Astros Punish Cardinals With 8-2 Victory

It looks like Chris Johnson is heating up this week, which is good because i would love to see the Astros get over .500 again this season. The win tonight pushed the Astros withing one game of .500, and in case you haven't checked the standing's lately they're in third place and only a half a game out of second place. These aren't your Ed Wade Astros.

Defense

The wind seemed to be blowing a little bit more than usual as it made catching pop-ups a bit of an adventure. There was no wind involved in the grounder Chris Johnson whiffed on in the first inning, that was followed shortly by a Cardinals run. Jason Castro got his first caught stealing of the year, gunning down Daniel Descalso at second base in the fifth inning.

Offense

Johnson made up for his error in the bottom of the first inning with a grand slam. He would end the night 2-4 with four runs batted in, two runs scored and two strikeouts. The Cardinals would score their second run in the eighth inning, luckily Jed Lowrie had the Astros back with what was initial an RBI double eventually ruled a two-run homerun. Lowrie finished the night 1-3 with two runs driven in, two runs scored and a walk.

The only other Astros to hit were Carlos Lee (1-3, 1BB) and Justin Maxwell (2-3, 1BB). Brian Bogusevic batting for the first time in the two-hole this season, drew a walk but was 0-3. Jose Altuve cooled off a bit with a 0-4 night in the leadoff spot. Overall the Astros scored eight runs on six hits, four walks and four strikeouts.

Pitching

Bud Norris once threw a dirty so dirty it made Martha Stewart cry.

Bud Norris posted a Game Score of 64 allowing one unearned run on six innings, three hits, four walks and four strikeouts. He appeared to have his slider working, making Matt Holiday look silly several times. Wesley Wright started the seventh inning and faced two batters before being pulled for Wilton Lopez. Wright got Descalso to ground out, then allowed Matt Carpenter to reach first on a single.

Lopez finished the seventh retiring the only two batters he faced. David Carpenter pitched the eighth and allowed one run on two hits and one strikeout. Fernando Abad pitched a perfect ninth to finish the game. Overall the pitching staff allowed two runs on six hits, four walks and six strikeouts.

Sunday

1:05 p.m. CT Adam Wainwright (1-3, 6.75 ERA) vs J.A. Happ (2-1, 4.60 ERA). Let the good times roll!