Astros 4 – Phillies 3
W: Moehler (2-1)| L: Myers (2-6) | S: Brocail (2)
Molony’s Recap (Astros.com)
Box Score
Video: Final Play of the Game
Traditionally, what is considered a dramatic finish to a game is an offense induced walk off play. If it is a homerun, there is supposedly no other more fan craze inducing play, plus the players get to wait at home and pound the crap out of the teammate who hits said walk-off homerun. It’s a ritual often looked forward to by players and fans alike.
But what do you do when you win with a defensive play? What if said defensive play is a dramatic as can be, not often executed as well, double play?
A double play to end a game? That is what would make women swoon, men cry like babies, make the stotic Mark Loretta do gay hopping near the mound, induce the not often seen triple man hug near homeplate (Brocail, Berkman, Ausmus… NTTAWWT) and force Patti Smith to ask yet more stupid questions after the game? Yes. A double play, game over and the Astros hang on to a 4-3 win when it looked for all the world they would have to go extra innings or worse, trail going into the bottom of the ninth.
Brian Moehler was officially the beneficiary of the play as the rule goes and he deserved the win the way he battled all night long. If not for Ryan Howard, Moehler would’ve enjoyed his night even more. Howard got the scoring going for the Phillies in the first with a fly ball double to left, executing his now perfected left field MMPUS swing. Houston would answer the Phillies score and put two tallies on the board to go up 2-1, courtesy of the now red-hot Michael Bourn, the walking man Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee’s double to the left field corner. That didn’t stop Howard in the third inning as he feasted on a hanging slider to deposit it in to the Astros bullpen to put the Phillies up 3-2. It would stay that way until the fifth when Bourn and Lee would gang up on the Phillies again with a double and single to knot the score at three. In the sixth inning, Mark Loretta was inserted into the game to pinch hit for Brian Moehler with Ty Wiggington sitting in scoring position and two outs in the books. Loretta worked the count to 3-2 before striking a single to centerfield and giving Houston a 4-3 lead to protect for the rest of the evening.
That ended the scoring for the night, so it was now up to the pitching and defense to come up big. In the following innings, Cooper mixed and matched his bullpen to situations to navigate the team through the powerful Phillie lineup. Tim Byrdak was especially impressive in his matchups with Victorino in the seventh, Utley and Howard in the eighth. All that was left for Houston was to hand the ball to Doug Brocail to close out the game on a night when Iron Face Valverde was unavailable. Brocail started the ninth shaky, allowing a single and walk and then inexplicably throwing a ball into centerfield on an miscommunicated pickoff play at second. Men on third and second, no outs… looks like huge trouble for Brocail. He got tough and induced a lazy fly ball to centerfield that at first glance looked like a dying quail, but the speed of Bourn made the play a lot easier than it really was. That brought up Jimmy Rollins, so the intentional walk was ordered and that lead to the final play of the game that could only be described as “baseball at it’s best!”
In steps the pesky Shane Victorino and quickly spits on two Brocail offerings to force him into a hitters count of 2-0. Victorino got the pitch he wanted on the next offering, a fastball middle and away, so he put a good swing on it and sent it to medium deep left field. The previous half inning, Cecil Cooper was set to use Darrin Erstad as a pinch hitter if the pitcher’s spot had come up, but it did not, so officially Erstad was inserted into the game the bottom half of the inning as a defensive replacement for Carlos Lee. Good call on that one Skip, as Erstad stepped back properly and as the ball settled into his glove, Erstad already had his momentum running towards the infield. Pedro Feliz tagged at third base, Wiggington set up perfectly to cut off the throw and as the play developed, the Big Aus called the play for the team. “Home!” (or whatever the Astros use as the cut man command to let the ball travel all the way home). The ball arrived perfectly where Ausmus had stationed himself, about a foot away inside of homeplate and even with the base. Aumsu secured the ball and moved his body towards home and Feliz had only one option, avoid the tag by sliding further away from the plate and reach for the base with his hand. Had he continued straight towards the plate, he would’ve been blocked off. So Feliz’s slide and tag arrived near homeplate at about the same moment. Homeplate umpire Brian Onora positioned himself perfectly to see the play unravel. Ausmus applied the tag low and in the best position to bring the glove up quickly to show the blue that the tag was completed and still no touch of homeplate by Feliz.
“OOOOUUUUTTTT!”
And the place went crazy. Brocail jumped, Berkman ran to hug someone, the bench for Houston rushed the field, preplexed for a moment who the hero would be on such a play (remember, this is not clear cut as a walk-off homerun and these are not rocket scientist either). Finally the choice was Erstad, the veteran former gold glover. Fantastic play, hugs all around, high fives with much oomph as possible and smiles for every MMPUS patron, every fan watching on television, every fan listening on the radio and of cource those who participated in the Gamezone on this night.
Houston tries for the series win tomorrow at 1:05 pm.