Morgan Ensberg threw the monkey off his back by ripping a mighty two run yak in the bottom of the eighth to give the Stros a 7-5 win over the Rangers at the Juice Box on Friday night.
Ensberg’s blast bailed out Roy O, who pitched reasonably well (8 inn., 9 hits, 5 runs, 11 K’s, no walks), but gave up a couple of two run homers, the second of which tied the game at 5 in the top of the eighth to set up Ensberg’s crank in the bottom of the inning. Before the Rangers tied it up, the Stros had taken the lead with a four spot in the sixth, highlighted by four straight singles by the middle of the Stros’ lineup. It was nice also to see Lidge secure the save after giving up Sosa’s walkoff crank in yesterday’s loss at Wrigley.
Amid the good news, though, there was bad. Starter Wade Miller is out at least a month with a rotater cuff injury. This is the type of injury that can be season ending.
The Saturday night game looks like a slugfest as the Stros send newly-acquired Jeremy Griffiths to the mound against the Rangers’ newby Nick Bierbrodt.