Back from a 4-3 road trip the Astros got their home-stand off to a nice start by putting down the sinking Bucs. Hampton(5-5) looked sharp, allowing six base-runners over 7 IP to earn the win. It was also his fourth quality start out of his last five.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Jose Valverde, much maligned by this blog, struck out three in the ninth to earn his seventh save of the year. Just keep it up!
The hot offensive line of the night for Houston belonged to Miguel Tejada out of the two-hole:
AB 4 R 1 H 2 RBI 2 BB 0
Just 3.5 games back of first place, the Astros (40-41) are in a position to make hay going into the All-Star break. They have two more against the 37-46 Pirates before welcoming the reeling 24-56 Nationals to Minute Maid for a four-game set. Sweeping the two worst teams in baseball would be nice, but a 5-2 run and their first peek over the .500-mark for the season is the least I'm expecting.
All-Stars!
Miguel Tejada and Hunter Pence were named to the All-Star team over the weekend. The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice weighs in on what makes these Astros worthy.
Lance Berkman has been a perennial representative for Houston at the All-Star game, but not this year. Justice writes in his blog that the Big Puma is still producing and may just be heating up for a big second half.
2 comments:
If I were the Astros, I would want to be on A LOT of road trips, seeing how all of Texas is sweltering in 100-degree plus heat this month...
True, but despite the heat, though, hosting Pittsburgh and Washington is a cool prospect going into the break.
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