This one's a tough one to deal with, taking a three-run lead into the bottom of the 9th, and losing 6-5.
*The loss marks the third time the Astros have entered the 9th inning with the lead, and still lost the game (40-3).
*Wandy pitched a gem, throwing 6.1IP, 8H/2R (1ER), 7K:0BB, WP. He threw 70 of his 107 pitches for strikes.
*Wandy, in his first 14 starts of 2010: 75.1IP, 95H/59ER, 52K:34BB. 6.09 ERA/1.71 WHIP. .359 BABIP, 60% of his pitches for strikes.
*Wandy, in his last eight starts: 53.1IP, 41H/11ER, 50K:10BB. 1.86 ERA/0.96 WHUP. .262 BABIP, 66% of his pitches for strikes.
*Matt Lindstrom will be your obvious choice for the Goat, after he allowed 3H/4ER, 0K:2BB in 0.1IP, and getting the blown save and the loss. The four runs are obviously the most he has allowed this season. Lindstrom has allowed runs in eight of those appearances, and has five blown saves on the season.
*The curious decision here - although this is a really easy criticism the next morning - was to bring in Lindstrom to begin with. Brandon Lyon had just thrown 16 pitches in the 8th, and was facing the 7-8-9 spots in the lineup for the 9th. Still, Lindstrom hadn't thrown since August 2, so he should have been good and rested. I'm not going to criticize bringing in your closer, but it should still be highlighted.
*The Astros' offense did fine, as long as runners weren't on 2nd or 3rd. A 3x15 night w/RISP is hard to overcome. Castro was 0x3, Wallace was 0x2, and Pence, Lee, and Johnson had your only hits w/RISP.
*Geoff Blum had a good night in his first ML start since coming off the DL, going 3x5 with two runs scored. Wallace was 1x4 with a walk and an RBI, and Chris Johnson was 2x5 with an RBI.
*Chris Johnson had his eighth multi-hit game in his last 13 games. And since getting called up in June, Johnson is hitting .373/.404/.595 with 17 extra-base hits. In his 35 games since the call-up, the Astros are 19-16.
*Carlos Lee was 2x5, for his third multi-hit game in his last four. Since July 23, Lee is hitting .306/.370/.469 with a .302 BABIP.
*Pitch Count Hero: Jeff Keppinger (1x3, 2BB) - 25 pitches in five PAs.
*Pitch Count Punk: Geoff Blum (3x5) - 14 pitches in five PAs.
*Man of the Match: Wandy Rodriguez
*Goat of the Game: Matt Lindstrom
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
