What a way to start off the post-All-Star Game schedule. Brett Myers pitched a whale of a game, picking up his seventh victory of the season by allowing five hits and two runs over 7 2/3 innings. Myers struck out four and walked one and could have easily completed this game, if not for running into trouble in the eighth.
That trouble could have been worse, if not for the defensive play of the game. Kevin Eschenfelder and Art Howe talked about this quite a bit on the post-game show, but Humberto Quintero's pickoff throw of Andy LaRocke at second base to end the frame. Q really had a nice game, hitting an RBI double in the second inning to go with his stellar defense. With Jason Castro struggling at the plate, we might see Q star a little more in the coming weeks.
Jeff Keppinger also had a really nice game, hitting his third home run of the season to go with a double, a run scored and two RBIs. It was timely, too, considering that Kepp was bumped down to the third spot in the batting order as Carlos Lee had the night off. Jason Bourgeois took full advantage of his opportunity at the top of the lineup, only going 1 for 4 but stealing two bases in the top of the first and scoring two runs.
Oh and Matt Lindstrom saved his 22nd game. That's nearly 59 percent of the Astros wins, meaning if the Astros continue on this pace, Lindstrom will save 38 games this season. Given a few more wins in the second half and Lindstrom has an outside shot at being the fourth player in Astros history to save 40 games in a season (behind Billy Wagner, Brad Lidge and Jose Valverde).
The only bad news to come out of Friday were a series of tweets by Alyson Footer. Felipe Paulino had a setback with his tendinitis and will fly back to Houston for an MRI. He won't be able to make his start on Tuesday and will be replaced by someone else. It looks like Brian Moehler will be placed on the disabled list so the Astros can bring up a spot starter. Considering the short-term nature of the assignment, I wouldn't be surprised if it were Polin Trinidad who gets the call.