If Wednesday's loss represented "Too Little, Too Late" (see the archives) for the Astros, what the ballclub accomplished in trouncing the Rockies 6-0 Thursday afternoon may be fairly described as "just enough, and right on time." Houston jumped all over Jose Jimenez for three runs on five hits in the first inning, scored again in the seventh on a Jeff Kent single, and capped off its day in the ninth when Jeff Bagwell smashed his way out of a two-game batting funk with his 36th homer of the season, a two-run rip to LCF. Meanwhile, Wade Miller (14-12), Octavio Dotel, and Mike Gallo gave up next to nothing on the hill, holding Colorado to only three hits, taking those early runs and delivering a high-quality pitching performance when Houston truly needed one. The win pulls the Astros (83-69) out in front of the Cubs by a full game as Chicago takes on Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Friday in a doubleheader and Houston tangles with the Cardinals in St. Louis.

The Astros wasted no time in getting Miller the lead in this one. Craig Biggio, who enjoyed a healthy 3x4 day, ripped a triple to LCF leading off the game and scored on a Geoff Blum grounder to SS. Bagwell re-started the offense by doubling to RF, and Jeff Kent moved him to 3B with a single to LF. By this time, manager Clint Hurdle had already started to worry about Jimenez but, as early as it was, and especially in this park, it was too soon for a pitching change, and the Astros took advantage. Lance Berkman singled to CF, driving Bagwell home, and, after Richard Hidalgo flied out, Brad Ausmus dropped a hit into LCF, scoring Kent. It was an excellent start to what turned out to be a fourteen-hit day for the Astros, and it was the right kind of cushion for Wade Miller as he set to work.

Miller had a pretty good afternoon of it. His stuff was all there, as indicated by only two hits allowed over 6.1 innings. His command was not all that great, though. He walked five, which is usually enough to put even the very best of pitchers on oxygen in Denver. The difference between today and those other hypothetical situations is that today his teammates fielded the ball cleanly. Todd Helton doubled to LF in the third inning, but Kent handled Preston Wilson's grounder to end the inning. Jay Payton laced a single to CF in the fourth, but Miller reached back for a strikeout on Clint Barmes, ending that inning, too.

Houston scored again in the seventh, this time off reliever Denny Stark, when Biggio singled, was wild pitched to 2B and moved to 3B on a Blum flyout. A Bagwell single toward 2B gave Biggio enough time to scamper home with a big fourth run. The Astros put the game away in the ninth against two members of the Rockies' bullpen, the last of whom was Jesus Sanchez, whom you'll recall Gerry Hunsicker invited to Astros ST this season. Biggio singled and stole 2B, then trotted home one out later when Bagwell just levelled a J. Young pitch, sending it 420 feet away into the LCF seats. Bagwell now has 92 RBI for the season, putting him in range of another 100-RBI campaign. He has only three series left to accomplish that goal, but as circumstance would have it, the Astros just might need every last one of the RBI Bagwell gets on his march toward the century mark.

There's something else the ballclub will need, too, from now on until whenever the season ends, and it's buried in the details of today's game: Biggio and Bagwell functioning together to create the Houston offense. Twice Biggio and Bagwell teamed up directly to produce runs in the game, and both have had a terrific September in leading the Astros to a 12-4 mark thus far this month. What they did Thursday was more than enough for Dotel, who took over for Miller in the seventh after an out and two walks, and it was more than enough for Gallo, who dominated the ninth inning, striking out two of the three men he faced, but the question is, if Biggio and Bagwell continue to produce as they have down the stretch and into October, will it be enough to fuel playoff success for the Astros? Clearly, Kent, Berkman, and Hidalgo will also play key roles for what they do or don't do as Houston makes its fifth run for the playoffs in the last seven years, but there's no getting around how important the most veteran of Houston's veterans will be for any Astros' victories from here on out. The acquisition of Kent was meant to take some of that pressure off, and perhaps it will, starting this weekend in St. Louis, but Biggio and Bagwell remain the most vital elements of any chance the club might have to go deep into the post-season. They are vital not merely because they've spent fifteen years together in Astros uniforms but because of where they hit in the order and what their functions are. Biggio is the lead-off man. When he's not doing the things a lead-off man must do, getting hits or drawing walks, the Houston offense suffers. In a few prior seasons (1998 comes to mind), the Astros had Bill Spiers to function as a "second" leadoff man in the event that Biggio failed, but as good as the Astros' offense was back then and as good as it has been this season, neither Geoff Blum nor Morgan Ensberg has functioned in quite that way. What damage they've done has been largely with Biggio already on. Thus, it seems to me that what Biggio does or fails to do in leading off in the remaining games and in the playoffs will, like it or not, determine how good, how timely Houston's offense will be.

As for Bagwell, he occupies the third spot, the spot traditionally reserved for a team's best hitter. Bagwell has risen to that responsibility in tremendous fashion this month. It's hard for me to see how anyone could ask any more of him (or he of himself) than he has given thus far. Yet, if he should disappear down the stretch or in October, he'll shoulder his fair share of the blame once again, even if Kent, and Berkman, and Hidalgo suffer, too. That is a function not of disdain for Bagwell's career accomplishments, but of where Bagwell hits. We've already seen a fairly long stretch of games early in the season wherein Bagwell was hitting mostly with two out and nobody on, and we saw the Astros struggle during that period. A great deal of the push the Astros have made since the All-Star break can be attributed to Houston turning around that situation. Bagwell has hit much more often with men on in the second half, and he has delivered. Because he has delivered so well and so often, the RBI totals of Kent, Berkman, and Hidalgo have also reached respectable totals.

It's a team game, and for all any of us really know, someone unforseen (Jose Vizcaino, Jason Lane, or Mitch Meluskey) could determine Houston's fate in the postseason, or even whether they get there. But along the way, Biggio and Bagwell will be setting up those moments for the other fellows one way or another. It's highly unlikely that Jimy Williams would consider shifting Biggio or Bagwell around in the order (say, to sixth and fourth, respectively) if either of them falls into a slump as we near October. They will remain where they are, for better or worse. Thursday's game was a reminder--as if we needed one--of just how well these two can make the Astros' offense go, but as the pair of them wind down their careers, that question occurred to me today, and probably to many other devoted Astros fans, too. Is what they are doing right now going to be good enough to last through the playoffs? If the answer turns out to be yes, I shall be happier than I can say, along with thousands of other men and women. After all, the expression "just enough, and right on time" describes not only what a ballplayer has to provide to win a particular game, like Thursday's, but also what he needs to give to win a pennant, too.