Harrell: Cool Hand Luke
(c) Associated Press
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Welcome to the majors, kid. Rookie Lucas Harrell, a mid-season waiver claim from the White Sox, learned a lesson about life with the Houston Astros. Five innings of great pitching leaves you vulnerable to four innings of spotty relief to undo your effort.
That was the case for Harrell Friday night as he blanked the division-leading Brewers on two hits for the first five frames but the Astros still lost, 8-2, as Zack Greinke picked up his 14th win despite being outpitched by Harrell.
Greinke gave up two runs in the fourth when Brian Bogusevic tripled and Jimmy Paredes singled him home. After a wild pitch and an error on the same play moved Paredes around to third, Clint Barmes spanked a double to plate the second run.
Greinke worked out of trouble that inning, as he did in the second when Houston loaded the bases but failed to score.
Then the Astros bullpen did what it has so often done this season - kicked the game away. Aneury Rodriguez gave up three runs in the seventh to be tagged with the loss then David Carpenter gave up two more in the eighth and Jordan Lyles surrendered three in the ninth.
Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee launched homers in the onslaught that snapped the Astros' four-game winning streak.
Bud Norris (6-8) will try to start a new streak Saturday when he duels Milwaukee lefty Chris Narveson who is 1-1 in three starts this season against Houston. The first pitch will be 6:05 Central.
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