The Stros continued their somewhat baffling dominance of the Phillies this season as they beat the Phils for the fifth straight time 4-2 on Tuesday night at the Juice Box.
Carlos Hernandez gave his most encouraging performance since returning from shoulder surgery, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks in seven innings. Roy O made a rare relief performance in pitching a perfect eighth after his abbreviated appearance in Sunday’s beanball fest with the Cubs and got unexpectedly got his 14th win when the Stros rallied in the eighth to break a 2-2 tie. Lidge nailed down his 16th save with a scoreless ninth.
Phils’ starter Brett Myers pretty well stymied the Stros over the first seven innings, giving up only two runs on two hits (one of which was Beltran‘s solo yak), but ex-Stro closer Todd Jones came through for the Stros in the eighth by giving up two runs on Lance Berkman and Mike Lamb‘s consecutive two-out singles.
By the way, I used the Stros’ new service yesterday that allows season ticket holders to email their tickets to someone else to use. All you have to do is call the Stros’ ticket services at (800-278-7672) and obtain your account’s PIN number to gain access to the service, I emailed mine to an old friend, and the service worked without a hitch. The service cannot yet email parking passes or club level passes, which do not have the bar code that allows the tickets to be easily recreated.
Based on recent history, the Stros’ chances of sustaining success plummet in today’s afternoon Businessman’s Special as Pete Munro (2-5) takes the hill against the Phils’ Eric Milton, who has a 13-2 record this season. In one of those statistical anamolies that helps make baseball fascinating, Munro (4.79) and Milton (4.71) have about the same ERA this season. The anamoly is best explained by the probability that Munro’s ERA would be much higher if he had pitched the 90 more innings that Milton has pitched this season.