At least we don't have to blame the bullpen, this one was all on The Aneurysm. Mets win, 7-4.
*Since the April 30/May 1 games against Milwaukee, where the pitching staff allowed one run total, the Astros have allowed 5+ runs in seven of 12 games.
*The Astros are 1-6 in rubber matches this season.
*Aneury threw 5IP, 5H/7R (5ER), 2K:4BB, and got the Mets to swing and miss just six times in his 90 pitches.
*So that's three starts for The Aneurysm, and he's allowed 14H/10ER, 8K:6BB, 3HR in 15IP. Things were going pretty well - he got 12 of the first 13 batters he faced (a Josh Thole walk in the 1st was the only blemish). And then Carlos Lee made an error at 1st, and it seemed to rattle Rodriguez. Four of the next five batters reached base, and the Astros saw a 2-0 lead turn into a 4-2 deficit in the 5th, and before Aneury could get an out in the 6th, Jason Turner had hit a 3-run shot to make it a 7-2 Mets lead with Aneury's day done.
*But hey, the bullpen of Abad, Del Rosario, Escalona, and Valdez held the Mets to 0H/0ER, 2K:2BB in 4IP of relief.
*Valdez threw two scoreless IPs, with 1K:1BB. His ERA is still over 7.00, but in his last 4IP (two appearances), he's allowed 1H/0ER, 4K:1BB.
*The Astros were 2x13 w/RISP, and left ten men on base.
*Michael Bourn was 2x5 with his first CS of the season (where he just may have been safe). That's a four-game hit streak for Bourn, with him going 7x19, and two hits in five of his last ten games.
*Bill Hall was 2x4 with a double (and 2K), he's got four hits - two for extra-bases - in his last eight ABs.
*And for all the crap we talked about Jason Michaels yesterday morning, he went out and doubled his hit total, going 2x4 with two doubles and an RBI, raising his batting average from .100 to .167.
*J.R. Towles was 0x5 hitting in the #2 spot. After hitting .364 in April, Towles has just one hit in 20 ABs in May, for an .050 average - and is hitless in his last 19 PAs.
*Clint Barmes hit his 1st homer as an Astro, in the 6th inning off Taylor Buchholz. He also drew two walks on the day.
*The Astros had six extra-base hits (five doubles, one homer), which is the exact same number they had on Saturday. That's the most extra-bases in consecutive games since June 24/25, 2010, when they got 13 against the Giants and Rangers.
*Man of the Match: Clint Barmes!
*Goat of the Game: J.R. Towles. 0x5, and a bone-headed throw to 2nd with Jason Pridie on 3rd, who just kind of walked home in the 5th.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
