Jeff Bagwell hit a massive two-run Crawford Street yak and the Stros overcame some jittery fielding with solid relief pitching as they remained on top of the NL Wild Card standings with a 4-2 victory over the Rockies on Friday night at a rocking Juice Box. The Stros have now won a team record 16 straight games in the increasingly friendly confines of the Juice Box, have won seven of their last eight games, 11 out of their last 14, and are an incredible 34-10 since August 15.
The Stros entered the game tied for the Wild Card lead with the Giants, and they remained tied as the Giants won their game against the Dodgers late Friday night. However, with their wins, the Stros and Giants moved two games ahead of the fading Cubs, who have lost four straight, six of their last seven, and have been reduced to bitching at their television color man. I maintain that they should be blaming Michael Barrett.
During this final weekend of the season, the Stros are trying to avoid a repeat of last season when they needed to win three of their final four games against last-place Brew Crew to force a division tiebreaker with the Cubs. The Stros went 2-2 against the Brewers, which allowed the Cubs to win the NL Central title.
Mike Gallo (2-0) earned the win on Friday night against the Rockies by getting the last out of the third inning, and Brad Lidge nailed down the last three outs for his 28th save. They were two of seven Stros pitchers to scatter 12 Rockies’ hits. The Rockies’ starter Joe Kennedy (9-7) actually pitched very well, allowing four runs on eight hits in eight innings.
In addition to Bags’ heroics, Jason Lane again contributed mightily to the Stros’ win. Pinch hitting in the seventh, Lane first knocked in pinch running Adam Everett with an insurance run. Then, the following inning, Lane played the rebound of a line drive adroitly off of the Crawford Box wall and then made a perfect throw to nail Brad Hawpe trying to stretch a single into a double.
Finally, with the capacity Juice Box crowd tonight, the Stros have now drawn 3,001,511 fans through 80 games this season, which is the second time that the club has drawn over 3 million in attendance. The other time was in 2000, the Stros first season at Enron Field, er, I mean, Minute Maid Park a/ka/ the Juice Box.
The hottest ticket in Major League Baseball will be tomorrow night at the Juice Box as Roy O goes for his 20th win while attempting to put the Stros in even a better position in the Wild Card race. Still no decision on the Sunday starter, but rest assured that the Rocket is getting ready to return on three days rest.