HOUSTON - GAME RECAP

August 4th- Houston 4, Montreal 1 - Attendance 38,769

A battle of O's tonight as Astro rookie Roy Oswalt faced Tomokazu Ohka who had been acquired by the Expos at the trade deadline. And O's were all that were on the scoreboard for the first six innings as both pitchers were nearly perfect - Oswalt had hit Jose Vidro in the fourth, while Ohka had given up two doubles, one in the fifth to Lance Berkman and one in the 6th to Brad Ausmus.

Ohka throws

In the top of the 7th, Mike Mordecai led off and topped a ball along the third base line where Vinny Castilla barehanded it and threw to first - but Mordecai had beaten it out and Oswalt's no-hitter was over. But that seemed to relax the Houston offence, who finally got to Ohka in their half of the 7th. Julio Lugo and Jeff Bagwell led off with back-to-back singles and after Berkman popped out, Moises Alou doubled in the first run of the game. Reliever Brett Reames came in and promptly threw a wild pitch allowing Bagwell to score. With two out, Castilla was plonked by Reames and then Ausmus doubled in both runners to make it 4-0 Astros. 

Bagwell swings

Oswalt worked into the ninth and had two out and a man on second when Mordecai doubled to ruin the shutout. Vladmir Guerrero was up next, and Astro manager Larry Dierker came out to make sure Oswalt was OK. He was and Guerrero weakly grounded out - Oswalt had a complete game 3-hitter as the Astros moved up on the Cubs with a 4-1 victory. This was a great game, with pitching on both ends and it rates a 9/10.

Oswalt chucks one in there

August 5th- Houston 4, Montreal 1 - Attendance 36,240

Wade Miller started for the Astros tonight and lasted a total of one pitch. Expos' leadoff hitter Peter Bergeron bunted and first baseman Bagwell tossed to Miller covering. Miller cut in front of Bergeron and they collided, with Miller's pitching hand ending up under Bergeron's foot. The spike caused a cut requiring 4 stitches and removing Miller from the game.

Ron Villone relieved and did a good job for nearly 5 innings, yielding only a solo home run to Bergeron in the 3rd inning. Houston manufactured singles in the third when Guerrero dropped a fly ball, and the 4th, when Alou's single drove in Berkman who had doubled. In the 6th, Alou and Castilla both hit solo shots to make the score 4-1 and the Houston bullpen shut the Expos down the rest of the way. Another 4-1 victory and another game in the standings - the Cubs better watch out! This game was a bit disappointing as Miller went out early, but still gets a 6/10 as the Astro bullpen saved the day.

Out at second