Recap for G160 - Astros @ Mets

Well, that couldn't have gone much worse, huh? The Astros were held to six hits, which is one more than Doug Brocail allowed in the 8th inning of a 7-1 loss to the Mets. Wandy did what's what, getting himself the "quality start," but gave up eight hits, including a two-run homer to Jeff Francoeur. Let's just do the thing:

Wandy: 6IP, 8H/3ER, 3K:1BB, 17/26 first-pitch strikes, 22/72 non-contact strikes (13 called:9 swinging)
Byrdak: 0.2IP, 1H, 2K, 3/3 FPS, 4/9 NCS (3c:1s)
Gervacio: 0.1IP, 1K, 1/1 FPS, 3/3 NCS (1c:2s)
Brocail: 1IP, 5H/4ER, 1/8 FPS, 3/23 NCS (3c)

Nope, that's not a typo. Brocail gave up 4ER in his one inning, needing 37 pitches to get through the 8th inning, with none of them of the "Swinging Strike" variety. How did it happen?

Carlos Beltran: Flyout to left
Francoeur: Single to center
Tatis: Single to right
Santos: Single to right (RBI)
Hernandez: Sac fly to left
Murphy: Pinch-hit homer to right
Pagan: Single to right
Castillo: Flyout to center

Yep, that's eight batters, three outs, and one first-pitch strike to those eight batters on Brocail's part.

And because the offense is predictably terrible, even against John Maine and the Mets, the Astros gave Wandy his 12th loss of the year (putting his record at 14-12, with a 3.02 ERA. Those six hits were spread out among six players, including pinch-hitter Darin Erstad. The other five hits were courtesy of Bourn, Tejada, Berkman, Lee, and Matsui. It takes a lot of factors to make the Mets look good. One of those factors are the Houston Astros. They only had three ABs with RISP (0x3, natch), and Michael Bourn was gunned down at 3rd base, denying him of his 62nd stolen base. And the Astros' one run came in the 4th, when Blum screwed up and grounded out, scoring Berkman.

The Astros seemed to have a good chance in the 5th, with the score tied at 1-1. Matsui reached on a bunt single, and with some grounders, made his way to third, where Bourn left him right there with a swinging strikeout.

Man of the Match: Jeez. This is like congratulating your foot for not smelling as bad as your rear end. I seriously have no idea. 5-8 in the lineup were a combined 1x12. No one did particularly well. How about Wandy, for the quality start?

Goat of the Game: This one goes to Brocail. See above.