Thank you Mark Loretta!
Actually, you can pretty much thank everyone for the win in game 1, but obviously the play of the game was the PH grand slam by Mark Loretta. The game was pitched well, and the Astros offense did what was needed to earn the victory, so I can't really say anything negative about the Astros. If I'm reaching for something negative, I could state that they were outhit by the Mets, but that's pretty much it.
The pitching staff did exactly what we expect them to do. Backe pitched pretty solid, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs(as well as hit a nice home run), keeping them in the game for the bullpen. In the 7th we got into some trouble, starting the inning off with bases loaded an no outs, but the bullpen did it's job and stranded all 3 runners to keep the game tied at 3. Byrdak, Sampson, Wright, Brocail and Valverde finished off the last 3 innings without giving up a hit and striking out 3.
On offense, the Astros has 4 home runs hit, 3 solo shots(Matsui, Backe and Lee) and then the Grand Slam in the 8th by Loretta to put the game out of reach for the Mets.
Kind of odd, but no Astros hitter had more than one hit on the night...
Next game should be a doozy! Roy Oswalt vs Johan Santana... pitching match ups don't get much better than this... Santana is having the better year though. Through 22 games, Santana has a 9-7 record and a 2.93 ERA. Santana is also coming off a complete game, 1 run win against the Cardinals.
Oswalt is 8-8 with a 4.67 ERA and has made 1 start since coming off the disabled list due to hip/back issues. In that 1 start, Roy went 5 innings and gave up 4 runs, but earned the win as the Astros put up 5 runs to beat the Reds. I remember that game well... I was there.