RECAP: Just a day after Astros closer Jose Valverde made a gutsy, nail-biting save, Doug Brocail got in on the dramatics. The Phillies loaded the bases with only one out in the top of the 9th inning, and defensive replacement Darin Erstad saved the day by catching a deep fly ball and making a spectacular throw to home to complete a game-ending double play, giving Houston a 4-3 win. Starter Brian Moehler pitched very well, allowing just two earned runs in his six innings of work. Reliever Tim Byrdak pitched another inning and a third of scoreless baseball, bringing his impressive streak up to 13 consecutive scoreless frames.

Michael Bourn served as an igniter, knocking a single and a double, stealing a base and scoring a run both times he got on. Lance Berkman failed to record a hit, but walked three times to help the team’s cause.  Carlos Lee stepped up and had the biggest night, going 2-for-4 and driving in three of Houston’s four runs. Houston’s other run came on Mark Loretta’s pinch-hit RBI single, which turned out to be the winning run. Ty Wigginton continued to smoke the ball as well, chipping in with a single, a double and a walk.

THOUGHTS: The Astros are getting away with a lot of mistakes right now. Despite winning the games, they’ve been leaving too many runners on base. They’ll need to work on stringing hits together if they want to have a shot at taking the final game of the series against the dominant Cole Hamels.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Lee; a single, a double, 3 RBIs and some impressive glove work.

ASTROS RECORD: 29-22 (.569)

RECAP: Brandon Backe got the call to start tonight’s game and didn’t disappoint the sellout crowd, tossing 7 and 1/3rd excellent innings to pick up his fourth win of the year. Backe dominated the powerful Phillies lineup, striking out six while walking only one. The one run he gave up came off a solo homer from Pat Burrell early in the game. Doug Brocail relieved Backe in the 8th inning, getting two key outs while working his way through the Phillies most dangerous hitters to hold Philadelphia scoreless that inning. Astros closer Jose Valverde entered the game in the 9th inning and, in a frightening moment, was struck on the side of his face by a liner off Pedro Feliz’s bat. Valverde was down for several minutes but stood up and, amazingly, stayed in to finish the game. He gave up two earned runs, one due to the liner he took to the face, but induced a fly ball to center to nail down the save, giving the Astros a hard-fought 4-3 win.

At the plate, Ty Wigginton had his second multi-hit game in a row, knocking a single and a double. J.R. Towels recorded his first hit of the series and later scored on a Michael Bourn single. Lance Berkman ripped a triple into the right-field corner and scored on a sac-fly off the bat of Carlos Lee. While Backe contributed at the plate with an infield single and a sacrifice bunt, the night’s biggest offensive star was Hunter Pence, who smacked a pair of homers, one to far right field and the second a titanic blast that banged off the facade over the Landry’s Crawford Boxes in left field.

THOUGHTS: The Astros combined stellar pitching with timely hits and aggressive base running to take this second game. Seeing Bourn and Towels both record clutch hits late in the game is a great sign, keep your eyes on them in the coming games.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Brandon Backe; 7 & 1/3rd IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 hit at the plate.

ASTROS RECORD: 28-22 (.560)

RECAP: Roy Oswalt looked strong in the first inning, but things quickly fell apart for the Astros ace, and he ended his outing after the 6th inning, having surrendered five runs to the Phillies. The bullpen stepped in but gave up an additional pair of runs in their collective three innings of work, cementing the Phillies 7-5 victory. Wesley Wright gave up one of the runs and was credited with the loss, and Fernando Nieve was tagged for the final run the bullpen allowed. Tim Byrdak continued to impress, coming in with two runners on and only one out, and managed to get out of the inning with only one of the runners coming around to score. Former Astros closer Brad Lidge came in and pitched a scoreless 9th inning, nailing down his 12th save of the season.

Michael Bourn recorded yet another multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 and stealing his 21st base of the year, tying him for the Major League lead. Ty Wigginton had the best performance of the night, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Lance Berkman continued his hot-hitting ways as well, recording three hits in five at-bats and driving in a run.

THOUGHTS: The offense had a good showing tonight, but Oswalt and the bullpen both faltered. The Astros will have to pitch more effectively in the coming three games against the potent Phillies lineup if they’re going to do well in this series.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ty Wigginton; two singles, a double and two RBIs.

ASTROS RECORD: 27-22 (.551)

Hunter Pence hit a grand slam in the fourth inning that barely got over the wall as the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs by the score of 4-0 to even their three game series at 1-1.  It was nice to see the Astros beat the Cubs, but I still would have like to see some more runs scored in the game.

Pence’s four rbi’s were all the Astros ended up needing in the game.  It would have still been nice to see more runs put up on the scoreboard however.  The Astros just don’t seem to have that “knockout” punch that other teams do.

Chris Sampson did pick up the win after pitcher 7 2/3 innings and giving up seven hits and two runs.  Sampson did give up a two run home run to Aramis Ramirez but other then that he was pretty good as he picked up his third win of the season.

Doug Brocail pitched 1 1/3 innings before turning things over to Jose Valverde to pick up his 13th save of the season.

The Astros will try for the series win tomorrow as they face the Astros once again.  Astros Blog

The Houston Astros fell to the Chicago Cubs by the score of 7-2 on Monday night.  The loss put the Astros 3.5 games behind the Cubs in the division standings.

Brian Moehler pitched five innings while giving up seven hits and three runs to take the loss.  Moehler is now 1-1 on the season.  Tim Byrdak pitched a scoreless inning of relief after Moehler exited.  That is when the wheels came off for the Astros bullpen.  Fernando Nieve and Wesley Wright both gave up one run each before Dave Borkowski gave up two runs on a home run.

Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence each had a rbi in the game for the Astros.  Lee had a rbi single in the fourth inning while Pence had a rbi single in the fifth inning.  Other then that, the Astros struck out nine times in the game.

The Astros will need to have a better showing tomorrow unless they want to fall 4.5 games behind the Cubs.  Astros Blog

Lance Berkman connected for his 15th home run of the season in the ninth inning as the Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants by the score of 8-7.  Berkman has been on fire all season long so far and once again he came up big for the Astros.

Berkman wasn’t the only Astros player that hit a home run however as Carlos Lee And Darin Erstad both hit home runs in the eighth inning.  Lee hit a solo home run while Ertstad’s was a three run shot.

Berkman and Erstad both finished the game with three rbi.  Mark Loretta and Lee both had one rbi as well for the Astros.

Tim Byrdak picked up the win as he pitched in relief.  Byrdak is now 2-0 on the season.  Jose Valverde pitched the bottom of the ninth inning to get his 11th save of the season.  Chris Sampson started the game for the Astros and pitched six innings while giving up ten hits and seven runs.  Luckily for him the Astros came back so he didn’t take the loss in the game.

Are you a Astros fan that enjoys reading Astros message boards and blogs?  Well we just might a little work for you if you are interested.  Astros homeplate is currently looking for someone that would be interested blogging on the site and writing game recaps once the games are over.  If this sounds like fun, click the contact us link at the top of the site and send us an email letting us know.  Astros Blog

Miguel Tejada had three hits and two rbi to fuel the Houston Astros past the San Francisco Giants by the score of 6-3.  With the two hits, Tejada improved his batting average to .345 on the season.

Besides Tejada’s two rbi, Lance Berkman and Brad Ausmus both had two rbi as well.  Berkman and Ausmus both hit two run home runs in the game to account for their rbi’s.

Brian Moehler started the game for the Astros and tossed five innings.  He allowed eight hits and three runs to get the no decesion in the game.  Oscar Villarreal pitched 1/3 of an inning to record the win and Jose Valverde notched his tenth save of the season when he shut the Giants down in the ninth inning.

Giants Homeplate is currently seeking a Giants fan that would like to write game recaps for the games.  Recaps can be done right after the game is over or the next morning.  If you are interested be us the contact us link at the top of the site to email us.  Giants Blog

The Houston Astros lost to the San Francisco Giants by the score of 4-2 on Tuesday night.  It was Brad Backe who took the loss as he gave up four runs including a solo home run to the opposing teams pitcher.  Backe is now 2-5 on the season as he continues to struggle on the mound.

Carlos Lee provided both runs for the the Astros at the plate.  Lee singled in Miguel Tejada in the third inning and then he hit a solo home run in the eighth inning.  The Astros weren’t able to come up with a rally after the home run however.  Lance Berkman was cooled down a little bit as he went 1-3 in the game.

Astros Blog

The Houston Astros rallied to score all seven of their runs in the sixth through eighth inning as they defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-3.  The Astros pushed across three runs in the sixth and eighth innings and one run in the seventh inning. Two Giants errors really helped the astros out in the eighth inning as well.

Lance Berkman provided a two run shot to lead the Astros with two rbi.  Hunter Pence, Miguel Tejada, and Jose Cruz Jr. all had one rbi each in the game.

Roy Oswalt pitched eight innings to pick up the win for the Astros.  Oswalt gave up five hits and three runs while improving his record to 4-3 on the season.

Geoff Geary recorded the first two outs in the ninth inning before Jose Valverde was brought in to get the final out and pick up his ninth save of the season.

Astros Blog

The Houston Astros were going for the three game sweep against the Washington Nationals but they came up short on Thursday night.  The Nationals avoided the sweep as they beat the Astros 8-3.

Brandon Backe took the loss to drop to 2-4 on the season.  Backe pitched six innings and gave up six hits and four runs in the game.  Oscar Villarreal gave up three runs while Wesley Wright gave up another run.

Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence, and Ty Wigginton all had one rbi each for the Astros.  The Astros weren’t ablt to string together three or four hits in a row to have a big inning and that is why they lost the game in my opinion.  They just couldn’t come up with that big hit when they needed it as they left 21 runners on base.

Astros Blog