Astros starter Brandon Backe suffered his first loss in 10 career starts at Minute Maid Park, allowing 6 runs in the first three innings and the Astros rally came up a run short against the cross state ‘rivals’, the Texas Rangers of the junior circuit, losing the Silver Boot in the process.
The Astros finally broke through on Rangers starter Chris Young in the 6th inning with 2 outs, as Craig Biggio lined a single to center for the first hit of the game for the good guys. Lance Berkman followed with a blast past the bullpen in right center for a two-run dinger, and Morgan Ensberg followed with a solo shot to left, cutting the Rangers lead in half.
Biggio brought the Astros even closer in the 8th by lofting a deep fly over the Crawford Boxes after a Willy Taveras single, making the score 6-5 and instilling hope to the crowd of 41,868 for another comeback. It was not to be, as the home team went down meekly in the 9th to lose at home for the first time in nine games.
The Astros could still win the series with a victory tomorrow, game time 1:05, Chan Ho Park (7-2, 6.05) vs. Andy Pettitte (4-7, 3.47), FSSW