Houston Astros pick up an important win as Philadelphia Phillies prolong their postseason bid
Things could have gone either way but it was Mike Myers who secured a massive victory for the Houston Astros. The pitcher restricted the Philadelphia Phillies to one run as the Astros ended their Monday, September 12 bout at Minute Maid Park in Houston with
a final score of 5-1. The Phillies lost their chance to complete a series sweep, while their qualification bid was prolonged by another game.
Myers has proven to be a thorn for the Phillies in the last two years. He joined the Astros in January, 2010 from the Philadelphia ball club on a free transfer. Since then he has given his former club a lot of trouble from the mound. The starter pitched
eight innings on Monday, restricting the opposition to one run from six hits.
Two other men were back against their former team and they were from the Phillies’ end. Minute Maid Park’s leader in wins, Roy Oswalt and former Number three, Hunter Pence were in the visiting team’s line up. Much to their disappointment, the Astros took
the upper hand with a 5-1 win. Myers spoke after the win, implying that the Houston team needed to move on.
Pence, on the other hand was surprised to see the Astros’ fans back him up from the stands. He was appreciative of the support.
"I didn't expect it to feel as weird as it did," Pence said. "It was strange. The support they gave me was incredible.”
The scoring count kicked off with the Phillies’ Raul Ibanez. The left-fielder scored the first run when Pete Orr drew in a single to the centre in the second inning. That was however the last time Philadelphia would score as the Astros responded in the fourth
with J. D. Martinez.
The rookie, who replaced Pence in the Houston line-up, scored the equaliser when Jimmy Paredes managed an infield single against Oswalt. The score changed 2-1 when a Humberto Quintero double allowed Brian Bogusevic to run home without trouble.
Things were bound to get worst for Oswalt as the former Houston star pitched a curveball on 0-2 to Carlos Lee. The hitter was waiting on the ball and he pulled it away towards left-field for a massive two-run homer. Martinez was happy to run home free on
the play. Lee later explained how he slammed Oswalt in the game.
"I've had about 25 at bats against him so I know what kind of pitcher he is," Lee said. "I got good at bats against him. We're hitting the ball good and giving ourselves opportunities to score some runs. Today, we got some key hits."
The last run of the game came in the seventh when Martinez scored again. Bogusevic grounded into fielder’s choice to allow for the major run. Things ended on 5-1 and Houston’s manager Brad Mills was ecstatic.
The Astros put in a brilliant performance as they managed to restrict the powerful Phillies’ offence from scoring big hits. Through some tremendous team-work and effective pitching, the Astros dominated throughout the entire game.
The Phillies now have to win their next game to qualify. Their loss however means the Astros can prolong their worst possible defeat record to the next day.
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