I don't know about y'all, but I'm getting pretty sick and freaking tired of losing extra-inning games to the Marlins.
*Since the beginning of the 2011 season, the Astros are 5-16 in extra-inning games. And the last time the Astros lost three extra-inning games in a season to one opponent, was 2007, when they went 0-3 in extras against Pittsburgh.
*The Marlins scored in the top of the 1st when a leadoff walk came back to bite Lucas Harrell on a Jed Lowrie error that scored Jose Reyes. Harrell would go on to walk three batters in the inning - the first time that had happened since Lucas Harrell's major-league debut, on July 30, 2010, when Harrell walked three A's in the 2nd inning.
*The Astros tied it up in the bottom half of the inning, with Jordan Schafer doubling to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a throwing error by catcher John Buck. Schafer was 4x5 with two doubles, accounting for half of the Astros' hits, and raising his OPS by 61 points in one night. Prior to his two doubles, Schafer only had three extra-base hits on the season. But the four hits were not a career high. On June 16, 2011, Schafer went 5x6 in a 10-inning game for the Braves against the Mets. It's his 3rd 4+ hit game of his career.
*The Astros took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd on a Chris Johnson homer to the Crawford Boxes. Okay, in 22 April games, Chris Johnson was hitting .279/.311/.372. In seven May games, Johnson is hitting .346/.393/.808, with four homers. Johnson also walked twice in the game, the first time in his career that's ever happened.
*In the top of the 4th, Giancarlo Stanton led off the inning with a single, Emilio Bonifacio singled to put him on 2nd, John Buck singled to score Stanton, and Reyes scored Bonifacio for the 3-2 Marlins lead. In six innings against Harrell, the lead-off hitter got on base twice, and scored runs in both of those instances.
*From the 5th-9th innings, Josh Johnson and Edward Mujica mowed down eleven straight batters before Carlos Lee - out of nowhere - tripled on a soft hit to right field with one out in the 9th inning. He needed six breathing treatments* when he returned to the dugout, the most breathing treatments since he last tripled on July 6, 2011**.
*Travis Buck struck out swinging as the next batter up, and Chris Johnson drew a walk. Johnson has drawn five walks now this season, and two of them have been with two outs in the 9th inning (last: April 28 at Cincinnati, walked by Aroldis Chapman). 18 of Johnson's 36 career walks (not a typo) have come in the 7th inning or later.
*And then Brian Bogusevic came up and did what he does, providing the game-tying hit with a 1-2 count with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. It was just his 2nd hit this season (19 PAs) with a 1-2 count.
*The two teams traded chances in the 10th, with the Marlins putting Hanley Ramirez on 2nd with no outs (thanks to another Jed Lowrie error), but Myers got the next three batters to end the threat. And Jordan Schafer was caught stealing for the fourth time this season, tying a career high, 29 games into the season.
*Both teams also got the leadoff runner on base in the 11th, and did nothing with it. So it went to the 12th, where the Marlins struck. With David Carpenter pitching, Logan Morrison singled to leadoff the inning, Giancarlo Stanton walked. Greg Dobbs grounded into a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners, and Emilio Bonifacio struck out swinging on four pitches. With two outs, Carpenter walked John Buck to load the bases, and Omar F. Infante singled in Morrison and Dobbs to make it 5-3. Carpenter has walked seven batters in 7.1IP at Minute Maid Park. He also has pitched in two extra-inning games (2.2IP), and has allowed 6H/3ER, 3K:6BB.
*And the Astros went quietly into the night, going 3-up, 3-down with J.A. Happ striking out looking to end the game. Wait, what? Yes. J.A. Happ struck out looking to make the final out of the game. What the hell? Oh yeah, Carlos Lee was so winded after running his 270 feet in the 9th that Marwin Gonzalez came in to pinch-run for him, because they weren't sure if Lee would be able to make it that final 90 feet. Gonzalez did, and he was out of the game. Mills had to use Matt Downs, Justin Maxwell, and J.D. Martinez off the bench, so the only person available was J.A. Happ. We won't pick nits about which pitcher would have been a better choice in that spot, but it sucks that they had to burn Gonzalez.
*Man of the Match: Jordan Schafer. Huge, much needed night. Thought about going with Wilton Lopez, who made the Lo Viste sign towards the Marlins dugout, and really pissed everybody off. And anytime the Marlins are pissed off, that's fine with me.
*Goat of the Game: David Carpenter.
*Turning Point: Obviously the top of the 12th, when the Marlins got two runs, but when Carpenter walked John Buck with two outs to prolong the inning, it allowed Omar Infante to get his two-run single.
* = Unverified/False
** = Also unverified and/or false
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
