Johnson: Only Astro hitting a lick
(c) Associated Press
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The start of the second half of the season for the Astros began like the first half ended - with another shutout loss. San Diego edged Houston, 1-0, on Saturday as the bullpen and the bats failed again to carry their part of the load.
Their weekend homage to the World Cup continued in San Diego with a nil-nil draw at Petco Pitch. Bud Norris, as Roy Oswalt did the night before, tossed seven innings of three-hit shutout ball with nothing to show for it. Kevin Correia matched that effort with seven innings of four-hit ball.
The bottom of the eighth was, once again, the only scoring frame. Aaron Cunningham started with a pinch-hit bloop double to left. Gustavo Chacin threw away a bunt by Tony Gwynn, Jr. that plated the game's only run. To further the deja vu, Heath Bell tossed a scoreless ninth for the save.
Houston batters were also unhappy with the umpiring which took hits away at first and gave the Padres a generous strike zone to throw to behind the plate. Hunter Pence was tossed out after a called strike three and he could have been joined by Jeff Keppinger and Lance Berkman except veterans are better equipped to bite their tongues.
Chris Johnson was the lone bright spot with three hits, including two doubles, to raise his batting average to .361. Conversely, Jason Castro has settled into the typical realm of Houston catchers. After an 0-for-4 night, his average has now slid to .182.
Brett Myers (5-5) will try to salvage a series split on Sunday when he faces a 4th-of-July showdown against Wade LeBlanc (4-5) in a 3:05 Central start. But don't expect any fireworks - not the way these two teams have hit. Instead, it could be settled by penalty kicks.
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