Why They Lost
Because this time it was the bullpen who blew it - and the part of the bullpen brought in to replace LaHawk and Valverde. The Astros actually held a lead - a lead! - after rallying from being down 4-0. It lasted until the 7th, when the Phillies got three back on Brandon Lyon, and two on Matt Lindstrom in the 9th.
Astros Pitching
| Name | IP | H/ER | K:BB | Pit-Str | CS/SS |
| Paulino | 5 | 4/4 | 4:4 | 111-61 (55%) | 18/7 |
| Sampson | 1 | 0/0 | 2:1 | 15-10 (66.7%) | 4/4 |
| Lyon | 1 | 4/3 | 1:1 | 35-22 (62.9%) | 7/2 |
| Byrdak | 1 | 1/0 | 0:0 | 17-8 (47.1%) | 1/0 |
| Lindstrom | 1 | 2/2 | 1:0 | 20-10 (50%) | 4/1 |
So what the heck happened? Homers. Let's look at Lyon's ABs:
Rollins: 0-2 groundout to first
Polanco: 1-2 flyout to right - Note there are two outs
Utley: 6-pitch walk
Howard: 2-1 homer to left/center
Werth: 0-2 single to right center
Ibanez: 3-2 (seven pitch) single to right
Victorino: 0-1 single to right
Schneider: 5-pitch strikeout
All that damage with two outs. Three ABs eventually leading to runs in which Lyon got to two outs. Three straight singles to right. Werth and Ibanez getting hits after getting behind 0-2.
Lindstrom gave up a two-run homer to Shane Victorino, again with two outs, to make it a 9-5 game in the 9th.
Astros hitting
So Hunter Pence finally got a home run, although Jason Michaels hit the first homer of the Astros' season in the 3rd. Here's the Astros' 3rd inning:
Manzella: 1-2 groundout to pitcher
Quintero: 1-2 flyout to left
Paulino: 1-1 double to right
Michaels: 1st pitch homer to left (4-2 PHI)
Keppinger: 4-pitch walk
Pence: 1-0 homer to left (4-4)
Lee: 0-1 single to right
Feliz: 1st pitch single to right
Johnson: 0-1 infield single to first
Manzella: 3-2 infield single to third (5-4)
Quintero: 1-1 groundout to second
So the Astros still left the bases loaded to end the 3rd, but did manage to score five runs in an inning, and all with two outs. That was the end of the Astros scoring until Jason Michaels' RBI single of Michael Bourn in the bottom of the 9th to close it to 9-6. Lee/Feliz/Johnson were a combined 5x12.
There are some encouraging things to see here, but the Astros are 4GB after five games played, and have held a lead for three out of 45 innings played.
Pitch Count Hero: Keppinger (0x4, BB) - 20 pitches in five PAs.
Pitch Count Punk: Pedro Feliz (2x4) - 8 pitches in four PAs.
Man of the Match: Jason Michaels. Got a leadoff start in place of Michael Bourn, and turned in a homer and 3RBIs.
Goat of the Game: Bud Norris. Brandon Lyon. Finish off the inning and we're likely celebrating our first win.
