Gary Bennett's bases-loaded double in the sixth inning Sunday afternoon put a close game out of reach as San Diego took advantage of an off-performance by Wade Miller (12-12) and by the whole Houston batting order to win, 7-1. The loss cost the Astros (75-67) first place. They now stand a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs, a circumtance not entirely eased by the much-anticipated return of Roy Oswalt to the starting rotation Monday night. Along with getting their best starting pitcher back, Houston also must hope that the offense of Friday and Saturday nights comes back, too. Sunday, the Astros left ten men on base, including a couple of key bases-loaded spots in which a simple hit would have turned the game in their favor or, in the second instance, fueled a comeback. But the offense's struggles against Jake Peavy were but part of the story of Sunday's loss. In a season in which Miller has been uncharacteristically wild, this afternoon's game provided a heightened example of those problems.

In the fifth, with the Astros down 2-1, thanks to a first-inning, two-run homer by Brian Giles, Miller was greeted by a single up the middle by (oddly enough) Gary Bennett that whizzed by him pretty closely. After that hit and a sacrifice by Peavy, Miller lost his command out there and maybe some composure, too. He drilled Sean Burroughs with a pitch, did the same to Ramon Vazquez, and walked Giles to force in another run. Sensing (perhaps correctly) that Miller was not going to be able to regain his poise, Jimy Williams lifted him and brought on Mike Gallo to get out of the inning.

Miller's frustration happened to occur at a bad time, a time when the ballclub sorely needed big innings to rest its bullpen, but his frustration merely mirrored the frustration the Astros were feeling at the plate. Despite several opportunities to do serious damage to Peavy, the Astros failed in each of those opportunities. A Biggio walk and an Ensberg single were wasted in the first when Bagwell hit into a double play. In the fourth, it was Ensberg's turn to walk, but Bagwell again hit into a double play; the first was 4-3; this one was 1-4-3. Jeff Kent, however, saw to it that the inning wasn't a waste by smashing a homer to LF to cut the margin to 2-1 and, after that, Peavy threatened to pitch the Astros into a tie by walking Berkman, Hidalgo, and Ausmus. But Adam Everett struck out and the inning was over. This inning was, in reality, Houston last and best hope of getting back into the game, yet, for good measure, they added the eighth to their list of futile innings Sunday. With two out, Bagwell doubled to RF and Kent singled to CF. Hoping for a big inning, Bagwell was stopped at 3B, and Kevin Walker relieved Joe Roa, who was preceeded by Brandon Villafuerte out of the Padres' bullpen. Walker lived up to his name, giving up a free pass to Berkman, loading the bases for Houston for the third time in the game but, again, the Astros couldn't come through. Against Scott Linebrink, Richard Hidalgo hit a foul pop behind home plate, almost to the screen in the vast foul territory of Jack Murphy Stadium. Bennett, dancing between sun and shadow, as was the case for both teams over the last quarter of the game, made the difficult catch, deprived Hidalgo of an additional swing, and effectively ended the Astros' already small chances to rally.

From 3-1, San Diego put the game away against Ricky Stone in the sixth by scoring four runs. Two hits forced Gallo out of the game; then Stone compounded his already-difficult spot by hitting Kalil Greene with a pitch to load 'em up. Bennett then ripped the key hit of the game, a double that soared over Biggio's head in CF and rolled to the track. Biggio had no chance to either catch the ball or get it back into the infield in a timely fashion, and all three runners scored. Bennett himself later scored when Ramon Vazquez singled to LF, and the only thing left to do was to warm up the chartered flight to Milwaukee.

Although the starting pitching in the San Diego series was disappointing, Houston still won two of three and the club stands a respectable 4-2 headed into the most important part of the trip. The Brewers are a division rival and they are, to put the matter plainly, a bad ballclub. Though the Brewers have been playing extremely well for the past month, the Astros must still treat them like the bad ballclub they are, and find a way to conquor the bad vibe or whatever you want to call it that hovers over the club before every series with Milwaukee. They can best do that by getting some rest Sunday night and Monday morning and focusing more keenly at the plate. The club didn't take batting practice before Sunday's game and it showed. They'd better come out much sharper Monday night through Thursday afternoon, or a depleted and already-mediocre Brewers staff will handle them with the same ease with which they handled them on Houston's earlier, disasterous four-game trip into the upper Midwest in April. It matters very little what Roy Oswalt does Monday. Count it as a warm-up match for the two weekend clashes he'll have upcoming against the Cardinals, and count it as a "victory" if Oswalt can get through four innings without re-pulling his groin. Keep in mind, too (just to lay out the grimmest scenario), that the Cardinals have handled even a healthy Oswalt well in the past. That is why my eye will not be on him Monday night as much as you might think, and why my hopes for the reclaiming of first place rest not with the pitching staff but with the offense, a hope I've held and expressed in this space since June. If the Astros are to win in the days and nights ahead, they have to hit, and hit, and hit some more.