Beam Me Out, Scotty

Luke Scott came into his sixth inning at bat against Reds starter Bronson Arroyo without a hit in his first two at-bats. He would make up for lost time, by knocking a solo shot into the right field stands, cutting the Reds lead to 6-2, a lead they eventually lost altogether. The Astros completed a two game sweep of Cincinnati, beating them 8-6.

Before that home run, however, the game looked all but lost. Arroyo tossed a nice game, his line totaling seven innings, five hits and two earned runs. He recorded 12 fly-ball outs, and it seemed like 10 of them were can of corn pop-ups. That being said, Woody did not have such an easy time of it, as he gave up six runs on seven hits in six innings of work. In his four starts as an Astro, he has recorded only one quality start. His pitches were being left in the zone all evening, and when his fast-ball is topping out at only 86 mph, fans in the bleachers had better get ready.

He was bailed out of another loss by the efforts of his bats, starting with a pinch hitting future Hall of Famer. Craig Biggio led off the inning with a walk against reliever and former Astro Kirk Saarloos. After a Chris Burke strikeout, Mark Loretta followed with a single to right. A Lance Bekman single scored Biggio, and Carlos Lee proceeded to hit a grounder in the hole at short-stop. Alex Gonzalez fumbled the ball, allowing Lee to reach and set the stage for Luke Scott. Scott had a nice battle with Reds closer David Weathers and then finished it off with a bases clearing double to the gap in right. Loretta, Berkman, and El Caballo scored on the play knotting the score at 6 apiece. With Scott advancing to third on the throw to the plate, Morgan Ensberg put the Astros ahead with a sacrifice fly.

From there, the usual bullpen suspects of Trever Miller, Chad Qualls and Dan Wheeler held Cincinnati in check. Jason Lane added the piece de resistance, homering in the ninth to cap the scoring for the evening. Wheels saved it, Lidge won it.

Oh yea! Lost in all of the goings on of the eighth inning, Brad Lidge pitched the seventh inning, striking out one and inducing a double play immediately after giving up a single to Adam Dunn. Just a week ago, we criticized and extrapolated upon the inabilities of Brad to get out of jams. He did so tonight, and lo and behold, the Astros took advantage. One good appearance does not a season make. Despite that fact, Lidge can make Phil Garner and Tim Purpura look a lot smarter by pitching like he’s capable of. So far, so good.

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