Friday, April 23, 2004
Swept Away
A week after taking three games from the Cardinals in St. Louis, Houston manages to return the favor.
St. Louis squeaked out a 2-1 extra-inning win last night to complete the three-game sweep.
I'm not going to put too much stock into an April series, but the Stros could have used that game last night. Getting swept is always tough, but getting swept by a team that you owned a week earlier, and in the process derailing the momentum it created, is tough to take.
The way they lost made it even tougher. Roy Oswalt followed up his three-hit shutout of Milwaukee with a good outing -- four hits and one run allowed in seven innings. Except for a couple of bad pitches in the fourth, he held St. Louis hitters in check all night. But since the Astros bats went cold, Roy O's performance went for naught.
There's certainly no shame in losing to St. Louis; that lineup is nothing short of amazing. With the exception of maybe Marlon Anderson (who doubled last night), the 1-7 spots have no weak links. But you don't expect Jason Marquis to limit the high-powered Houston offense to one run off of six hits.
The worst thing is that Houston heads to Colorado now, and they don't traditionally fare well in the mountains. But with Duckworth, Clemens and Miller slotted to pitch (and a snowstorm threatening to shut down today's game, if not more), maybe the guys can get back to winning.
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St. Louis squeaked out a 2-1 extra-inning win last night to complete the three-game sweep.
I'm not going to put too much stock into an April series, but the Stros could have used that game last night. Getting swept is always tough, but getting swept by a team that you owned a week earlier, and in the process derailing the momentum it created, is tough to take.
The way they lost made it even tougher. Roy Oswalt followed up his three-hit shutout of Milwaukee with a good outing -- four hits and one run allowed in seven innings. Except for a couple of bad pitches in the fourth, he held St. Louis hitters in check all night. But since the Astros bats went cold, Roy O's performance went for naught.
There's certainly no shame in losing to St. Louis; that lineup is nothing short of amazing. With the exception of maybe Marlon Anderson (who doubled last night), the 1-7 spots have no weak links. But you don't expect Jason Marquis to limit the high-powered Houston offense to one run off of six hits.
The worst thing is that Houston heads to Colorado now, and they don't traditionally fare well in the mountains. But with Duckworth, Clemens and Miller slotted to pitch (and a snowstorm threatening to shut down today's game, if not more), maybe the guys can get back to winning.
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