Kyle Lohse (2-6, 3.84) vs Erik Bedard (2-3, 4.82)
Friggin' Hector Ambriz. Erik Bedard had been lights out all night, and the Astros were all lined up to secure the series with a 1-0 win. But it only took Hector Ambriz five pitches to undo Bedard's 7+ innings of strong work, and the result was that Milwaukee won 3-1 instead. Houston drops to 27-46 overall.
On the Mound:
*I hope that this is old news by now, but Erik Bedard is no longer the punchline that he was for the first six weeks of the season. He left the game tonight with one out in the 8th, having allowed only four singles and holding onto a 1-0 lead, but then... Ambriz. Erik's final line: 7.1 IP / 4 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 2 BB / 8 K.
*Hector Ambriz, on the other hand, is deserving of your scorn. First batter he faced (Rickie Weeks), he gave up a 2-run home run to put the Astros in the hole. And then, that didn't bury the Astros deep enough, so he had to give up another home run to Aramis Ramirez leading off the 9th. And then he hit a batter for good measure. 2 ER on 2 H (both HRs) in 0.2 IP for the blown save and the loss.
*Would this game have been different had Josh Fields received the first call instead of Ambriz? Fields K'd two while setting the Brewers down in order after coming in to mop up Hector's mess.
At the Plate:
*Houston's 10 hits tonight were their most since they had 14 on June 5 against Baltimore (the 6-HR game), but 0 for 6 team RISP and 8 team LOBsters meant it only resulted in one lonely run.
*Jose Altuve took offense to last night's Goat of the Game and did the most with the bat today, going 3 for 4 with 3 SB and scoring the Astros' only run.
*J.D. Martinez was 0 for 3 with 2 K, but got the lone RBI on a 1st inning sac fly.
*Ronny Cedeno had a multi-hit night, going 2 for 4 with a K.
*Brandon Barnes (K), Carlos Pena (K), Justin Maxwell (2 K), and Matt Dominguez each went 1 for 4.
*Jason Castro went 1 for 3 with 2 K and a BB, and now has a 6-game hitting streak.
Turning Point:
The furshlugginer 8th inning. Erik Bedard started the inning by issuing a walk to Josh Prince, who was then moved up to second on a sac bunt by Jordan Logan Schafer. With the tying run in scoring position, Bo Porter went to his bullpen and called in HECTOR FRIGGIN' AMBRIZ to face Rickie Weeks. Ambriz was nice enough make it look like he knew what he was doing, getting Weeks into an 0-2 hole before bouncing one slider in the dirt and then hanging the next one into the Crawford Boxes. Crap.
Man of the Match:
Erik Bedard. He's now got a 3.06 ERA since May 11 - better than Bud Norris (3.89) and second in the rotation only to Jordan Lyles' 2.96 over the same span.
Goat of the Game:
Hector Friggin' Ambriz. Chris Carter & Co. bailed him out back on June 12 against Seattle, or else this would have been his third loss in five appearances since June 9.
