Cardinals 4, Astros 1
W: Lohse (15-3)
L: Abad (0-5)
Contributed by Reuben
100 is usually a good thing in sports; often a great thing. If you make a 100-yard carry in football, you’ve scored an amazing touchdown. If you’re score 100 points in basketball, you’re Wilt Chamberlain, you’re a fucking badass. In baseball, 100 is a great RBI man, a great leadoff man, a great fastball, a Rickey Henderson/Vince Coleman kind of speedster. Or a great season.
Until last year, the Astros had achieved all of the baseball-related feats above, save for the Rickey type, but never the negative one, their nadir having been 97 losses (in 1965, ’75, and ’91). But they blew past that, and are doing so again this year, reaching 100 again Tuesday night. We can take some small comfort, perhaps, knowing that only one team has been around longer than the Astros and never lost 100, the LA/CA/ANA Angels (file that as reason #2 in the Angels’ column of the Things To Hate About Our Future Division Rivals list). And HOU at least valiantly took 3 of 4 from the Phillies, delaying their shame until after the homestand. We’re still about a week or so away from seeing the 106-loss record broken.
In the meantime, we can focus on hoping that the Astros don’t three-peat next year, although it is probably as inevitable as a 14-3 pitcher on a playoff contender beating Fernando Abad and your 2012 Astros on a chilly Tuesday night in September.