Houston Astros : Roy Oswalt Earns 1st Win

Finally we get at least a small glimpse of the Roy Oswalt that we have missed so dearly.  I'm not going to say that Roy-O was the best that we've ever seen him... but he looked much closer tonight to the Roy-O of old than he has the past 3 games this season.  Roy had a pretty good curve ball tonight.  I specifically remember the curve ball he threw to Burrell in the 3rd inning that started out about mid chest and dropped almost to the dirt; Burrell swung and missed and then just stared out into nowhere with a grin on his face, knowing that he was out-classed with that one.  The fastball on Roy was running anywhere from 91-95 (or so said the my20 radar) and he had pretty good location, striking out 4 batters. 

Oswalt finished the night by going 7 innings with just 5 hits, 1 ER and lowered his ERA from 9.00 to 6.65. 

On the other side of the ball, the Astros were a little lacking.  The Phillies actually out hit the Astros 6-4 but were unable to cross the plate after the 1st inning.  Michael Bourn had a great game tonight.  Starting off in the 1st inning, he forced a bad throw by Utley at 2nd and was safe at 1st on what was ruled a hit.  Then (even though he was showing signs of pain... not sure what that was about) stole 2nd and scored on line drive off the left field wall by Carlos Lee.  In the 5th inning, with 2 outs and no runners on, Bourn hit a blast down the right field line that hit the foul poll to give the Astros the lead and eventually the win.  I'll admit, I was pretty shocked that Bourn could hit the ball that well... it was a blast!

I can't go on without mentioning the stellar performance by Wesley Wright and Doug Brocail in relief for Roy...  After Roy left in the 7th inning, Wright came in and struck out the side and then Brocail came in and struck out 2 to earn his 1st save of the season.  I'm really happy that Valverde wasn't available for tonight's game...  I'm not sure if I could have taken him on the hill again after last nights fiasco.