Clemens worked through 7 giving up 2 runs without his best stuff. Two runs? Oswalt and Pettitte were wondering what his problem was. Turns out he had muscle spasms in his back. The scary part is that if the Astros had made 2 plays on defense, he would've had a shutout.
In the first, Biggio showing that he has range to his left equivalent to a small cut glass bowl filled with brown striped candies that taste vaguely like root beer, only the bowl has been sitting next to the window so the whole mass has fused in the heat and humidity and when you try to take one, although why you would is beyond me because they've been there forever and have dust on them, the whole clump, bowl and all, is stuck together. Or, so it seemed to me. Anyway, by the time the grounder had got to Palmeiro in right and burrowed under his glove, the runner from second had practically scored anyway. 1-0 Phils.
Palmeiro, doubled home Lamb in the second then scored on Ausmus' suicide squeeze. They call it that because he popped the bunt up and Padilla almost caught it for an easy double play, which would have killed the rally. But he didn't and the Astros were up 2-1.
Adding on in the third, Bagwell, wait, Berkman singled home Biggio from 2nd after a double, 3-1 Astros.
In the fourth, the Phils had a runner on third with one out and the batter lifted a medium deep fly to right. Palmeiro made a good throw home, however Ausmus took the ball 2 steps in front of the plate and tried to make his typical veronica tag. The runner slid wide and scored the run before Ausmus could tag him in the ear. If Ausmus did not have his fear of human contact, he would have been closer to the base when he took the throw and the play might have been made.
However 3-2 was the final as Gallo, getting 2 lefties, and Dot handily held the bridge. The Pope closed down the 9th.
Mets today, Astacio gets the emergency start for Backe against some short skinny guy 7:05
