W: Volquez (17-6) | L: Rodriguez (7-6) | S: Cordero (34)

AP recap/boxscore via Yahoo!

Molony game wrap

In this must-win late season game, the home dwellers of Minute Maid Park let victory slip through their grasp as a heaping pile of baserunning blunders sunk the good ship Astros on this night, losing to the lowly Reds 2-1 and basically eliminating themselves from playoff contention.

Wandy Rodriguez, who had one inning pitched (in one start) in September before tonight, was entrusted to start this game and he promptly gave up a pair of runs in the first on two hits, a walk, and a questionable three-base error. Both runs were tallied as unearned, but that hardly mattered as the Astros could not outscore the damage done in this classic display of sinking down to the level of competition.

They had chances.

After Kazou Matsui lined a leadoff homer into the Crawfords, Miggy Tejada sliced a double to right with one out, but he was stranded after yet another pathetic at-bat by slumping slugger Lance Berkman.

In the third, Ty Wigginton had a one-out double but could not advance. Same result in the 5th after a visibly pissed Brad Ausmus was nailed by a pitch. Pinch hitter Darren Erstad swung at ball four in the dirt as Ausmus was doubled up on the botched hit-and-run play.

It only got worse in the sixth. Kaz singled and was forced out at second base by Michael Bourn. After stealing second,  Bourn rounded third with a horribly wide turn on a single to left by Tejada, and despite third base coach Ed Romero waiving him on, he stopped. Tejada rounded first and tried to force the issue with a rundown, but Bourn stayed put watching Tejada as he was tagged out. Absolutely no excuse for the idiotic display of baserunning, so I have dubbed this particular play as ‘Bourn’s Boner’, a unique clusterfuck of several baserunning mistakes in a period of about 3 seconds.

In the eighth, Berkman once again had a chance to tie the game with a runner in scoring position, but hit a weak grounder to second. Tell me again why I should cast a vote for him? He is ‘hitting’ .260 with 6 home runs and 29 RBIs post AS break. He may have been a Puma in the first half, but he reverted to simply being Puny in the second half.

Their tough luck continued in the ninth as Wiggy lined into a DP to end it.

Other notes: There was a 7 minute delay in the top of the seventh inning so the umps could look at a replay of a ball hit by Joey Votto that appeared to hit off the yellow line in right field and bounce back into play.

Reliever Chris Sampson left the game in the seventh inning with right lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow. He is day-to-day. Too bad the same can’t be said for the Astros.

It’s been a sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating season in 2008, but overall this will be their best record for the past three years. Sure doesn’t seem like it, right at this moment.

W: Wolf (10-11) | L: Ohlendorf (0-1)

AP recap/boxscore

Molony wrap

The Good Guys continued their late season streak, downing the Pirates in game two of the four game set at MMP.

Randy Wolf started and improved to 4-1 for the Astros. He allowed a couple of runs in the first, but settled down and went seven strong. Lance Berkman, Darren Erstad, and Miguel Tejada each had three hits. One of Berkman’s hits was three-run bomb that just reached the Crawfords to quickly erase the first inning deficit. Geoff Blum had a pair of hits including a triple, and a Hunter Pence drive to the top of the wall caused the first MMP replay. Safe?

A lot of scoreboard watching in the GZ lately. With good reason.

I am leery of typing much more. I think I’ll go mow the lawn or something. I have lights on my riding mower, and a beer holder, and maybe I’ll catch and turn into mulch the bastard armadillo who has chewed up my grass lately. His name is Bernie.

W: Wright (4-3) | L: Wood (4-3) | S: Valverde (39)

AP recap/boxscore via Yahoo!

Footer!

The road warrior Astros put another L on the frontrunning Cubs at their own crappy yard, finally achieving victory in 11 innings after a huge two-run bomb from Geoff Blum.

Brandon Backe started and ran into trouble early. After the Astros went 1-2-3 in the 1st, Soriano led off with a solo shot for the early lead, and Backe loaded the bases before a comebacker double play got him off the hook.

In the second, Blum walked with one out and Hunter Pence smashed a liner off of Zambrano’s foot that richoched into right field for an odd double. David Newhan’s grounder then tied the game at one all.

Backe got through the second inning with no damage thanks to another double play. The third inning was scoreless as was the top of the fourth, but the Cubs unloaded two solo shots off Backe in the bottom half to take a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth, Humberto Quintero slammed a Zambrano offering to the right-center gap for a double, and a Backe sacrifice bunt sent him to third. Michael Bourn walked and stole second, followed by another walk to Ty Wigginton to load the bases. Zambrano was clearly struggling at this point, much to the delight of Astros fans. Miguel Tejada then sliced a liner past first to score two and tie it back up, but Zambrano bore down and retired Lance Berkman and Blum to avoid further damage.

Backe started the fifth by allowing a pair of singles, then a deep fly to Pence that had the Wrigley faithful crying yard, but they were disappointed as the Aramis Ramirez drive fell short. That was enough for Cecil Cooper however, as Backe hit the showers after he labored through 4.1 innings, coughing up three solo homers and six other hits. He was bailed out of a even worse stat line by Fernando Nieve, who relieved and promptly coaxed a double play ball to keep the game tied at 3.

Cubs manager Sweet Lou Piniella decided to pull his ace Zambrano after the 5th and give the ball to Bob Howry. Thanks, Lou. Pence led off the sixth with a long, high drive that took Cubbies Sexy Bitch centerfielder Jimmy Edmonds all the way to an ivy facial as Thunderpants raced around like a Spaz and wound up at third while Edmonds was deciding which ball to throw back. Seems there was a stray ball stuck in the green plants adoring the outfield fence that came loose during the play. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Edmonds planted it there in case he needed it for one of his Sportscenter highlight catches. Anyway, the next batter Newhan stroked a single scoring Spaz with the go ahead run. Q followed with another single, and pinch-hitter Reggie Abercrombie attempted to bunt them over but Howry would have none of that, he walked him instead to load the bases. Bourn was next up, and with the infield drawn in, he hit a shot off of Howry’s glove into center field to score two. Sweet Lou had seen enough and yanked Howry from the game and brought in Michael Wuertz. Wiggy foiled the plan by drawing a walk to re-load the bases. Things were looking real nice for the good guys right about now as Miggy stepped up to the plate, but run-scoring 6-4-3 DP followed by a grounder to first let Wuertz escape further damage. When the smoke cleared, the Astros held a 7-3 lead.

That didn’t last long. The normally reliable Tim Byrdak took to the hill in the bottom of the sixth and walked the Sexy Bitch leading off the inning. A pair of doubles later, Chris Sampson was summoned from the bullpen to limit the damage. He recorded three outs, but not before allowing a single that scored the third run of the inning. 7-6 Astros.

In the seventh, the Astros had a couple reach base but failed to score. Doug Brocail was sent to mow down the Cubs in the bottom half, but he allowed a solo homer to Edmonds to tie the game.

Carlos Marmol entered the game and shut down the good guys in the eighth. Brocail remained in the bottom half and struck out the first batter, then walked the bases full. This is not good. A slick 5-4-3 twin-killing saved his ass.

The Astros couldn’t touch Marmol in the ninth, either. Pence did reach on a muff by Errormiss Ramirez. Wesley Wright was entrusted to keep the score tied and take it to extra frames. He did just that, working around a  leadoff walk to close out the 9th.

Free baseball for the stuffed to capacity bleacher creatures known as Cubbie fans. Kerry Wood pitched the 10th, and despite another error by the iron glove/arm at 3B, kept the Astros off the bases. In the bottom half, Wright again walked the leadoff man and followed that by allowing a single. Cubbie fans sensed victory, but the rookie Wright quieted the idiots with a couple of fly balls to center and a huge strikeout.

On to the 11th. Wood remained in the game but ran into trouble by walking Lance Berkman with one out. Blum then launched his bomb to the right field fans just so they would make BudGirl happy and throw it back. Wood stayed in and retired the side despite another error by, you guessed it, Errormiss. His third in three innings. Let’s hope the streak continues tomorrow.

Astros closer Jose Valverde has been a busy man lately, and he came through again. A punchout of Errormiss recorded one out, but a single brought the tying run to the plate. Former Astro Heavy D pinch-hit and lofted a fly to left for the second out. Valverde then blew away the rookie Soto for his league leading 39th save.

The Game Zone was rocking tonight to the tune of 24 pages, don’t miss it!

W: Arroyo (12-10) | L: Geary (2-3)

AP via Yahoo! boxscore/recap

Oliphant wrap from astros.com

Click ‘more’ for a game photo journal.

Wandy was nails. Career high 10 punchouts.

Reds started wanna be rock star Bronson Arroyo.

A 1-3-6 caught stealing nabbed the Reds leadoff man.

Tied 1-1, the Astros couldn’t get anything going. Thanks, Spaz.

Geary relieved Wandy and promptly coughed up a solo shot to a recently called up rookie catcher.

Coop inquires about a replay.

No rally on this night.

Reds celebrate Arroyo’s complete game effort on the home turf.

All photos courtesy of Pat Sullivan/AP

W: Santana (12-7) | L: Oswalt (11-9) | S: Ayala (1)

AP recap/boxscore

Astros.com wrap from Jon Blau?

Roy Oswalt made a couple of mistakes early to the tune of  three Mets runs and it cost him and the Astros as he was outdueled by Johan Santana in a 3-0 whitewash in the first game of a four-game set at Shea Stadium.

I missed the game, and the GameZone was mostly empty and quiet on this Friday night. The recaps were full of quotes attempting to explain the loss, but the fact remained that despite his dominance in innings three through eight, Roy coughed up those three runs early and put his team in a hole against one of the best pitchers in the game, who scattered eight Astros hits and escaped trouble when he needed to.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

W: Oswalt (10-8) | L: Walker (4-7)

AP recap/boxscore

Oliphant wrap

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom half of the 5th inning, the Astros had managed a mere one hit and punched out seven times against young phenom Tim Lincecum, but Brad Ausmus changed all that by smashing a liner right into the back of the youngsters knee, forcing him to take a seat for the rest of the evening. Lincecum odd motion put him in harms way as he finishes with his back turned to the hitter, so it was only a matter of time before something like this would happen. Good thing for the Astros, as they exploded for an eight runs in the 7th against the Giants bullpen, and added two more in the 8th as the good guys continued their winning ways by defeating the Giants 12-4 at MMP.

Roy Oswalt started and seemed to struggle with his off speed stuff, but spotted his fastball just enough to limit the damage to three runs in seven innings, allowing ten hits and three walks, but no long balls to hurt him. The big rally in the 7th carried him to his 10th win this season. Chris Sampson and Tim Byrdak mopped up the final two innings.

Darren Erstad started in right field for Hunter Pence and had the only hit against Lincecum, a double in the 3rd inning just inside the left field foul line that rolled around in the corner allowing Brad Ausmus to score from first. Erstad also scored when the Giants secondbaseman allowed a roller to go under his glove.

The big rally began with a walk to Ausmus and a pinch-hit single by Pence. Mark Loretta walked to load-em up and Erstad blooped a single to left, scoring Ausmus and Pence in a strangely familiar looking play. Miguel Tejada singled to load-em up again, and Lance Berkman followed with a grand salami off the limestone facade in left. The Giants lefty reliever challenged him on a 3-1 pitch, and he made them pay. Geoff Blum extended the rally with a double and scored on an opposite field dinger by Ty Wigginton.

The Astros continued to feast on the Giants bullpen in the 8th with four more hits, scoring two more runs on a solo shot by Pence and a Tejada double.

Read the GZ thread for more details.

W: Howry (4-4) | L: Sampson (5-4)

HRs: Wigginton (11), Blum (10), Lee (26), Soriano (20)

AP recap/boxscore via Yahoo!

Footer gives her take.

Back at Wrigley for an early game after a long, rainy victory last night, the Astros fell behind early, rallied to take the lead, but the overtaxed bullpen cratered late as the Astros fell to the front-running Cubbies of Chicago, 11-7.

Wandy started and spotted the Cubs six runs in the first two frames. He toughed it out and lasted five as the Astro began to chip away at the lead with a run in the second on an Erstad single and two more in the fifth, a solo blast by Wiggy and an RBI triple from Kaz.

Blum hit a two-run bomb in the sixth to draw the good guys within a run at 6-5, and chased Cubbie starter Harden for the first time in his short NL career. In the seventh, Lee put the good guys ahead 7-6 with a two-run dinger, capping the improbable comeback.

It all fell apart in the bottom half of the seventh as the bullpen allowed a five-spot for the final score. Speculation is running rampant in the TZ about the cause of this meltdown.

W: Moehler (6-4) | L: Arroyo (9-8) | S: Wright (1)

HR: Lee (24), Tejada (11)

AP recap/boxscore via Yahoo!

Alyson’s game wrap

On a night when the Astros namesake celebrated their 50th anniversary, Brain Moehler came withing an out of a complete game with a masterful pitching performance against the commie Reds, winning 6-2 as he was in command the entire game before fading in the ninth and needing help from rookie Wesley Wright to finish. He was supported in victory by a Carlos Lee grand orbit blast, a Hunter Pence run-scoring triple and a solo rocket shot from Miguel Tejada.

Was Moehler inspired by the new 50-year NASA patch?

(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

The GZ was dead tonight, so treat yourself to a Footer game wrap for more details.

w: Maholm (7-6) | L: Cassel (1-1)

AP recap

Krysten Oliphant @ astros.com

Rather than wait for a ninth inning meltdown like the previous game against the swashbucklers from the three river town. the Astros and fill in pitcher Jack Cassel allowed runs early and often while the bats of the hometown nine decided to take another night off as the Astros lost 8-2 on Tuesday evening.

Here is an odd post-game quote about Cassel:

“Jack has to be perfect. When he isn’t, he gets in trouble,” Cooper said. “When you don’t throw with very much velocity, you’ve got to hit your spots.”

Well, duh. Asking him to be perfect however is a bit much. No pressure, right Coop?

Cassel used his pinpoint control to keep the ball in the fat part of the plate, and the Pyroots hit’em hard and often. The surprisingly inept sticks of the good guys couldn’t keep up, falling behind by eight runs before scoring a couple late to avoid the shutout.

That’s all, folks. Even the GZ was subdued on this night.

W: Grabow (5-2) L: Brocail (4-4) S: Marte (3)

HRs: Pence (11), Lee (21), McLouth (17), LaRoche (10)

AP recap/boxscore via Yahoo!

Footer’s wrap

After 6 1/2 hours at PNC Park in rainy Pittsburgh, the Astros still had command of this game, only to let it slip away in the bottom of the 8th after recording two outs, the ultimate ‘can’t nail it down’ scenario come true.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

I would not want to interview this man after his blown save/loss last night. Someone was brave enough, however, the get the following quotes from Mr. Redass himself. I suspect it was Ms. Footer, who could be compared to a snake charmer in this case.

“That’s a ballgame we can win,” Brocail said. “We battled all night. It’s one inning of work. The tough thing is when you blow a lead, blow a save and all the hard work from the guys prior to you doesn’t amount to anything.”

The Astros built the lead first on a massive blast to dead center by Hunter Pence in the 4th inning, staking starter Brandon Backe to a 1-0 lead before the clouds opened up for the first pause, a two hour + rain delay.

Carlos Lee, still making a bid for the last spot on the NL all-star team, knocked a 2-run blast in the 5th to increase the lead to 3-0, and also mark the last score of the game for the visitors. The Pirates answered with a solo shot  in the bottom half  of the inning to  get on the board.

The game was delayed again in the 6th for half an hour. Even Mother Nature seems to plot against the Astros, as the skies cleared with the good guys holding a 3-1 lead and an official game in the books.

The score remained 3-1 until Brocail couldn’t get that elusive third out in the fateful 8th.

Upcoming schedule includes one more game in Steel City, Thursday off on the road, and the weekend in Virginia.