Houston Astros vs. Chicago Cubs

Series Wrap up

By the time the Astros headed into this series with the Chicago Cubs, they had quietly won three consecutive series and had posted a 7-3 record over their past ten games. The recent string of series wins was not enough to pull them up out of the NL Central cellar, but it did erase their previous seven-game slide. Fortunately for the Astros, no one team has run away with the division lead, and even though the Astros have yet to fight their way back to a .500 record, they are still only five games behind the division front-running Milwaukee Brewers.

Although the Astros had won their previous three series, this series proved to be their first serious test, as it was the first series in which they faced a team with a winning record, and the Astros had to face off against the top three pitchers in the Cubs rotation, Ted Lilly, Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster. The Astros proved to be up to the challenge, taking two of three in the series, and in the process notched their fourth consecutive series win and ran their record to 9-4 over their past 13 games.

Major league baseball has the longest and most challenging season of any of the world’s major sports, and during that 162-game season, there are always high points and low points peppered with a few moments that define a team’s season. In the early part of this season, this series win has to be a season highlight and a defining moment rolled into one. The Astros dropped the opening game of this series to a well-honed pitcher in Ted Lilly, who has now run his season record against the Astros to 3-0, but the Astros would rebound in games two and three, taking both games in walk-off fashion. Geoff Blum would be the hero in both games. Blum would plate the winning run in the ninth inning of the second game on a sharply hit single to centerfield that scored Miguel Tejada from third, and less than 24 hours later, he would repeat his heroics in the bottom of the 13 TH inning of the third game, lining a single past a diving Derrek Lee. Hunter Pence would score from second on the play to end the game and the series.

So, what have the Astros done differently over the past thirteen games? Let’s take a look, shall we? During the last thirteen-game stretch, the Astros were hitting at a .284 clip with a .351 OBP. They have narrowly outscored their opponents by a margin of 6 runs, 52-46, but if you take away the four losses, the Astros have outscored their opponents by 24 runs, 40-16. In those same four losses, the Astros starters gave up 23 runs in 18 2/3 innings for an ERA of 11.12 while yielding 6 HR. During the nine wins, Astros hurlers have surrendered only 12 runs in 59 2/3 innings and only 4 HR for an ERA of 1.81. The bullpen has come through in the clutch as well during this thirteen-game stretch, surrendering only 11 runs in 38 2/3 innings for a 2.50 ERA.

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Beyond all the stats, the Astros have shown some fight, something that has been missing from this team since the season began. The Astros are 4-0 in their one-run games during this stretch, and 6-0 in one- and two-run games. It has been a great month so far for the Astros, and they are hoping to continue their winning ways as they embark on a weekend series in Arizona to face off against the Diamondbacks before completing the nine-game road trip with two three-game sets between the Rangers and the Twins.

By: Jordan Fleck
MLBcenter.com Houston Astros correspondent

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