Why They Won
Some actual hitting with runners on base and Bud Norris' career day. It was only two hits, but Bud Norris got himself an RBI single (and yes, he now has more RBI than Carlos Lee, and has played in seven fewer games) and Keppinger had three RBI (hits that made the game 2-1, and 4-1). Bud Norris got a career-high nine strikeouts in the winning effort.
Astros Pitching
| Name | IP | H/ER | K:BB | Pit-Str | CS/SS |
| Norris | 5 | 4/0 (1R) | 9:3 | 106-67 (63.2%) | 15/18 |
| Sampson | 2 | 0/0 | 1:0 | 16-14 (87.5%) | 3/2 |
| Lyon | 1 | 1/0 | 1:0 | 10-7 (70%) | 1/1 |
| Lindstrom | 1 | 1/0 | 1:0 | 12-8 (66.7%) | 1/2 |
Do you know how close Norris was to this game getting away from him? Carlos Lee does, because he's the guy who dropped a fly ball to left with two outs. After Norris struck out Holliday and Rasmus, Felipe Lopez hit a fly ball to Lee, who dropped it. It would have been the third out. Instead, Yadier Molina walked and David Freese singled, scoring Lopez. Luckily Lohse struck out swinging to end the inning, but jeebus. If you're going to go all Holliday on us, you better be hitting .300, Lee.
Seven of Norris' strikeouts were swinging, and you could see from his 33 non-contact strikes that he was dealing today.
Astros hitting
Decent job with the bat today by the Astros, but they were still 9x34. Bourn, Keppinger, and Feliz combined for a 5x12, 4RBI day. Everyone else was 5x22, including yet another 0-fer from Carlos Lee. Pence is on the plus side of .100 (.121) with a single, but with Matsui's 0x4 day, the Astros' 4-5-6 hitters' OPS are: .187 (Lee), .333 (Pence), .190 (Matsui). And Pence was also picked off. Chris Johnson also got a hit, lowering his average to .286.
The Astros swung and missed at just six of the Cardinals' 130 pitches today. So...yay.
Pitch Count Hero: Chris Johnson (1x4) - 23 pitches in four PAs.
Pitch Count Punk: Carlos Lee (0x4) - 9 pitches in four PAs. What's sad about this, is that I just copied and pasted the preceding line from yesterday's recap.
Man of the Match: Hard to choose this one, but it's going to Bud Norris. For seven innings this was a 2-1 game, and Norris battled.
Goat of the Game: Carlos Lee. Can't do anything at the plate, and almost cost the Astros the game with the E7 in the 4th.
