One day after I wished the Astros could come up with a crisper effort against the Cleveland Indians, the ballclub gratified my desire in every way at Winter Haven. Collectively, Houston rocked Tribe pitchers for fourteen hits, Craig Biggio went 4x4, Jeff Bagwell went 3x3, Eric Bruntlett scored four runs, Tim Redding threw three excellent innings, and the Astros crushed the Indians 14-3 to move their ST record to 3-2.

It was darn near a perfect game under great working conditions in Florida. The temperature cooled off into the 70s and the sky had some clouds for a change, giving the OFs a break on fielding flyballs. Cleveland, in particular, was given a lot of practice in chasing down flies. Twice the Astros erupted for five runs in an inning--the fourth and fifth--but they also put up two in the seventh and single runs in the first and second.

Biggio set the tone on offense with a game-opening double to LF against Jake Westbrook, scoring on a Bagwell single to LF after being sacrificed over to 3B by Adam Everett, who's being given every chance to become Houston's second-place hitter. It was Tim Redding, however, who set the tone on defense, tossing three no-worry innings, allowing only a second-inning single and striking out one. His command was fine all the way through, and it is to be hoped that this beginning for him will carry over into his next spring start.

After Westbrook held Houston scoreless in the second, the Astros punctured him again in the third when Bruntlett, who went the whole way at 2B today, walked, Biggio slapped a hit-and-run single to RF, and Everett rolled an RBI grounder to SS. Houston cracked the game open in the fourth against poor Scott Stewart, who had nothin' out there on the hill, but as bad as the rout became, there was a key moment in this inning that made all the difference. Jose Vizcaino, starting at 1B this afternoon so that Bagwell could DH once again, doubled to LF, and Orlando Palmiero singled out that way. Palmiero was out trying to stretch the single to a double, but Houston still got a run out of it. Brad Ausmus kept the beat going with a looping double into the CF gap, and Bruntlett walked. Biggio slapped a single to LF, and I found myself lamenting the Astros' lack of team speed, as Ausmus was held at 3B to load the bases. A team with normal speed probably would have plated a run on the Biggio hit, but the Astros play more than their fair share of station-to-station baseball, or so it seems. Here was a chance to bust the game wide open, and I heard myself cussin' (in very good taste, mind you) when Adam Everett popped up to 2B for a big second out. Bagwell and Berkman, however, turned the game completely in Houston's favor by ripping back-to-back doubles to LF and CF, good for four runs and a 7-0 lead. Call me just a fan, if you will, but I love hits like those with runners in scoring position, whether it's March or October.

Carlos Hernandez could not have asked for a better set of circumstances within which to pitch in his first big-league game in over a year, and he acquitted himself well through two innings. He gave up a walk, a sun-aided base hit to CF and a two-run homer in the fourth, but he also forced a 5-4-3 double play in that inning, and rebounded to do even better in the fifth, allowing only a walk. The most important thing is that he got the two innings in, and looked reasonably good in doing so.

The Astros banged Stewart and his replacement Matt Miller around some more in the fifth, but did so more efficiently than in the fourth. It took only three hits to score five runs, with a walk, an error at 3B and a Biggio infield hit making it 8-2, and an Adam Everett bomb to LF putting three more up on the board for an 11-2 lead. After yet another walk, one of eight by Cleveland's staff, Berkman doubled again, to CF, and Houston had a twelfth run. The final two Astro runs in the game scored in the seventh, courtesy of a Mike Coolbaugh double.

Beyond the splendid Houston offense, there was the continuation of good pitching after Hernandez left the game at the end of the fifth. Dave Veres tossed a one-hit sixth, and Fernando Nieve survived a case of stage fright in his first outing against major leaguers, allowing only a run on two hits in the seventh, being helped immeasurably by a 6-4-3 double play with the sacks loaded. That's how the run scored, but without the defense the inning could have been much worse. Both Tony Fiore, who allowed a double in the eighth but nothing else, and Brad Lidge were sharp, Lidge exceptionally so, strking out the side in the ninth to end the game. The six Houston pitchers held Cleveland to only seven hits.

If there are days in the spring when a club takes it on the chin, as the Astros did last Friday in losing to the Indians 14-2, there are also days like today, when everything seems to click, and all phases of the game go well. Exhibition ball being what it is, it's best not to get too excited or too far down either way, but there's no harm in pointing out a job well done, and this game was one of those. A different kind of challenge awaits Houston tomorrow night as the club tangles with the Mets back in Kissimmee, with Roy Oswalt making his second start of the month. Morgan Ensberg, who also played the whole game Tuesday, might be due for a rest. He does have a hit this spring, having singled to RF in the fifth inning of Monday's game, but other than that hit, has gotten off to a slow start at the plate.