Wee-hee-heelll. Back on Monday, we thought the Astros would be lucky to split. So a sweep is pretty much beyond our expectations. Astros win 5-1.
*By now you've probably seen from a number of sources that the last time the Astros swept the Phillies in Philadelphia was in 1999.
*It was the fourth sweep by the Astros this season, and the second road sweep (Cardinals - May 11-13).
*The Astros are 11 games under .500 for the first time since a win over Colorado on June 10 gave them a 25-36 record.
*Wandy threw 7IP, 5H/1ER, 6K:1BB, needing 111 pitches to get through his seven innings. Wandy has gotten 18+ outs in each outing since June 24 - 12 straight starts.
*So far in his five August starts, he has posted 24H/5ER, 32K:5BB in 26.1IP - good enough for a 1.71 ERA/1.10 WHIP. Even this lowers his career August splits to a 4.53 ERA/1.40 WHIP, with a 2.22 K:BB ratio.
*Fulchino and Abad closed out the duties, giving Lyon a much-needed day off, and resting the other members of the bullpen.
*Still, Kyle Kendrick had a pretty rough start, allowing 9H/4ER, 1K:0BB. Michael Bourn, Anderson Hernandez, Carlos Lee, Angel Sanchez, and Jason Castro enjoyed multi-hit games.
*The Astros got four of their five runs with two outs.
*Michael Bourn was 3x5 with an RBI and 2SB. His 44 stolen bases are five behind Juan Pierre for the Major League lead. He's 10 SBs ahead of Scott Podsednik for the NL lead.
*Bourn was on fire this series, getting hits in every game - including two 3-hit games, and going 8x20 with 4SBs. His .254 average is as high as it's been since August 11, and his OPS went up 13 points in these four games.
*Carlos Lee hit his 18th homer of the season in the 3rd inning. 174 of his 325 career homers have been solo shots. It was his 13th homer against the Phillies.
*Jason Castro hit his 4th double of the season, and seven of his 26 hits have been for extra-bases.
*Chris Johnson got the start, but took an 0-fer for the 17th start of the season. In Chris Johnson's starts where he doesn't get a hit, the Astros are 10-7.
*It took until his 4th AB, but Brett Wallace (0x4) got the ball out of the infield. After two pop-ups to short and a grounder to first, Wallace lined out to right to end the 8th inning.
*In this series, the Phillies were 3x23 w/RISP.
*With the win, the Astros moved to 14-10 (including 5-2 on this road trip; 7-6 on the road this month) in August. Including the sweep of the Pirates on August 13, the Astros are 10-4, despite scoring 5+ runs just twice.
*Pitch Count Hero: Michael Bourn (3x5) - 22 pitches in five plate appearances
*Pitch Count Punk: Brett Wallace (0x4) - 11 pitches in four plate appearances.
*Man of the Match: Wandy Rodriguez!
*Goat of the Game: I don't want to do it again, but I'm not sure if I have a choice: Brett Wallace.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
