Man, one grand slam can ruin your whole day.

Octavio Dotel let Adam LaRoche extend his arms in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded Thursday afternoon at the Braves' complex and LaRoche, hitting left-handed drove the ball out of the park the other way for a game-winning four-run shot as Atlanta caught the Astros at the wire for a 6-5 win in the finale of the Florida phase of Spring Training for both teams.

Had this been a regular-season game, most of us would have opened up a window and taken a nice, long look down by now but, as it was, the Astros still got good pitching work out of Andy Pettitte, Ricky Stone, and Brad Lidge. If there were any truly distressing fact to take away from this last game in the southeast's biggest state, it is in the home-run balls that Stone and Dotel gave up that allowed Atlanta to climb all the way back into a game they never should have won. No matter where you're playing or when, ya gotta keep the ball in the park. Although Brad Ausmus was wired for sound today for ESPN2's coverage of the game, it was difficult to hear the conversation and consolation that passed between him and Dotel in the dugout after LaRoche hit the game-deciding homer. Yet, it sounded to me like Ausmus wanted Dotel to throw a different sequence of pitches to LaRoche but Dotel ignored him and went with the fastball up and away. That gave the lefty-hitting LaRoche, who has a sweeping swing similar to that of Marcus Giles but from the other side of the plate, a chance to see the ball and generate bat speed all within a second of the pitch. Dotel was expressionless as he watched the ball leave the yard, but we can at least hope that he'll remember that although lefty hitters generally like the ball down and in, they can still be jammed, and should be, when the occasion demands it.

Brad Lidge was lights out in the seventh in putting the game in Dotel's hands. He overpowered the Braves' hitters, striking out the side, and turned the lineup toward the bottom of the Atlanta order. Dotel, however, got into immediate trouble, giving up a LF double and hitting a batter, eventually loading the bases before showing the guts and the stuff for which I praised him the other day. He nearly got out of the bases-loaded mess before surrendering the fatal pitch to LaRoche. For that reason--that is, because of his stuff--I do not believe that over the short term today's grand slam will have any effect on Dotel's status as the Astros' closer. He's still the man, as his disposal of the Braves after the LaRoche homer demonstrated. Over the long term, however--meaning, one month or two--yes, the memory of this homer and perhaps others to come could influence Jimy Williams to turn more often to Brad Lidge to close out games, particularly in Houston. Lidge gets ahead in the count more often than Dotel does and he pitches inside more than Dotel does. Those are characteristics a right-handed closer has to have when the sight of the Crawford Boxes is in the background.

The Astros waited out control difficulties of Russ Ortiz early in the game to build a 3-1 lead for Pettitte, who fairly sailed through five good innings. The homer that Stone gave up in the sixth drew Atlanta to within one , and perhaps it caused a deduction in points from the judges in the Astros' dugout over Stone's attempt to secure a spot in the Houston 'pen, but I don't truly think that's the case, either. Stone's stuff was good, and he'll be there when the bell rings.

The Astros were even fortunate enough to put up a couple of runs in the top of the seventh against John Smoltz in his second inning of work, but as been the case seemingly so many times since 1997, the Braves pulled off a single play--be it a great grab at SS or down the 3B line or a crushing homer to LF--to beat the Astros at the wire.

Today's good work--by Pettitte, by Morgan Ensberg, whose bat is coming, by Richard Hidalgo, and by Lidge--must be acknowledged and it should not be forgotten. Still, one has to wonder how long the memory of LaRoche's homer--a shot that must be forgotten--will remain with the Astros as they begin the trek back to Houston and move back into a park that is, shall we say, modestly noted for homers flying into its seats. The Florida portion of Spring Training was very good for Houston, even beyond what the team's 14-12-1 record would indicate, but this was not the way Houston wanted to have the Florida phase end. This weekend's contests with the Royals, Friday night and Saturday afternoon, thus become not only games of preparation but also of recovery.

The club also said good-bye Wednesday night to pitcher Jeriome Robertson, trading last year's fifteen-game winner to the Indians for OF Willy Tavares and OF prospect Luke Scott. The trade had been anticipated in some form for several days and was completed after Tavares cleared waivers and was offered back to the Tribe, from whence he came in the Rule 5 draft. Cleveland gets a starting pitcher its rotation badly needs and the Astros get OF depth in the minor leagues, an element they need. It's likely we will see Tavares in the majors at some point this year, if only for a brief stretch, because of his speed. Whether we'll see Scott, who has power but, at 25, is a tad old for a AA prospect, is another question. Keep in mind, though, that if you're a hitter in Houston's farm system, your ultimate destination these days is the park at Crawford and Texas, not the Astrodome. If you've got some power in your bat, your middle-twenties age is not quite the liability it would be if the Astros still called the Dome home. Scott's only a little behind where both Jason Lane and Morgan Ensberg were a couple of years ago. Scott could be just a man to fill out a lower-level roster spot this year, but he can't be counted out as a contributor in the future, either.