Hank the Tank in his replica Mets uniform

Astros 4- steM 3

W – Melancon, L – Dickey, S – Lyon

When the game is on the line, you want a superstar at the plate.  A guy who rattles the pitcher.  A hitter – a pure hitter – who will do everything in his will to draw that walk, slap one to right, work the count.  The “if” is thrown out of the equation – all you’re waiting for is the “how” and “when.”

And lacking such a player, the Astros turned to Hunter Pence in the 8th.  Yep, ol’ Thunderpants hit the go-aheader, a solo laser shot to left that put the Good Guys up one for good.  And thus the season’s first two-game winning streak was born.

Beeker’s homer was hardly the game’s only highlight.  Bill Hall accidentally caught a foul ball on his way to punch a steM fan in the ‘nads in the 2nd, atoning for his 4,816 k’s this season.  Downs later replaced him due to a strained right ankle.  Hall’s day-to-day, unless somebody actually looks it up and corrects me.

Norris escaped multiple jams  and left with 3ER, 10 hits in 6IP.

Lyon induced a crucial double-play in the 9th and no outs.

Carlos caught a ball.

But the most impressive play of the night was in the bottom of the 8th, when Jose Valdez executed the classic strike-em-out, toss-em-out double play at the plate to end the inning.  steM douchebags on the corners, 1 out.  Some other steM douchebag strikes out swinging, but the ball boinks the Rodeo Clown in the shin guard and dribbles away.  The steM douchebag on third breaks for home and gets tagged out on a bang-bang play.  K, 2-1 for those of you scoring retroactively at home.

And that was about it.  A fun, relatively meaningless game for a warm night on the couch.  A night when the Astros turned to their homegrown Bud, who often pitches high and outside, while they cheered from the dugout.

Next Game: Thurs, 7:05pm.

Friars 8, Good Guys 6

WP Frieri (1-1) LP Melancon (1-1)

HR 2 by their guys

On a day where the pet canines made up a significant part of the attendance, the Astros refused to win yet another series and for the third time in this young season, blew a lead held after the seventh inning. Brett Myers set the tone by struggling with his command early but limited the damage and had a lead when he left after six innings.

Abad came in and committed two errors on the same play, leading to another run. Melancon was called on to stop the bleeding but became a victim of chance and overuse as he was unable to get the ball over the plate consistently. He got one out in the eighth before four runs scored on three hits and a walk and the game was lost.

A gallant comeback in the ninth by the Astros was turned aside when Heath Bell struck out Matt Downs with the bases loaded.

This was a fairly ugly game but suspenseful, as it was clear the Astros pitchers were teetering on the edge of meltdown the whole way. Helped by an incredibly anemic Padres offense, Myers was able to get 5 Ks, most of them courtesy of an offspeed cutter. It was Melancon’s inability to throw strikes coupled with brutal fielding and mental errors that gave this one away when it had been in hand.

The Astros invade NYC (well, Flushing) and hope to slip a couple of M-80s in their plumbing, beginning Tuesday night. Follow it in the GZ.