Well the Astros pulled one out against the Pirates tonight after disappointing losses in the first two games of the series.

Before the game the Astros activated Kazuo Matsui from the disable list by designating Chad Reinke, who was only called up for barely a day.

Now on to the game…The night started off great with a three-run homerun from Geoff Blum, who was starting at shortstop to give Miguel Tejada a day off. Brad Ausmus provided an RBI single later in the first to make it 4-0 after the first.

Brian Moehler had a decent start, giving up 4 runs over 6 innings. Pitching through the 6th inning gave the Astros exactly what they needed. The Astros rewarded Moehler with 2 runs in the top of the 7th on a Hunter Pence groundout and a Kazuo Matsui double. This proved enough to give Moehler the victory, as he moves to  5-4 on the season.

Chris Sampson had another strong showing out of the bullpen, pitching two scoreless innings to get it to Jose Valverde for the save.

Another good sign from the game is Michael Bourn went 2-5. If he can start hitting with some consistency, this offense could really pick it up. When this team hits, there is no doubt we can contend. With our pitching. though, we need the offense to be rolling all the time, which is hard to expect.

Some other news is that Oscar Villareal does not want to accept his assignment to AAA Round Rock. The Astros have until Friday to either release or trade him. We’ll see what Ed Wade will do about that.

Everyone say a prayer to the basball gods that someone sends us an ace for our rotation…

The Houston Astros put up six quick runs on the Arizona Diamondbacks as they won 6-4 on Tuesday night.  It was a good thing they got to Diamondbacks starting pitcher Edgar Gonzalez early, because Max Scherzer then came in to make hia major league debut and struckout seven batters over 4.1 innings.

Geoff Blum had three RBI to lead the Astros at the plate.  Blum had a bases loaded double that cleared the bases in the third inning.  Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, and J.R. Towles all had one RBI each for the Astros as well.  Tejada’s and Lee’s RBI’s came in the first inning while Towles had a RBI double in the third inning.

Starting pitcher Jack Cassel pitched 4.2 innings to get the no decision.  Cassel didn’t have his best stuff as he gave up four hits and three runs in his four plus innings of action.  Doug Brocail ended up getting his first win of the season as he pitched in relief.  Jose Valverde recorded his fifth save of the season when he shut the door on the Diamondbacks in the ninth inning.

Great win for the Astros, as they beat a red hot Diamondbacks team.  Lets see if they can do it again on Wednesday.

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The Houston Astros gave up four runs in the eigth inning to let the San Diego Padres back in the game, but then they quickly came right back and got those four runs back and went onto beat the Padres 11-7 on Tuesday night.

Kaz Matsui had a single in the eigth inning that scored the go ahead runs as he finished with two RBI on the night.  Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and Hunter Pence all had two RBI as well.  Darin Erstad, Carlos Lee, and Geoff Blum all had one RBI.  Blum and Pence both hit long balls for the Astros.

On the mound for the Astros, Jose Valverde picked up the win to improve his record to 3-1 on the season.  It was nice to see Valverde not blow a game!  Brandon Backe had started the game and pitched seven innings while giving up four hits and three earned runs.  Doug Brocail sucked it up as he gave up four hits and four earned runs while only recording one out in relief of Backe.

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The Houston Astros defeated the San Diego Padres by a score of 10-3 at home on Monday putting the Astros at 8-12 for the season.  Both teams have been struggling to get wins this year but the Astros came out on top in the end on Monday night.

Lance Berkman hit his fifth home run of the year when he went deep in the first inning on a three run shot.  Miguel Tejada hit a two run home run in the second inning and finished with three RBI.  Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee, and Geoff Blum all got a RBI as well.

Roy Oswalt was the opening pitcher for the Astros throwing for seven innings and allowed six hits, three runs, and two walks.  This win puts him at 2-3 for the year. The Astros brought in Tim Byrdak and Oscar Villarreal to pitch the last two innings of the game.

The Astros will go up against The Padres again tonight and then will go on the road to face the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.

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The Houston Astros got their 7th much needed win of the year over the Colorado Rockies at home on Sunday.  The Astros used three runs in the eight inning to go ahead of the Rockies and eventually win.  The Astros are struggling to get their season going as they have started off 7-12 so far.

Shawn Chacon opened up the night for the Astros pitching six innings and giving up seven hits and three runs.  Dave Borkowski, Wesley Wright, and Jose Valverde finished out the night with Valverde getting his 2nd save for the year.

Geoff Blum, Miguel Tejada, and Kazuo Matsui all picked up RBIs for the Astros.  Matsui and Tejada both had two RBI each while Blum had one RBI.

The Houston Astros will now take on the Milwaukee Brewers for a three game series at home.  Will the Astros have what it takes to keep the wins coming in and maybe get them back into the top of the standings?

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The Houston Astros could not close out the Philadelphia Phillies in the 9th inning as the Phillies scored four runs and beat the Astros by the score of 4-3.

Jose Valverde blew the save and took the loss for the Astros as he gave up all four runs in the bottom of the 9th.  Pinch-hitter Chris Snelling hit a leadoff homer in the 9th, and Chase Utley was hit by a pitch.  After Ryan Howard struck out, Pat Burrell tied the score at 3 with a two-run homer to right.

Geoff Jenkins then struck out but made it to first as Brad Ausmus wasn’t able to control the ball.  Pedro Felix then hit the game winning double that score Jenkins from first base.  Just a terrible way to end the game for the Phillies.

Starting pitcher Shawn Chacon had pitched eight strong inning of scoreless baseball and was in line to pick up the win before all hell broke lose in the 9th inning.  Great performance by Chacon, hopefully next time he will be able to get the victory.

Miguel Tejada, Geoff Blum, and Hunter Pence had the three RBI’s for the Astros.

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