Why They Lost
Because while it's debatable if there is such a thing as being "clutch," we know the Astros - every single one of them - are not. They outhit the Diamondbacks 8-5, but couldn't push a run across. The eight hits came from eight different spots in the lineup, but they were 0x7 w/RISP.
Astros Pitching
| Name | IP | H/ER | K:BB | Pit-Str | CS/SS |
| Oswalt | 7 | 5/1 | 8:3 | 114-69 (60.5%) | 27/12 |
| Lyon | 1 | 0/0 | 0:0 | 12-8 (66.7%) | 3/0 |
| Lindstrom | 1 | 0/0 | 0:0 | 6-5 (83.3%) | 1/1 |
Roy has thrown six starts, all of them quality. He has gone 7IP in each of his last four starts, and his record is 2-4, namely because the Astros have scored a total of 14 runs in his six starts.
Astros hitting
The lack of hitting w/RISP is well-documented, but let's document it again, in the hopes of making someone feel bad about themselves, and start their day in a bad mood:
1st inning - Bourn on second, no outs:
Keppinger: grounds out to second (Bourn to third)
Lee: walks
Berkman: strikes out swinging
Pence: grounds out to pitcher
That's four ABs w/RISP, and no runs.
2nd inning - Quintero on second, two outs:
Bourn - grounds out to short
4th inning - Feliz on second, two outs:
Quintero - Intentionally walks
Oswalt: flies out to right
7th inning - Matsui on second, one out:
Keppinger: grounds out to third
Lee: grounds out to short
In fact, after Matsui's single to lead off the 7th, the next nine Astros were retired in order to end the game.
And the Law Offices of Lee, Berkman, and Pence are now hitting .198, .200, and .215, respectively.
We should point out, just to have something to talk about, that Quintero and Feliz joined up on a pretty sweet pickoff of Chris Young. Watch the highlights to see it.
Pitch Count Hero: Lee (1x3, BB) - 19 pitches in four PAs
Pitch Count Punk: Quintero (1x2, BB) - 11 pitches in three PAs
Man of the Match: Roy. Hands down. If he walked in to Ed Wade's office, dropped trou, took a crap on his desk, and demanded a trade to St. Louis, I don't know that I could blame him.
Goat of the Game: So many to choose from! We could go with Keppinger, who was 0x2 w/RISP and 0x4 on the day. We could go with Berkman, who was 0x4 with 2Ks, and is now hitting .200. We could go with Pence, who got a hit, but was then caught stealing second. Let's go with Berkman, who ended the inning twice.
