Why They Won
Big extra-base hits! Lance homered, Carlos Lee tripled (!), Towles and Manzella doubled (that was Manzella's first XBH of his career). And we would be remiss to not mention that the Astros stole six bases. One each by Feliz, Lee (!!), and Pence, and three by Bourn meant that the Astros were 6-for-6 in stolen bases. Brett Myers also threw 6IP, allowing 11 hits, but just two earned runs, with six strikeouts and one walk.
Astros Pitching
| Name | IP | H/ER | K:BB | Pit-Str | CS/SS |
| Myers | 6 | 11/2 | 6:1 | 91-58 (63.7%) | 17/10 |
| Sampson | 1 | 1/0 | 0:0 | 13-8 (61.5%) | 2/1 |
| Byrdak | 1 | 2/1 | 1:0 | 21-13 (61.9%) | 5/2 |
| Fulchino | 1 | 0/0 | 1:0 | 11-7 (63.6%) | 0/4 |
The Pirates were 4x13 w/RISP. Against Myers, they were 3x12 - and the runs that scored were via single and fielder's choice. And following in the line of Myers' record through the order:
1st time: 5x9
2nd time: 2x8, BB
3rd time: 4x9
Now this is wild. Because, with Myers' 11 hits allowed, he has allowed the most hits in the National League - 35. Only six pitchers have allowed 30 hits (Rodrigo Lopez, John Lannan, Homer Bailey, Doug Davis, and Jon Niese), but Myers has the lowest ERA of all of them (3.81) except for Niese's 3.68. He has the lowest WHIP by 0.17, mainly because he's only walked four batters in 113 plate appearances.
Astros hitting
Ten hits. Eight walks - Bourn drew three and Keppinger drew two. 179 pitches seen (54.4% for strikes). Carlos Lee batted 3rd, and went 2x5 with 2RBI and 2R scored. Lee/Berkman/Pence/Feliz went a combined 7x18 with 2BB. Astros hitters took the first pitch for a ball in 25 of their 42 plate appearances.
And with Pence's 2x5 day, he's now hitting above the Mendoza Line (.209).
Pitch Count Hero: Berkman - 26 pitches in five PAs
Pitch Count Punk: Feliz - 17 pitches in five PAs
Man of the Match: How about this? Carlos Lee! 2x5 with 2RBI.
Goat of the Game: It's hard to give this to a guy who threw a quality start and got his first win since May 22, 2009 (at Yankee Stadium), but 11 hits are a lot.
