It was Biggio bobble head night. The bobble head looked nothing like Bidge who seems to be encouraging some sort of Bagwellian chin foliage. But, so as to draw attention to the real Craig Biggio, he lined the second pitch he saw, a fastball, into the Boxes to give Sparky a quick 1 run lead. Biggio was hitting 2nd tonight, so the homer didn't add to his statistical pile.
With 2 outs in the 2nd, Willy T. solidly struck a line drive to the left field gap and flew around to 3rd, sweeping Ausmus and Everett before him to score, giving the Astros a 3-0 cushion.
D'Backs 8 hitter, Chris Schneider lead off the 3rd with a double for the Snakes. Roy took the pitchers? hard bunt and made the aggressive play at 3rd to get the out. But the D?Backs got a single which set up runners 1st and 2nd, 1 out, and the 3rd was looking like the Oswalt Inning. But he got Hudson swinging and Gonzo fouled out to end the threat.
After the 3rd , Oswalt and Cruz settled in and took over the game. The thorn in Roy's side, Schneider homered on a low fastball in the 5th but that was Oswalt?s only glitch. Using his slow Bugs Bunny curve more than he has lately, combined with high fastballs, he recorded 8 strike outs. JD pointed out his impeccable control, noting that he only went to 3 balls once in the game. Cruz was also impressive, spotting his fastball on the corners and the lower end of HP ump Bill Miller?s saggy K zone.
Luke Scott was IBB?d twice this game with runners in scoring position. The D?Backs checked their score card and noticed Brad Ausmus in the on deck circle.
The 7th was enlivened by a superfluously acrobatic catch by the Snakes rightfielder Carlos ?I loves me some eye black? Quentin. Everett hit a routine liner to mid right, Quentin coming in on it dropped his right knee too low and caught the ground. He bounced, propelling himself forward, and, by necessity, executed a perfect front flip landing on his feet. His other option was a face plant.
In the 8th, Taveras, with significantly less flash, but significantly more speed and relevance to the game, ran down a long fly in front of the Astros bullpen. There was a runner on first at the time.
In the bottom of the 8th, Mike Lamb, who had struggled at the plate all game, bounced a double off the chalk in the right field corner. Preston Wilson, who had been robbed of an RBI single by a perfectly placed 2b in the 6th, slapped an outside fastball to right for an RBI double.
Lidge, with the 4-1 cushion, pitched the 9th. His slider had bite. He recorded 2 Ks with it, the last bounced 2 feet in front of the plate and got Eye Black Quentin check swinging.
Sunday, more muthafuckin Snakes on more muthafuckin trains, 1:05 CDT, Clemens v. Batista.
