Familiar spot yields familiar result

Luke Scott doubled in a pair of runs in the eighth inning, plating a pair of runs, as the Astros held off the Reds, 7-5. Wandy was superb, going seven innings, striking out eight, while surrendering only two runs. Scoring was plentiful in the first- Ken Griffey, Jr homered with two outs in the top of the inning, but the Astros stormed back with three of their own in the bottom half, with Carlos and Hunter Pence collecting the RBI’s. However, the night’s turning point came in the eighth. With Chad Qualls on in relief, the Reds scored three runs of their own. If there were ever a sign that this team may be on to something, as in not playing like puppies with their tails between their legs, the Astros responded in kind. After Scott’s double, Craig collected his first hit of the game, a double, and put the Astros up by the margin they would eventually win by. Wheels came in after a bit of trouble leading off the inning, induced a clutch double play by Griffey, Jr. to close her out.

Dome Doggers and Astros fans alike should be pleased with this game for a number of reasons. Wandy came in and pitched well for the second straight appearance after getting roughed up against the Brewers a couple starts ago. He has struck out at least seven batters in each of his past three starts, including a career high eight tonight. What’s more is the consistency that we’ve seen out of him. Five out of his six starts this year have been quality outings. He is yet to record a victory, but then again, Roger won only 13 games in ’05 when he had a 1.87! So, it’s the consistency that is most important at this point.

Carlos Lee is also getting back into the swing of things, literally!! Horrible puns aside, he went three for four at the plate with two runs batted in. This is significant in that he hadn’t collected an RBI since April 28th. Less than a week ago, yes, but with this team struggling to score runs, our 100 million dollar man needed to step up, and, mercifully, he did. When Carlos contributes at the plate, everyone else can settle down into their roles. The Astros press less, and actually give themselves a decent chance to win baseball games. We here at Dome Dog’s are prone to trying to make Astros’ theorems and we have a few (ie. The Astros success in inversely proportional the my GPA and the Astros success in crucial situations is inversely proportional to the amount of clothing Stephen wears…you should have been there for Burke’s walk off in ’05) so we are now postulating a new theorem: The Astros success is directly proportional the amount of toy pony riding in the dug out.

With that we leave you with this: We’re on a winning streak.

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