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)

The Houston Astros picked up a 2-1 victory of the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday evening.  It was a big win for the Astros who improved their record to 6-9 on the season.

Roy Oswalt pitched a great game as he pitched seven inning and only gave up five hits and one earned run.  Oswalt struck out four batters and walked two.

Wesley Wright pitched a scoreless eigth inning and Doug Brocail pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his first save of the season.

Michael Bourn and Carlos Lee both and one RBI for the Astros.  It was a slow night at the plate for the Astros, it was a good thing that Oswalt was on top of his game and held the Phillies to only one run.

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The Houston Astros pitching staff couldn’t hold down Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night as the Cardinals went on to win 6-4.

Pujols hit two homeruns off Astros pitching and also had a RBI single in the game.  All that came after he and Bradon Backe got into a heated argument about Pujols slide in the previous game.  I don’t think Pujols is the kind of guy that you want to piss off before a game!

Starting pitcher Chris Sampson has had flu-like symptoms all week and only lasted four innings took the loss for the Astros. He allowed six hits and three runs and said he was drained after those four innings.  Brian Moehler, Dave Borkowski, and Oscar Villarreal all pitched in relief and all gave up one earned run.

Michael Bourn, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, and Mark Loretta each had one RBI for the Astros.

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