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With runs marked down as high as 50%, the Cardinals took this opportunity to cash in, knocking in 7 runs in the 4th inning off of Lucas Harrell and 6 runs off of three relief pitchers the rest of the game. Dallas Keuchel, Travis Blackley, and Josh Fields all gave up two runs each while the ever evasive Hector Ambriz was the only pitcher to have a scoreless line, who pitched a scoreless 9th.
Lucas Harrell has been pretty solid lately, but got roughed up by the team with the best record in baseball. The Cardinals are seriously hot right now. They've got the same number of losses as the Astros have wins. Yikes!
But there was some positive that came out of this loss. The biggest news being that Brett Wallace is back in action after getting called up. He was slotted into the 2-hole on his first day back and went 1-4 with a smashing triple as the DH. Matt Dominguez contributed a well-needed HR to break up Jake Westbrook's no-hitter in the 6th inning. And Carlos Peña went 1-2 with a double. Yes sir, keep improving that trade value.
POW!
In unimpressive news, Ronny Cedeño committed his 10th error at SS. BOO!!!! Yeah, no one needs to see a gif of that.
Also, on an injury note. Justin Maxwell suffered a blow to his head when he went diving for this ball:
We were updated with this news later on:
Justin Maxwell left the game with a mild concussion. #Astros
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 26, 2013
Which could mean that the Astros could put Maxwell on the 7-day disabled list that MLB has for players who suffer concussions. This would allow the Astros to call up another player for a few days as Maxwell gets his well-needed rest.
Tomorrow the Astros will play ball again in the series finale with the Cardinals. It's Lance Lynn against Erik Bedard. Lynn has struggled in two of his past three starts while Bedard has pitched well recently. Hopefully positive momentum can swing the Astros toward a win!