Happ: Nowhere to hide
(c) Associated Press
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All good things must come to an end. So it was for the Astros' seven-game winning streak and 12-game Wednesday streak in an 8-4 defeat in St. Louis. After a brilliant first start as an Astro, J.A. Happ was clubbed for seven runs which is more than you should ever grant former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter and expect to win.
Happ either couldn't find the plate or found too much of it as the Redbirds teed off with six hits and three walks before Happ could record an out in the second stanza. When Albert Pujols smashed his 27th homer, a three-run shot into the Cardinal bullpen, Happ's night was finished.
The Astros' bullpen did admirably as Nelson Figueroa, Wilton Lopez and Brandon Lyon kept the Cardinals at bay before Gustavo Chacin allowed a run in the eighth.
Chris Johnson's two-run blast to dead center gave Houston a glimmer of hope and the plan was to try to wait out Carpenter in the 95-degree heat and then pounce on the tired Cardinal bullpen. Carpenter lasted into the eighth however and, though the Astros tacked on two more runs against Ryan Franklin in the ninth, it wasn't enough to threaten the outcome.
After a day off Thursday, the road trip continues Friday with a weekend series in Milwaukee against the recently-swept Brewers. It's mathematically possible for the Astros to return home in third place if everything goes well. Wandy Rodriguez (9-11) toes the rubber in the 7:10 Central opener against Dave Bush (5-9). Rodriguez has not been scored on in 15 innings of his last two starts.
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