Tejada: That sinking feeling.
(c) Associated Press
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It was a good thing that the Astros moved the time up on Wedensday's series finale. The quicker they get the Pirates out of their rear-view mirror, the better. Pittsburgh won their seventh meeting in nine tries this season against Houston, taking an 8-7 sweeper that kicked the Astros back into the division cellar.
Let's let this sink in for just a minute. The Astros swung a trade on Tuesday with the belief that they could still contend for a playoff spot. Just a day later, they were swept by the Pirates - the same Pirates who had lost five straight before flying down to Texas and who, were it not for their continuous butt-whipping of the Astros, would still be the worst team in the division. Instead, Houston is now the worst and, judging from this series, have a long way to go just to catch up to Pittsburgh, much less the Cubs or the Brewers. Someday, upper management too can figure this out.
Geoff Geary, who has had an admirable season, took the loss by allowing a pair of runs in the seventh. It was a short outing for Brian Moehler who was probably due for a bad start as much as he has exceeded expectations this year.
It's tough to bash an offense that just produced seven runs but, aside from Carlos Lee and Kaz Matsui, the doldrums just continue. The offense was supposed to carry a questionable pitching staff and they have struggled to deliver that over the past two months.
The Astros get a day off to escape town and head for Milwaukee where the red-hot Brewers await them Friday in a 7:05 Central start. There will be a battle of lefties in the opener when Wandy Rodriguez (5-3) pitches for Houston and Manny Parra (9-2) makes his fourth start of the year against the Astros. Parra is 2-1 with a 6.46 ERA in 15-1/3rd innings facing Houston.
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