The Astros can?t hit Cole Hamels? changeup. This time he had a no hitter through 6.2 before Adam Everett lined a run scoring double to right center.
Meanwhile, Jason Hirsh also pitched a good game. He featured a well placed fastball, frequently coming up and in on the Philly hitters. Delucci, the first batter in the 7th, busted up his shutout with a homer off a hanging curve way up into the rightfield seats. Hirsh walked a batter and then turned the ball over to the bullpen with the score 1-0.
The previous inning Ryan Howard dug out a low fastball on an 0-3 count and popped it to the outskirts of the Crawford Boxes. A kid in the front row reached his glove up trying for the catch. On contact he lunged forward and in real time, because of the lunge, it looked like the ball would have hit just at the top of the wall just as it popped out of the glove. On replay, the ball had cleared the first row of the Boxes. Howard got a double out of the deal. The kid in the first row of the Crawford Boxes was crying because he didn?t catch the ball.
The Astros threw Qualls, Miller, Nieve, Lidge, Wheeler, and Buchholz in relief. Qualls and Miller couldn?t hold them in the 7th, despite some risky plays on defense and Miller striking out Howard again. Ausmus tried to nip a runner moving from 2nd on a bunt attempt and missed. Berkman whipped a throw on a pickoff attempt over to third to try for Rollins who had ranged too far off the base and Everett dove for a grounder two steps to the right of 2nd and tried a flip to Biggio for a putout that he dropped. The Phillies lead at the end of the 7th, 4-1.
Lidge couldn?t find the plate in the 8th, walked the first batter on 4 pitches. When he did throw a strike, the Phillies hit it. A 2 run triple and a sac fly put the game at 7-1. Ensberg singled home Taveras from 2nd in the 8th to make it 7-2 but that was as close as it got.
Wandy at 1:05 on Sunday.
