You wish Houston could have games like Sunday's first-half finale against the Washington Nationals all the time. I was pleased to see that Houston decided to stop wearing their glorified batting practice road jerseys and go with the grays instead, but I digress.
On Sunday, Houston defeated The Team Formerly Known As the Montreal Expos 5-0. And what a game it was. 'Stros starter pitched seven innings, allowing five hits, zero earned runs, four walks and five strikeouts. Chris Sampson, the reliever, pitched two perfect innings to close it out. What's more, Backe (who's 6-9 with a 4.76 ERA) had a great game at the plate, going 2-3 (including a double) with two runs scored. Backe's batting average on the season is now .345!
I suppose the game has to be put into perspective. Houston at 44-51 is in last place in the NL Central behind the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates and 13 games behind the Chicago Cubs. Not only does Houston not have the worst record in baseball, but they have the second-best record of all the last-place teams (the AL East's Baltimore Orioles are at 45-48).
Still, this win isn't worth getting too excited over. True, Houston took 2 of 3 from the Nats, but Houston was shut out 10-0 on Friday night and edged out Washington 6-4 on Saturday. The Nationals, it should be noted, at 36-60 have the worst record in the MLB.
Second half hopes? Great pitching and clutch hitting. But even then I'm not optimistic. Too much is broken and too much time is required to fix it. I'd say Houston will finish this season somewhere around 75-87. Don't be surprised if Houston trades someone huge (like Roy Oswalt) in return for minor leaguers; Houston's farm system is in notorious need of being filled.
