So the Astros are 0-1 post-Pudge, but the story was Ricky Nolasco's utter domination of the Astros in a 6-2 win for Florida.
After giving up Carlos Lee's 2-run homer in the first inning, Nolasco retired the next 23 batters (!) in a complete game three-hitter. And it didn't make much difference what Bud Norris did, after that. Let's get on to the thing:
Norris: 5.2IP, 9H/5ER, 4K:1BB, 16/28 first-pitch strikes, 29/61 non-contact strikes (18 called:11 swinging), 2HR
Byrdak: 0.1IP, 1/1 FPS, 2/3 NCS (2s)
Gervacio: 2IP, 1H/1ER, 2K:1BB, 4/7 FPS, 12/19 NCS (7c:5s), 1HR
Arias: 1IP, 1H, 3/4 FPS, 2/6 NCS (2c)
Nice outing from Gervacio, who threw one bad pitch to Jeremy Hermida, but got out in from of guys, and missed a lot of bats. Norris' Ks were down tonight, and as you can see above, he only threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of 28 batters. First loss of his major-league career, though, so...carry on.
Offensively, there's even less to talk about. All the Astros offense got was one swing of the bat from Carlos Lee. 10 Astros struck out: Blum twice and everybody else - save Carlos Lee - once. Nolasco only needed 115 pitches to get through the 27 outs. The Astros got to a 3-ball count four times, and didn't walk once. Even further, of those 4ABs with three balls, the Astros were 0x4 with 2Ks (yep, Coste and Blum).
Pitch Count Hero: Tejada - 23 pitches in 4 PAs (0x4, 1K)
Pitch Count Punk: Berkman - 9 pitches in 4 PAs (1x4, 1K)
Goat of the Game: Sorry, Bud Norris. First loss, first Goat.
Man of the Match: Carlos Lee. All the Astros' offense, and no Ks on top of it.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
