Things were not looking good, no they weren't. Anibal Sanchez was doing what Anibal Sanchez does, apparently. The first time through the order, Sanchez held the Astros to 0H/0BB, 4K, two groundouts, two flyouts, and a bloop single to right courtesy of Aneury Rodriguez. The second time through the order, allowed two singles - one of them a pinch-hit single to Marwin Gonzalez.
It was that pinch-hit single to open the 6th that started the turn-around of this game. With Gonzalez on first, Altuve reached on an infield single, Carlos Lee walked, and with two outs, Gonzalez and Altuve scored on Omar Infante's throwing error, tying the game at 2-2.
Justin Maxwell singled and Jordan Schafer walked in the 7th, but Altuve lined out to end the threat. Randy Choate came in to effectively face Jed Lowrie in the 8th, and Ryan Webb got Carlos Lee to ground out to 3rd for the 2nd out. Travis Buck singled to right, and Brad Mills called upon Brian Bogusevic to pinch-hit for Wilton Lopez, who doubled to left, scoring Buck for the go-ahead run.
Aneury Rodriguez was quite impressive - only needing 78 pitches to get through six innings, and throwing first-pitch strikes to 14 of 22 batters faced. He allowed two earned runs, both on solo shots by Omar Infante and John Buck.
*In his last four appearances (3.1IP), Brandon Lyon has allowed 1H/0ER, 8K:0BB. Yeah, he's struck out eight of the last 11 batters he's faced.
*Jordan Schafer was 0x3 with a walk, and after an eight-game hit streak from April 22-30, Schafer is hitless in five May games, going 0x15 with 4BB.
*J.D. Martinez is having one hell of a time. From April 28 through last night's game, Martinez is 1x28, with 5K:4BB, and a J.R. Towlesian .043 BABIP.
*Heading into the final game of the nine-game homestand, the Astros have a chance to go 7-2. Even at 6-3, it would be the most successful 9+ game homestand since going 6-4 from Sept 9-19, 2010.
*Man of the Match: Brian Bogusevic, for providing the two-out, go-ahead RBI double; though Aneury Rodriguez deserves a tip of the cap.
*Goat of the Game: J.D. Martinez and Jordan Schafer combined for an 0x6, 5K:1BB night.
*Point At Which The Game Turned Favorable: Bogusevic's RBI double in the 8th.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
