The fans in Houston have mercilessly booed Carlos Beltran every time he has come to play the Astros since he left them to sign with the Mets in 2005, and this year should be no different. But coming off his best individual game…maybe ever as a Met, Beltran could be poised to send thousands of Astros fans home very unhappy this weekend.

Michael Bourn extended his reached base streak to 25 games with a walk, a FC and a ROE4, stole a base and scored a run.

J Happ looked awful – especially in the first when he gave up a leadoff homer which was a line drive (oh yes, it was – to the Conoco Pump balcony) to Rickie Weeks on a FB right down the middle. Then a GR double (or it woulda been a triple) to Hart on a ball that was hit so hard to right that it bounced into the RF bullpen. Then a homer to Ryan Braun on a hanging curve which hit the tracks over the Crawford Boxes. Then he walks da Prince. Then McGehee flies out to the warning track in deep center. Gomez singles Prince to second, then they both advance on a wild pitch with Escobar hitting.

Brad Mills is more obsessed with platoons than Phil PLUS Coop. He pulls more pitchers for being the wrong hand than TLR ever did. But I doubt that a lefty beating a lefty is going to do anything to his obsession.

I was, by the way, gonna title this one – In Which Hunter Pence Is The Goat – but hey, baseball is all about failure. Pence misplayed the go-head triple in the 6th, grounded out weakly with bases loaded in the 5th, and struck out stranding Bourn, who drove in the only Astros runs, in the 10th.

The game draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaged. It took 3 1/2 hours to finish the bottom of the 9th and I was glad that I hadn’t gone, fireworks or no fireworks (forget the harmonica thingy for the record – they couldn’t pay me to have to listen to that)…

JA Happ pitched the 3rd Astros complete game this year, a 3-0 shutout of the Cards. Unlike his previous starts, he threw mostly strikes, going to only three 3 ball counts. One walk, 2 singles, 1 GIDP (from Uncle). And that was really all she wrote.

It was a nice quick Roy-O style game – 2 hrs, 1 min, first pitch to last – probably because there was exactly 1 mound conference – the Cards in the 7th. And only 1 pitching change, and that was to start an inning.  I LIKEY!!!! It’s true that all the running out to the mound, stepping out, stepping on, stepping off makes games incredibly more boring and I wish the time limits were enforced (yeah, they are ALREADY ML rules, but not enforced…)

Well, I know he dood it, but I don’t know HOW he dood it. He doesn’t have awesome stuff, he went to 5 three ball counts, but somehow he gave up only 5 hits, 2 walks 1 homer, 2 runs over 6.1 IP.  He got a little lucky and unlucky in the 6th, when with Halliday on second and Victorino on first, Polanco hit a ball to the LF wall that Clank misplayed – it really SHOULD have been caught, but he took a bad route, let it hit the ground and bounce off the wall, and Halliday scored, and for some reason I do NOT get, they held Victorino, who is almost Bourn fast, at third. It is absolutely ridiculous that not getting a very catchable ball isn’t called an error, but even Roy Oswalt would have made that play in left. But then Happ then got out Utley and Werth. Amazing.

Well, I’d heard that the Marlins eat lefty pitchers alive and they surely did.

This weekend was a little crazy for us – getting kidz ready to start skool, and any female who has “baby fever” can cure herself right quick by dragging 4 skool age kids around to get new shoes (which kids go through like Prince Fielder goes through donuts) and Skool Stuff. Husband made the earth shatteringly stupid (for him) mistake of asking why it always takes so long, so before he knew what hit him, he found himself with car keys in hand, taking the kids his own darn self. MWAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You know that Sundays are designated “kids days” at the Box, right? They have all this kid-friendly stuff in Union Station – face painting, fake wax hands, one of those enclosed inflated trampolines thingys, as well as some sort of free gift for kids, kids run the bases after the game, etc. It is smart marketing because bring kids cost you a zillion times more than going with adults – all the endless junk food and the souveniers, etcetcetc.

And the Astros ran this promotion this weekend of $9.00 field box tickets (along the first and 3rd base line, on the OF side of the bases – usually $39, but they took off $$$ based on how many runs the Astros scored on a game in the St. Louis series and they scored like a zillion – and the stros stopped at 9 bucks. Anyway, a certain person wanted me to take her kids to the game and gave me tickets for the 2 kids, husband and me and our kids. Worst part was that that person, in front my my kieds – gave me some money and said for me to buy the kids some food.

Unbelieveable.

A great pitchers’ duel for 7 innings.

Jair Jurrgens was almost unhittable, except by CJ (naturally) who had 2 singles, Wallace, who singled, Castro, who singled and Bourn, who tripled to the RF gap – the hardest hit ball all night. He SHOULD have had this game won as a shutout, but with 1 out and Bourn on 3rd, he got Kepp to ground out to short (JUST like last night with Pence on 3rd) and AGAIN, Alex Gonzalez, the SS messed up the throw home- it one hopped and McCann couldn’t tag the sliding Bourn – who, by the way, missed the plate. Fortunately for him, McCann missed the ball, which rolled all the way to the backstop and Bourn heard the screams from the dugout to go back and tag in time.

J Happ was absolutely horrible from the first pitch. He simply couldn’t get the ball in the strike zone (and this was NOT borderline stuff, neither) and walked Lopez on 5 pitches, went to 3-0 on Rasmus before striking him out, then Uncle hit a GR double to the RF bullpen, then 3 straight singles before a flyout, then an RBI single by Carpenter, then a 3-2 groundout.

4 freaking runs against Carpenter. Peachy.

But In the top of the second, Wallace draws a 4 pitch walk, then CJ hit an 0-2 FB over the CF wall – like 440′ – wonder if Rasmus could have gotten that on the Hill at home…

So it’s 4-2, and there’s a chance.

Roy Oswalt pitched his first game tonight as a Phillie, gave up 5 runs, had crappy defense, got 1 run of support – must have felt right at home.

Meanwhile, J Happ threw 6 innings of 2 hit, a 2 base ROE by Clank, 4 walk ball. He doesn’t have really great stuff – a FB 89-93 MPH, a curve he seldom threw, and a changeup. It’s funny because Manny Parra has better stuff, including an unhittable changeup, but he just can’t seem to throw his great stuff consistently, don’t ask me why. Must drive Brewers fans crazy.

Tonight, no Roy, no Pence, no Berkman, no problem.