Craig Biggio started off the game like he had 50 times before in his career; going yard lead off style. Then Berkman decided to belt his 2nd of the year in the 3rd inning while raising his batting average to .213 on the season. But still, the Astros could only manage 4 runs against the Phillies who punished Sampson with his worst since entering the bigs. Sampson gave up 7 runs over 4 innings along with a home run to Rollins who was a double short of the cycle. Games like this hurt. In a game the Astros didn't even want to play(well at least not on this date), they had to stop in the "city that booed Santa" and play a game before taking another flight to Pittsburgh. The Astros take a 3 game losing streak into Pittsburgh.
I was overall happy with the way Loretta played short tonight, and having him in the lineup in the 2-hole was a nice addition as well. It's nice having a lineup where you have pretty decent batters 1-7. Other than that and the two home runs, there isn't much positive to take from this game. Lidge went a hole inning without giving up a run... don't believe me? Check the box score! It's true! White had another fantastic outing tonight going 2 innings giving up 1 hit and no runs.
Well the Astros send "Old Man" Woody Williams to the hill to face Paul Maholm of the Pirates at 6:05 PM at PNC Park. Hopefully Woody can show the Astros why they are paying him 6 million a year. I'm not sure if Woody understands that it's not supposed to be 1 million per every mark on his ERA.
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