The Houston Astros tried to come back and avoid the three game sweep but they were unable to and lost to the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 7-5.  It was the eighth straight loss for the Astros as they are really struggling at this point in the season and it doesn’t look like anything is going to turn around soon.

Shawn Chacon only lasted five innings on the night as he gave up eight hits and six earned runs.  Chacon had problems locating his pitches as he gave up four walks and two home runs in the game.  With the loss against the Orioles, Chacon is now 2-3 on the season.

Tim Byrdak threw the sixth and seventh inning and gave up one run in relief.  Oscar Villarreal was finally able to come in and pitch a scoreless inning in the eighth for the Astros.

Miguel Tejada and Hunter Pence both hit solo home runs in the game.  Tejada ended up leading the team with two rbi in the game.  Kaz Matsui, Lance Berkman, and Pence all chipped in with one rbi each.

The Astros will now travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays.  The Astros better bring their “A” game because the Rays just got done sweeping the red hot Chicago Cubs in a three game series.

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Carlos Lee had a two run double in the eighth inning to give the Houston Astros the lead and finished with three RBI while Lance Berkman went 5-5 with one RBI and the Astros defeated the Washington Nationals 6-5.

Without Lee’s and Berkman’s at bats, the Astros would have more the likely lost to the Nationals who whit three home runs off of Astros pitchers.  Hunter Pence also had one RBI to help out the Astros who improved to 17-16 on the season.

Starting pitcher Shawn Chacon pitched seven inning and gave up eight hits and four runs to get the no decision.  Chacon did give up home runs to Nick Johnson and Aaron Boone.  Doug Brocail ended up getting the win after pitching one inning and even giving up a home run to Austin Kearns.  Jose Valverde pitched the ninth inning to get his seventh save of the season.  The pitching staff got very lucky as all three home runs by the Nationals were solo home runs.  The came would have been much different if any runners would have been on base.

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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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The Houston Astros had the St. Louis Cardinals right where they wanted them.  That was until Troy Glaus came to the plate in the 8th inning and hit a double that that scored two runs to give the Cardinals the 5-3 win.

Geoff Geary took the loss for the Astros as he gave up the Glaus double.  Starting pitcher Shawn Chacon pitched six innings and gave up three earned runs in the no decision.

Miguel Tejada had both RBI’s for the Astros. He doubled in the 3rd inning and scored Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee.  The Astros didn’t have much offense other then Tejada tonight.

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The Houston Astros were on the losing side of a one run game on Thursday as they lost to the San Deigo Padres 3-2.  The Astros record is now 1-3 after the four game series with the Padres.

Oscar Villarreal picked up the loss for the Astros as he gave up an earned run in the bottom of the 7th inning.  Starter  Shawn Chacon pitched six innings while giving up two earned runs.

It was the lack of offense that hurt the Astros on Thursday however.  You would think they could score more then two runs off of Randy Wolf.  But Wolf held down the Astros for six innings and then let the bullpen take over.

Mark Loretta and J.R. Towels had an RBI each for the Astros.

The Astros now travel to Chicago to take on the Chicago Cubs in a weekend series.

The Houston Astros are needing their verteran pitchers to step up this season if the Astros are going to make a run at the post season.  Shawn Chacon and Brad Backe got off to a good start on Sunday as they both pitched pretty good for the Astros.

Backe pitched two scoreless innings against Atlanta, while Chacon gave an encouraging performance in a two-inning stint against Washington.

I like the Astros chances if Chacon and Backe can with 12-13 games each.  I really think the Astros will score enough runs to compete, it is just if the pitching staff can step up and get the team into the playoffs.

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