Why They Lost
Because when Roy pitches, even the Astros' offense stands back and watches. Bronson Arroyo held the Astros to six hits and three walks in 6.2IP, striking out seven. The Astros were also 1x6 w/RISP (while the Reds were 1x11), with Bourn getting the only hit.
Astros Pitching
| Name | IP | H/ER | K:BB | Pit-Str | CS/SS |
| Oswalt | 7 | 8/3 | 7:4 | 119-83 (69.7%) | 17/16 |
| Byrdak | 0.2 | 1/1 | 1:0 | 8-6 (75%) | 1/1 |
| Lyon | 0.1 | 0/0 | 0:0 | 6-3 (50%) | 2/0 |
| Lindstrom | 1 | 1/0 | 1:2 | 25-16 (64%) | 1/6 |
If you're keeping score at home, Roy has made five starts - each of them of the Quality variety, and that's three straight 7IP outings. In those five starts, Roy is 2-3, mainly because the Astros have scored 13 runs for Roy in those five starts - 2.6 per game.
And after five straight scoreless appearances for Byrdak, he has now allowed runs in three of his last five outings.
Astros hitting
The Astros had seven hits on the night, four of them coming from Bourn and Pence. Berkman was 0x2 but was also on base twice via the four-ball part of baseball. Matsui drew the only other walk.
In 79 ABs, Carlos Lee has 14 hits, three of them for extra-bases, none of them for home runs, 16 strikeouts and just three walks. For a guy who has approximately 12.5 ABs per walk, Lee is clocking in with a walk just over every 26 ABs this season. You don't need FanGraphs to know that's high. And if you're not appalled enough yet, know this: Pedro Feliz is the only player in all of baseball (using Qualified ABs) to not draw a walk. 73 ABs, 0 walks. So the Astros' triumvirate of Lee/Pence/Feliz has 231 ABs, and five walks.
Pitch Count Hero: Berkman (0x2, 2BB) - 21 pitches in four PAs
Pitch Count Punk: Pence (2x4) - 9 pitches in four PAs
Man of the Match: Roy Oswalt. Pitched well enough in his first start since returning from his parents' home in Mississippi. The Astros just can't support him.
Goat of the Game: Pedro Feliz. 0x4, with a K, and ended three innings, including one on a GIDP.
