Frustration is really beginning to set in. It's as if tonight was a culmination of all the bad things that have been happening to our team lately. J.A. Happ continued to receive very little run support, no one could hit with runners in scoring position, and Lance Berkman came up with more clutch, heartbreaking hits for our archrival. That sounds like a nightmare to me.
J.A. Happ pitched effectively for five innings, and then things began to unravel. His control started wavering in the sixth inning, and the Cardinals made him pay. When the inning finally came to an end, St. Louis had a 6-1 lead and the game had abruptly turned ugly.
Hunter Pence extended his hitting streak to 20 games on a weak grounder in the first inning, and he scored on Brett Wallace's RBI single with two outs. Carlos Lee then took a big turn around second, and El Caballo was again tagged out on the basepaths. Am I the only one getting tired of his aggressive baserunning? Oh well, at least he showed some patience and drew two walks tonight.
There weren't any other good signs from the offense as we finished the series 4 for 31 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded four times. Can it get much worse than that?
Well, Berkman went deep in every game of the series and he has now hit five home runs at Minute Maid this year. There isn't a single Astro on the roster with more than three.