Jose Bautista's blast in the 8th off Chad Qualls was the major blow of the Pittsburgh eighth,but Ronny Paulino's follow up single later in the inning proved to be the bigger as the Pirates needed all those runs to defeat the Astros 4-3.
Ian Snell and Roy Oswalt locked up in a pitchers duel for six innings,but Snell's replacement Francisco Osoria allowed the Astros to take a 2-1 lead on a Lance Berkman homer.
But Bautista's homer gave the Pirates a 3-2 margin and Paulino's single scored Steven Pearce to extend the lead.
The Astros cut the lead to 4-3 in the 9th,but Matt Capps came in to slam the door and preserve the win.
It was the 17th save of the year for Capps.
Romulo Sanchez received the victory,his first ever.
Ian Snell allowed just 1 run off 5 hits and whiffed 8 Astros in his six inning no-decision stint.
The play of the game was made by Nyjer Morgan,who made a tremendous catch against the wall in the 3rd inning.
The catch was eventually selected as ESPN's top play of the day.
The 3 game series continues tonight in Houston.
Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh: Matt Morris (9-9) at Houston: Wandy Rodriguez (8-13) 7:05
Bullpen Notes
In a disappointing note-Chris Antonetti of the Indians declined an interview for the Pirates GM position.
Too bad,I thought he would have been a nice fit.
It likely is not a big deal overall,but things are starting to fall into place on how Bill Belichick went from clueless putz in Cleveland to genius in New England isn't it?
You cannot know how many Browns fans have written or wondered how this happened after watching Belichick's 5 year run in Cleveland.
Maybe we are seeing a small part of how it happened.............
Thanks for all the kind words on Forgotten Superstars.
It is one of the most fun features that I write,but takes a lot of time,so they usually only get posted on slow days,but look for more in the future!
In political news,I see that Gloria Borger is with CNN now as a political analyst.
I usually watch MSNBC,so I would have preferred to see the insightful Borger go there,but the US News and World Report editors thoughts are interesting,no matter the network.
As I usually do,after breaking down tape of the Browns game,I have been watching some of the Browns shows on Sports Time Ohio and came away very impressed with Mary Kay Cabot.
Cabot,the Browns beat reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer,came off to me as the most knowledgeable of all the Browns media and didn't pull punches either.
On the Cleveland scene,at this time last year I didn't have STO,but did have Fox Ohio.
So this year,I have double the Browns stuff to watch.
In a week or two,I will give some thoughts on which channel is more informative for the Browns fan.
The main battle seems to be at the call-in show spot where STO has "All bets are off" with
Bruce Drennan vs Fox Ohio's "Cleveland Rants" with Les Levine and Kendall Lewis.
I watch both,but tend to watch Drennan here at the world headquarters.
Why?
Cherie cannot STAND Les Levine.............
Worried about today's game for Ohio State,but I will pick them in a close one 20-14.
Photo Credit
Morgan-David Phillip-AP Photo
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