Well, now. 3-1 turned into 3-3, with last night's 6-3 loss to the Braves.
*Of course, the Astros are 1-1 in rubber match games in 2012.
*The Astros have 10+ hits in four of their six games, including their last three. They had streaks of 3+ games with 10+ hits eight times in 2011.
*Wandy was all over the place last night. Two wild pitches (he had five in all of 2011), first-pitch strikes to just 13 of 24 batters faced. He has faced 54 batters this season, and thrown first-pitch strikes to 31 of them (57.4%).
*It all sort of fell apart in the 4th inning. Chipper Jones singled, Dan Uggla (whom we dubbed "Snuggla" due to his skinny clothes), grounded to shortstop - whereupon Marwin Gonzalez couldn't pick the ball. Jason Heyward singled to right. David Ross doubled over Schafer's head, scoring Jones and Snuggla. Jack Wilson bunted to Wandy, scoring Hheyward. Randall Delgado bunted to Wandy, but Wandy couldn't pick up the ball. Bourn lined out, Wandy walked Prado on four pitches, and Freddy Freeman finally struck out swinging to end the inning with the bases loaded.
*This was the 2nd time this season the Astros have allowed three runs in one inning. And hey, what do you know, even though they were unearned runs, the first time came on Opening Day against Colorado with Wandy pitching.
*Rhiner Cruz had a strong appearance, throwing 2IP, and allowing 2H/0ER, 2K:0BB; Fernando Rodriguez gave up an earned run; Wesley Wright allowed two baserunners and an unearned run. So that's two unearned runs, thanks to four errors by the Astros (Marwin, Wandy, Buck, Maxwell). Yeah, that's two outfield errors.
*Starters have allowed 16 runs (12 earned) in 36.1IP (2.97 ERA) this season. The bullpen has allowed 9 runs (7 earned) in 17.2IP (3.57 ERA). Collectively, 20 of the 73 batters the bullpen has faced have reached base.
*The Astros had the bases loaded for four PAs last night and went 0x3 with a walk. Marwin Gonzalez had the bases loaded in the 4th, and grounded out to end the inning. In the 7th, the Astros - down 4-2 - had the bases loaded with one out. J.D. Martinez hit the ball to shallow right, Carlos Lee walked to score a run, and Matt Downs went after the first-pitch and promptly grounded out to end the inning.
*In 7PAs with the bases loaded this season, the Astros are 0x5 with a sac fly and a walk.
*Jordan Schafer was 2x4 with a walk, Jose Altuve was 2x4, J.D. Martinez was 2x4 with his 2nd homer and a walk. So you're top three in the lineup got on base eight times in 15 plate appearances, and scored two runs.
*Chris Johnson has a five-game hit streak, going 8x21 with 4Ks, after a 2x4 night last night.
*Jason Castro was 0x2 with a walk, extending his season-opening hit-less streak to 14 PAs - giong 0x11 with 3BBs. He has only hit one ball to the outfield so far.
*Man of the Match: This could be debated, but I'm going with J.D. Martinez. 2x4, walk, homer.
*Goat of the Game: Wandy Rodriguez. That 4th inning just got away from him - like so many big innings. Of the seven runs for which Wandy has been on the mound, six of them have come in one inning.
*Turning Point: You could make a strong case that it was Altuve getting "picked off" 2nd to end the inning. The replays I saw looked like Jack Wilson tagged his own foot, and not Altuve. But that wasn't the last chance the Astros had - so it has to be the bottom of the 7th. The Astros had three chances with the bases loaded to break this game open, and scored one run. Matt Downs...take a pitch one time.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
