Lance Lynn (16-7, 3.79) vs Fernando Abad (0-5, 5.11)
So... Scott Moore is still hot. Jed Lowrie did alright, too. The Astros managed slightly more offense today than yesterday afternoon. And if they were gonna play poorly, at least there were fewer people than ever at MMP to witness the disappointment. That was about all the good news there was to glean from tonight's 6-1 loss to St. Louis. Houston drops to 50-104 with 8 games left to go... oh, but they locked up another #1 overall pick!
*Fernando Abad just can't win. Literally. He's now made six starts in the big leagues, and he's been charged with the loss in all six. Adding injury to insult, he left after just five outs tonight with a right oblique strain, so his abbreviated line looked like this: 1.2 IP / 0 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 1 BB / 2 K. Fernando Rodriguez came in after the injury, as he did for Edgar Gonzalez on Friday night, but he wasn't nearly so sharp today, putting up a 4.1 IP / 7 H / 3 R / 3 ER / 0 BB / 5 K line with two home runs allowed. Jose Valdez let in two more runs (one unearned) in his inning, then Chuckie Fick and Rhiner Cruz tossed a scoreless inning apiece to finish up.
Observations:
*For the second straight night, only Scott Moore stood between the Astros and getting shutout, as he went 2 for 4 with a RBI single in the 2nd.
*Jed Lowrie likewise went 2 for 4, including a double, but no one could get him home.
*Jason Castro went 0 for 4 with 3 K and one circus-catch robbery by John Jay, but he still scored the only Astros run as he reached on a Lance Lynn wild pitch ending one of those strikeouts.
*Marwin Gonzalez singled in his only AB before leaving with a left ankle sprain.
*Brandon Laird had Houston's only other hit tonight, going 1 for 4 with 2 K.
*Brett Wallace went 0 for 2, but he was the only Astro to work a walk tonight, which he did twice.
*Three errors didn't help the Houston cause tonight, though only one led to a run. Wallace, Laird, and Brian Bogusevic were the offenders, with Bogey's letting in the Cardinals' final run.
Turning Point:
The 2nd inning did Houston in tonight. Fernando Abad got the first two Cardinals out, but he walked Matt Carpenter next before leaving with his injury. Fernando Rodriguez came in, hoping to recreate his success from Friday night in this role, but St. Louis wouldn't have any of that. Daniel Descalso tripled home Carpenter, then Pete Kozma went yard to add on two more, burying the Astros early.
Man of the Match:
Scott Moore, again.
Goat of the Game:
Adding to pitchers that couldn't pitch and hitters that couldn't hit, we had fielders that couldn't field tonight, too. It's been a surprisingly good final month for the Astros, but this was just bad baseball.
