the Astros barely scored at all. Did they think that ending the road trip with a Cards' sweep would be hitting bottom and they could just miraculously turn it around from here on?

But no worries - our new baby pitcher just kept on pitching, not allowing the first red bird to get a hit until the sixth inning. His line for his first start: 7 shutout innings, 2 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts. And, oh by the way, he got a hit in his first major league at bat. With a little help for from his friends Wright, Sampson, and Valverde, Norris earned his first win with a shutout over the first place Cardinals. Against them, St Louis superstar Pujols and hot-hot-hot Holliday went 0 for 7. Quite a memorable first start - welcome aboard Bud Norris!

The bad news, of course, is that Norris was pitching in the Wizard's spot, with the ace still out with a back strain. It doesn't look likely that Oswalt will be back for his next start either (postponed to next Saturday), and the Astros may be bringing up Paulino to join the Express gang by week's end.