Baseball's long 162-game season indeed can be long, winding and mercurial. I, for one, feel stupid, having written the Astros off after the first few games when they played so terribly that they wouldn't have even been able to get a hit off of Paris Hilton, had she chosen to take a break from posing for pictures to throw some pitches.
Things are looking better as Houston concluded their three-game series with the Chicago Cubs with a 5-3 win on Wednesday. Houston's now at 27-21. The only thing bad I feel is that though I'm not Cubs fan, I'd really love to see them win a World Series. The last time the Cubs won the Fall Classic was in 2008. My grandfathers, who were both born in 1907 and would be 101 this October if still alive today, were only a year old.
Houston scored four runs in the third inning, three on a homer by Carlos Lee.
A few things bothered me about the game. First, Chicago scored three first-inning runs against the Astros, something many teams have a propensity to do against Houston. Second, Houston left eight men on base. Third, Houston catcher J.R. Towles had a hit but is still at .150 for the season. He did get a vote of confidence from Lance Berkman, so that's good.
What did I like? Houston's pitching. Sure, Shawn Chacon gave up those three runs in the first. But after that, smooth sailing: Chacon pitched seven innings and got what turned out to be his first win of the season, giving up five hits, three runs, one walk and five strikeouts. Doug Brocail pitched a perfect eighth inning for his eighth hold of the season and Jose Valverde--who earlier this season was seen getting lit up like a White House Christmas Tree--pitched a scoreless ninth, giving up a walk but striking out two. He has 14 saves on the season. As for Chacon's first win against no losses, he has obviously pitched in a lot of hard luck. It's the oil industry equivalent of investing $1 million to drill a hole and then finding the hole is dryer than Arizona. Chacon can now go back to being called Shawn instead of what his teammates were calling him--N.D. for "No Decision".*
Cubs pitcher Sean Gallagher (whom I presume is no relation to watermelon-smashing comedian and former California gubernatorial candidate Leo "Gallagher" Gallagher) gave up eight hits and five runs in 4.2 innings.
*Houston's willingness to make light of a teammate's struggle really impresses me. It shows the club is loose and that they realize you can't dwell too much on the past. Makes me think three things will help Houston this season: pitching, clutch hitting and--to borrow an Australian phrase I love--a "no worries" attitude.
Keywords: Astros, Cubs, Gallagher, Lance Berkman, Shawn Chacon, World Series
