We're just a year after Wednesday's game, but the result didn't change. In this one, Houston and Pete Munro lost 10-5 to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Despite Craig Biggio going 4 for 5 with a double and a run scored and Lance Berkman going 2 for 5 with his seventh home run of the season, the Astros weren't able to contain the Cardinals offense. Of course, El Hombre went 2 for 3 with three runs scored and two RBIs to raise his average up to .349, but it was an unlikely pair of Cards who finished the Astros. Tino Martinez and J.D. Drew both homered in this one while catcher Mike Matheny was 3 for 4.
Munro wasn't very good in this one, throwing 3 1/3 innings with eight hits, six runs (five earned) and two walks allowed with two strikeouts. Brandon Puffer gave up another four runs in his 1 1/3 innings, pretty much ending the Astros chances of being in this game.
However, a young Kirk Saarloos, drafted just two years earlier, made an effective closer in this one, pitching 3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out four. This was Saarloos' last season with Houston before he was traded to Oakland in the offseason for hard-throwing reliever Chad Harville.
To make matters worse, it was Woody Williams who shut Houston down for six innings. Williams would sign with his hometown team too late to matter, but it was games like this one, where he allowed six hits, one run and no walks while striking out five, which make Drayton force his signing when he did. (Wait, we're not supposed to criticize Drayton any more...)
Here's the graphic replay of the game, thanks to Back to Baseball.