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The Astros captured an utterly-necessary 6-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Sunday afternoon by using all five tools in a good player's arsenal--hitting, hitting with power, running, throwing, and catching--in support of good pitching from Jeriome Robertson (12-6), Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner. Houston (68-62) cracked eleven hits, including homers from Richard Hidalgo and Jason Lane, stole four bases, nabbed a baserunner attempting to advance, and flashed excellent leather in staying tied for first in the NL Central with the Cardinals and putting pressure on the Cubs to keep pace out in Arizona. Robertson (7 IP / 2R / 4 H / 5 W/ 4 K) saw the Reds take an early lead when Sean Casey drove a pitch meant to be inside down the RF line just inside the foul pole for a solo homer, but the Astros, fresh off back-to-back soporific games at the plate, answered very quickly. In the bottom of the second after Jeff Kent struck out, Richard Hidalgo got hold of a fastball and drove it high and deep to LCF, one of the oddest drives of the year. The ball seemed to hang up forever, and Ryan Freel apparently thought he could catch the ball while standing by the Crawford Boxes just before the deep LCF cutout begins. Freel was wrong in that judgment; Hidalgo's ball dropped just into the corner of the Boxes, one or two rows back, to tie the score. Considering that there was a risk of the ball being caught and considering that the deep, shadowy recesses of the cutout loomed behind Freel, I'm not inclined to call Hidalgo's homer "cheap." They all count to me, and I've seen too many homers in bandbox parks to call any homer cheap (but recall, if you will, the broken-bat homer to the CBs by San Diego off Wade Miller a couple of years back--now that's cheap.) It was the start of a wonderful game for Hidalgo, who showed every facet of his game as the afternoon drew on. Houston took a 2-1 lead in the third when Adam Everett beat out an infield hit to 2B and Craig Biggio drove him home with a roped double into the LF corner. But Cincinnati tied it just as quickly in the fourth when Ruben Mateo doubled to LF and Jason LaRue singled that way to score him. As the game unfolded to the later innings with the score still tied, it began to take on the character of the two previous games in the series, with the Reds hanging around and hanging around, looking for an opportunity to break through. They never got that opportunity, though. Houston beat them to it, and for that we must thank Mr. and Mrs. Lance Berkman. Because of the birth of their new daughter, Berkman wasn't at the ballpark today, but rather celebrating with his family. Jason Lane got the call in LF and responded with some good swings at the plate. One of them, against Brian Reith, who had relieved starting pitcher John Bale in the fifth, busted the game open in the sixth. Jeff Kent walked and stole second, then went to 3B on a throwing error by Jason LaRue. Hidalgo spanked an RBI single to LF, and then Lane put a powerful, opposite-field swing on a Reith fastball, driving it into the seats in RF for his first homer of the season and a 5-2 lead. Cincinnati narrowed the margin to 5-3 in the eighth when D'Angelo Jimenez homered to RF off Dotel, but the Astros put the game out of reach courtesy of Hidalgo's speed in the bottom of the inning. Jeff Bagwell singled, then stole 2B and 3B, and trotted home when Hidalgo belted one to the LCF gap. Reggie Taylor attempted a horizontal diving catch, but got only a bruised shoulder for his troubles. The ball rolled to the fence, but the real fun was in watching Hidalgo churn smoothly and effortlessly around to 3B, going as fast as I've ever seen him. Add to Hidalgo's work today a runner gunned down at 3B (a perfect throw which netted him a benefit of the doubt call from the umpire), and a hard, sliding catch in RF, and you can see that the Astros would not have won this game without him. Billy Wagner earned his 36th save of the season in the ninth, but not without incident on the final out of the game. Corky Miller banged one up the middle that deflected hard off Wagner's bare arm after his follow-through and over to Morgan Ensberg. Wagner didn't appear to be injured at all, but it was a worrsome moment, and I'll bet he has has a bruise to nurse on tomorrow's off day. Also worrisome was the homer given up by Dotel in the eighth--yet another indication, I think, that this strong man is wearing down as the season has progressed. Neither his fastball nor his slider has had its typical bite in quite a while. On the positive side, which far outweighs the negative today, the Astros followed the prescribed treatment for a healthy batting average. They went to the opposite field for a number of hard hits, and one can only hope that they will continue that regimen as the pitching gets tougher against them starting Tuesday night, when the Dodgers come to town. Berkman will be back in the lineup, and that means Jason Lane will be back on the bench. Now that he's had a game's worth of ABs to settle in, Lane could be a big factor in the late going of any of those games, if they are as close and low-scoring as I think they will be.
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