Why They Lost
This time it was poor hitting plus bad defense that contributed to the Astros loss. Carlos Lee's bobble, and Geoff Blum's bad play (on a brutal hop, admittedly) led to three unearned runs for Felipe Paulino. In addition, Michael Bourn had the only hit w/RISP for the Astros in eight at bats (Kaz Matsui: 0x3). Matsui may have hurt himself pretty bad, fouling a ball off his right leg late in the game.
Astros Pitching
| Name | IP | H/ER | K:BB | Pit-Str | CS/SS |
| Paulino | 5.2 | 6/2 | 4:3 | 108-69 (63.9%) | 19/11 |
| Fulchino | 1.1 | 0/0 | 2:0 | 17-9 (52.9%) | 2/3 |
| Moehler | 2 | 0/0 | 2:0 | 21-13 (61.9%) | 4/3 |
Errors. It's hard to quantify the extra pitches Paulino had to throw due to Carlos Lee's error in the 1st, where a routine groundball led to two runs scoring. But Paulino needed 108 pitches to get through 5.2IP. This means that, in three starts, Paulino has thrown 224 pitches to get 50 outs - 4.48 pitches per out.
What was encouraging was the bullpen of Fulchino and Moehler, who were able to give Lyon and Lindstrom the night off - though, technically, Carlos Lee and the defense gave Lyon and Lindstrom the night off - pitching to ten batters, and getting ten outs, and needed 38 pitches to get through said ten batters.
Astros hitting
Nothin'. Nine hits, none for extra bases. Bourn and Berkman had two hits each, with Bourn getting the RBI. Matsui (.107) and Lee (.136) were both 0x4. Oh yeah, and hey, no walks, either. The Astros had first-pitch strikes thrown to them in 24 of 36 at-bats. And about being aggressive and swinging at the first pitch? The Astros did that seven times, and the Astros were 4x7.
Pitch Count Hero: Berkman (2x4) and Lee (0x4) - 16 pitches in three PAs.
Pitch Count Punk: Quintero (1x4) - 8 pitches in four PAs.
Man of the Match: Michael Bourn. 2x4, RBI, SB, and the lone XBH.
Goat of the Game: Carlos Lee. Dude. Take a day off.
