Astros 4, Cards 8
L: J.A. Happ W: Chris Carpenter

MLB Recap
GameZone

You know, giving up 7 runs in 1+ innings of work and ending up with a 4.03 ERA isn’t too bad. J.A. Happ just didn’t have it Wednesday in St. Louis. I rather expected the loss, the 7-game win streak in addition to the Winsday streak were going to have to end at some time. I was just hoping it wouldn’t be.

The youngins are still trying though and that is what I like about this team. Chris Johnson is trying his darndest to make sure Ed Wade doesn’t sign a 3rd baseman in the offseason. He went 1 for 3 with a walk. The 1 happened to be a 2-run homerun.

The tall drink of water, Jason Castro, hit a bases clearing triple (there was 1 runner on base) to go 1 for 3 with a walk.

The big hitter for the Astros, also known as Brett Wallace, got one hit but scored 2 runs. This kid is showing some promise.

One must give credit where credit is due in this game. The Astros bullpen went 7 innings giving up 1 run. Compare their outing to the one by the St. Louis bullpen the game before and the Astros kicked their ass. Great job guys, especially you Mr. Figueroa going 3 innings of scoreless baseball.

Other news:
My mom found this story (not exact link) on the front page of the internet. I love my mom, she’s great. Pretty fucking great catch.

Check out strosrays, as usual, outstanding series preview.

Cubs 1, Astros 8
W: Bud Norris, L: Randy Wells

Astros Recap
Game Zone

The Astros won another series against the Cubs. Right now they hold a pretty good lead on the season series. Norris went 6 solid innings and Carlos Lee hit a couple of homeruns to secure this series win. The Astros are only 3.5 back of the Cubs in the standing. Plenty of time left in the season to pass them. Hopefully, the Astros start winning a bit more and the Cubs have their usual season-ending meltdown.

It almost seems like no one really cares about the games right now. It is all about trades. I don’t remember a time of being a fan where the key players were being traded. It is a very weird feeling. I am glad the team is getting stronger, hopefully, but sad that another era is over. It seems like just last year that the Bagwell/Biggio era ended.

Check out tonight’s game against the Brewers in the gamezone or at Minute Maid Park. I’ll be at the park cheering on the newest member to the Astros family, J.A. Happ to a win. Jane’s got all the information you need about the series in her preview.

Contributed by Ebby Calvin
Astros 4 – Reds 0

WP: W. Rodriguez (8-11) LP: M. Leake (7-2)

HOUSTON, TX (AP) – Hundreds of thousands of rabid Astros fans took to the streets Sunday afternoon to celebrate what many are calling, “The Most Important Sporting Event Ever.”

“I just don’t know how to explain what I’m feeling right now,” Jack Sutherford, 34, said. “My life will never be the same. People will always remember where they were when (Astros RP) Matt Lindstrom struck out (Reds PH) Lance Nix (for the final out). I was at a Sport Clips, but I’ll probably tell everybody I was at the game from now on.”

Richmond Avenue’s main strip west of the Galleria took the brunt of the celebration, with estimated damages extending beyond the $300 million range. Dave & Buster’s, formerly at the corner of Fountainview and Richmond, has been flattened; all that remains now is a heap of beer bottles and impossible-to-win stuffed animals.

To put the historic win in perspective, never before has Wandy Rodriguez beaten the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 4-0 while recording seven strikeouts and allowing one hit and two walks on a Sunday in the month of July in the year of 2010. It’s that type of accomplishment that sent the city of Houston into mass hysteria.

“Every night is a highlight reel night for Michael Bourn,” commented Ronald Brand, an Austin native.

“Wandy really used his fastball very well today. Sometimes, he falls in love with his admittedly wicked hook, but hitters who were laying in wait for it today were treated to some cheese. Excellent performance,” opined a California resident who was so moved by the experience that he now demands to be known as simply “Mr. Happy.”

Officials won’t speculate how long they expect the bedlam to continue, but one spokesman who preferred to remain anonymous said, “All these fuckers need to move to New York City, where the women know how to handle a cock and riots and shit like this happen. Every. Day. Seriously, put the periods after ‘every’ and ‘day.’ That’s how it should be written.”

The monumental win put the Astros in the driver’s seat for fifth place in the NL Central.

When asked after the game how it felt to be a part of such a legendary feat, veteran first-baseman Lance Berkman said, “I really wasn’t expecting (to win). It kinda feels like it’s a Wednesday.”

Astros 4, Cubs 3, 12 innings

Astros recap
GameZone

Astros won another game on a Wednesday. This one was great. Any win against the Cubs is a great win. Anything that might make a Cubs fan cry, is a great thing.

According to Craig’s series preview, Myers has had some problems with Derrek Lee in the past and Ted Lilly has had way too much success against the Astros. Lilly continued to have success, just not enough to get the win. I do wish that Myers had gotten the win, he just seems to always be in a position for the team to get him a win. I rather think he deserved it, but that was not to be on this Wednesday.

After Pedro Felix hit his homer in the top of the 8th batting for Myers, I was again reminded of Craig’s preview where he mentioned Pedro usually got happy against Lilly, the bullpen pitched scoreless innings until the 12th.

The 12th inning was interesting. The Astros scored three in the top of the inning. Then the Astros go and give away 2 of the runs before the final out. Fun times. The bullpen gave Cubs fans hope many times during this game and then stomped on it. Fun times.

The only thing that seems to be of more interest than an Astros win over the Cubs is all the trade talk about Roy Oswalt. I just don’t have a lot of faith in a trade happening. Don’t misunderstand and think I may not want Roy traded. I do want him traded, I just want to make sure the Astros don’t get raped in a trade. Be sure to check out the TalkZone for all kinds of rumors and discussion on the fate of Mr. Oswalt.

One thing I’ve wondered about. If Roy got traded, do the O’s bros go with him? If they do, then sell Lance fast so the Little Pumas can be shipped out.

Astros 0, Pirates 9
L: Roy Oswalt, W: Paul Maholm

Astros Recap
Gamezone

To quote Austro, “The Astros have been almost comically inept at times this year. Saturday night was one of those times.” Just change Saturday night to Sunday afternoon.

I do not believe a single batter in the Astros lineup puts fear into an opposing pitcher. Paul Maholm tossed a 3-hitter. 3 hits on the whole afternoon. Now, I’ll give an opposing pitcher credit, but really, Paul Maholm. He’s not known as a dominating pitcher.

The Astros pitching staff gave up 19 hits, 8 of which were for extra bases. Tim Byrdak and Gustavo Chacin were the only pitchers to not allow any runs.

This was just a shitty game. The Astros had 4 baserunners on the day, 2 erased by double plays.

Oh well, maybe they were saving all the hits and runs for the next series against the Cubs. God, I hope so.

Pirates 3, Astros 6
W: Casey Daigle, L: Daniel McCutchen

Astros Recap
GameZone

This was just another Wednesday win for the Astros. They scored a run in 4 separate innings (2 in the third) on Wednesday night. Four of those runs were on homeruns by Jeff Keppinger, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence.

Michael Bourn illustrated why he is the All-Star for the Houston Astros. His feet and glove stole an extra-base hit from Ronnie Cedeno.

Brian Moehler left the game after 3 innings with a strained groin. Gustavo Chacin gave up all 3 Pirate runs in the 4th. Casey Daigle did a good job going two innings of scoreless baseball, he did have some traffic on the bases though. Then Byrdak, Lyons and Lindstrom finished the game.

Nice win by the Astros.