I'll be honest, after ten innings, I had to shut off the TV. I had been putting off working out all day and all the nervous energy I had pent up was perfect for the occasion. Plus, I had zero confidence in the Astros pulling out a victory and didn't think I could take watching the carnage. Thankfully I was wrong.
Steve Sparks remarked at the game's outset that if the Astros bats were able to come to life that it'd be hard for them to part with them. My suggestion is that the Astros pool their money and out bid everyone at the charity auction for them. At the very least, Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee should, and Carlos should be buying.
Outside of their back to back homeruns and Pence's single to end the game, the Astros bats didn't necessarily "come to life." They did, however, manage to score a run on no hits in the ninth. I guess we have to credit the baseball gods for the bit of fortuitous luck (just look at the WPA swing for Carlos Lee's ROE).
Probably easily lost amongst the exciting finish is Roy Oswalt's dominant outing: 8IP, 3ER, 9K, 1BB on 116 pitches (76 strikes). That's a tidy 10.13 K/9, 9 K:BB, and 7.76 K/100. If Roy Oswalt pitched for any team but the Astros, that earns him a W probably 85% of the time. Sadly Roy, like Paulino last night, was not rewarded for his sterling effort on the mound.
Also not be forgotten is the first ejection of Brad Mills' managerial career. The ejection, by home plate umpire Alfonzo Marquez, dovetails nicely with Michael Bourn's ejection from last night's game by Marquez, then at first. I can't blame Mills for the ejection because Marquez's strike zone was terrible. Truly.
A victory, but: