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They call 'em "bangers 'n mash" in London, but that's in another country and for another game. In America, the game is baseball, not cricket, and we call 'em taters and sausage in the Great Midwest. The Astros pounded twelve hits Monday night and did their most severe damage with extra-base knocks in earning an 8-4 win over the Brewers. Lance Berkman's three-run double in the first was a key blow, while Jeff Bagwell's two-run homer in the fourth and Richard Hidalgo's solo home run in the fifth were the taters and provided the bulk of the offense, enabling Roy Oswalt (7-5) to survive five innings in his first trip back to the mound since late July. Oswalt gave up four runs over those five innings, but with help from Dan Miceli, Ricky Stone, Brad Lidge, and Billy Wagner, he pulled the Astros (76-67) back into a tie for first place in the NL Central with the idle Chicago Cubs. Berkman's double to LF in the opening inning was a solidly-hit ball, but I was surprised that it scored all three runners--Craig Biggio, who had doubled, and Jeff Kent and Richard Hidalgo, who had walked. It seemed to me that the Brewers should have been able to prevent the last of those runs from scoring, but they were slow in digging the ball out of the corner and relaying it home, which, although it's bad baseball, is also quite all right with me as long as the Astros benefit by it. The double was also a sweet strike against Wayne Franklin, whom I have always felt the Astros should be able to whack repeatedly ever since he left the organization. Franklin's left-handed breaking stuff has twisted Houston batters around several times over the past couple of seasons like they were long pieces of bratwurst, but I guarantee you Franklin never sausage hitting against him as the Astros did Monday night. Houston turned its prior fortunes against him completely around. Biggio and Jeff Bagwell started to repeat the formula of the first inning in the fourth by doubling to LF and homering to RF down the line. Milo Hamilton said (and in this, he should know, since he keeps careful records of such things) that Bagwell's 33rd homer of the season was his fifth to the opposite field. Yet, that figure seems a bit low to me, and I wonder whether Hamilton is counting Bagwell homers to RCF as opposite-field homers, as I would. I don't think he is, but in pointing out that Bagwell goes that direction a little more often than a strict hitting chart might show, I'm not trying to argue too loudly; it just struck me, as the ball hugged the line in RF and went out, that Bagwell is even more of an opposite-field hitter than he is given credit for being. I'll also admit--somewhat sheepishly--that 33 homers is a figure I thought there was a good chance Bagwell might never reach this season. (Does anyone remember his deep slump from late spring into June?) Oswalt took the 5-0 lead and ran with it as long as he could, but as I suggested he might in Sunday's column, he found trouble in the fourth, as his curveball--heretofore tight on the inside corner in the early innings--began to loop out of his control and catch more of the plate. The Brewers got to him for three runs in that fourth, making a game of it. As had been the case with all five of Houston's runs to this point, Milwaukee scored with two out, taking Oswalt pitches to CF, out of the reach of Biggio. Richie Sexson doubled that way; Keith Ginter was hit by a pitch; and Wes Helms crushed one, a homer that not only gave the Brewers three runs but also threatened to knock Oswalt from the game before he could qualify for the win. Even more important, Helms's blast nearly forced a turn to the bullpen--inevitable, in any case--before Jimy Williams truly wanted to go that way. Fortunately, however, after a brief chat with Burt Hooton, Oswalt convinced his pitching coach and his manager he had enough stamina and stuff to last another frame and the Astros, for their part, weren't finished on offense. Hidalgo smacked a Franklin fastball into the LF screen leading off the fifth for a homer and a 6-3 lead. When Ausmus later singled and Adam Everett walked, it looked like Houston was set up for even better things, and Dave Burba took over on the mound. Burba got out of the jam, though, after an Oswalt sacrifice and a Biggio fly to LF. The Brewers took heart from that bit of good fortune, and cut the Astros' lead once more in the bottom of the fifth, when Keith Osik singled, was sacrificed up, and scored on Bill Hall's two-out base hit to CF. As fast as Milwaukee put that run up, however, the Astros got it right back in the sixth. Morgan Ensberg singled to LF and Bagwell hit the gap in LCF with a double to score him. That gave Ricky Stone a cushion from which to pitch the bottom of the sixth, and he struck out two of the three men he faced. Dan Miceli did the same in the seventh, but Brad Lidge did them both one better in the eighth by striking out the side while walking one. None of them gave up any hits. A very impressive bounce-back performance from the bullpen's middle relievers after Sunday's troubles. Houston's final run scored in the ninth, coming against both Brooks Kieschnick and Luis Vizcaino. Ausmus led off with a single, was moved up on an Everett sacrifice and over on a Mitch Meluskey pinch-groundout, and scored on a Biggio sacrifce fly against Vizcaino. Everett, who had reached on that sacrifice, got as far as 2B on the Meluskey out, but the Astros couldn't get him home, as Ensberg struck out looking. No matter. Billy Wagner pitched the ninth quietly, getting two flies and a grounder without extending himself out of any possible use on Tuesday night. Lidge, as you see, did what we expected and took Octavio Dotel's eighth-inning spot tonight. Lidge figures to get eighth inning work most of the time over the next week to ten days as Dotel heals. Oswalt did about as well as one might have hoped after such a long time away. He stretched himself out on the hill (one hopes not too much), tossing 86 pitches, 59 of which were strikes. He walked no one, despite losing some command in the fourth, and struck out four. How long he goes in his next start against the Cardinals will depend on how he feels Tuesday and Wednesday, but as a warm-up exercise this wasn't bad. Credit also has to be given to the Astro hitters, who put Sunday's frustrations behind them, forgot about any tiredness they might have been feeling, and took out a team they should be taking out on a regular basis. For all the talk of the Cubs' easier schedule the rest of the month, the unease with which Astro fans look at that schedule is rooted in the fact that Houston hasn't played Milwaukee well to this point in the season. We saw Monday, however, that, properly motivated, the Astros can do something to change that. If Houston can beat the Brewers like a stone from here on out--as the club should, but not necessarily will--those wins will go a long way toward wiping out any paper advantage the Cubs might have over the remainder of September.
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