Houston Astros Continue their Dominance of Buccos

After returning from a seven game road trip on the west coast, Astros players and personnel had to take comfort in the fact that they would be able finish out the first half of the season at home against two teams that have struggled as of late. The Astros have played some good baseball lately and although the stats do not jump at out you off of the stat sheet, the Astros offense has produced well enough to support the pitching staff and the team now owns a 21-14 record since June 1st.

The Astros hoped to continue their dominance over the visiting Pirates and stake claim to that coveted prize of an even record and although the Astros won their series with the Pirates, it was a shot to the stomach that they could not complete the series sweep. Ultimately, it was one very bad inning in the second game that did the Astros in and would prohibit the ‘Stros from what was a superbly played series for the team as a whole.

GAME 1

Mike Hampton has dominated the Pirates over the course of his career and this night would be no different. Hampton would pitch seven strong innings while striking out three to run his season record to 5-5. Of those five wins this season four have come at the expense of the Pirates. In his four starts against the Buccos this season, Hampton now owns a 4-0 record with an ERA of 1.00 yielding 3 runs through 27 innings of work. While Hampton kept the Pirates bats at bay, the Astros offense was quick to give Hampy all the run support that he would need when Geoff Blum plated two runs on a two out triple in the bottom of the first. The Astros would add two more runs in the fifth to post a 4-0 lead en route to a 4-1 victory. Miguel Tejada also added two more hits to his resume, adding to his NL lead in hits and multi-hit games.

GAME 2

After giving up a two run home run to Jack Wilson in the third inning, Brian Moehler would send the next ten Pirates batters back to the bench empty handed. The Astros would scratch their way back to even the score at 2-2 in the sixth when Lance Berkman scored on a two out bloop single off the bat of Hunter Pence. It was Lance Berkman’s heads up base running that allowed the Astros the opportunity to even the score when Berkman advanced to second base on a long fly ball out to deep center field from Carlos Lee.

Moehler would run into trouble in the again in the seventh. After retiring the first batter, Moehler would walk the next two and Cecil Cooper turned to his bullpen to get him out of the inning unscathed. It would prove a costly move as Tim Byrdak walked the next batter on four straight pitches. Byrdak would give way to Chris Sampson, who has been dominant against the Pirates not allowing a run in 24 career appearances. With the bases chock full of Pirates, Jason Jaramillo hit a one hopper to Lance Berkman, who threw home to force the second out of the inning. That throw would get away from Ivan Rodriguez as it bounced off his chest protector and into foul territory allowing the Bucs to take a 4-2. The Bucs would plate two more runs in the inning to take a 6-2 and eventually the game 6-3. After the game Berkman was quick to bear the cross for his errant throw and take blame for the loss stating, "We had the ball we needed to get out of the inning, or at least to get us closer to getting out of the inning, and I just made a bad throw," Berkman said. "It's the second time in as many home-stands that I feel like I've cost us defensively -- and basically a game. We're going to have to start winning games like this. Moe pitched great, but defensively we stunk, and the biggest blow was that bad throw."

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GAME 3

In the rubber match of this series, it would be Astros starter, Wandy Rodriguez who would dominate. Rodriguea, who has returned to the dominant pitcher that started the season 5-1, would toss a complete game shutout and tie his career high for strikeouts with 11. "That was an outstanding performance by Wandy," prompted Cecil Cooper said. "He was very strong from inning one and the very first pitch. It was probably the best performance from our side all year."

Berkman would provide himself a bit of redemption and provide Rodriguez the offense that he would need to finish out the game. With the Astros up 3-0, Berkman laced a two out double to plate two more runs, and a cap to the scoring. The 5-0 victory puts the Astros back to within one game of evening their record on the season and ends Rodriguez’s impressive run over his last five outings before the break. In Wandy’s last five games he is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA. "I felt good from the beginning and I really wanted to finish the game. I told [pitching coach] Dewey Robinson, 'This is my last start because of the All-Star break, so I will have a little vacation.' I wanted to finish the game."

Next up for the Astros is major league baseball’s version of the Bad News Bears, the Washington Nationals. The Nationals own baseball’s worst record, and are at the bottom of nearly every major offensive and pitching statistical category. The Astros cannot sit idly by and play mediocre baseball over the next three games expecting to win. They are on a mission to reach .500 and beyond and only the Nationals stand in their way. If Astros are to achieve that goal they will need to continue to get quality starting pitching and the offense needs to continue to manufacture runs, a feat that has eluded the Astros with any sense of consistency.

By: Jordan Fleck
MLBcenter.com Houston Astros correspondent

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