Houston, We Have A Problem

August 23:  Houston 3, PHILLIES 2

So, as yet another pennant race is shaping up, who rolls into town for a crucial, four-game set?  Yep, you guessed it:  the Astros.  And, just like 2006, when key September losses to Houston cost the Phils a wild card berth, we once again drop one to a team that's not even in a post-season race.

Brett Myers, to his credit, pitched very well (as I suspected he would in my post from last evening), keeping his team in the game long enough so that Carlos Lee could nick the bullpen for the game-winning hit.  What I didn't know, but discovered after the game, is that Myers has gone six innings or more in 26 consecutive starts, something that hasn't been done since Arizona's Curt Schilling went 32 in a row in 2002.  Kudos to Brett for posting such an impressive string of starts.

Joe Blanton pitched extremely well, given his troubles this year.  Seven innings and one run.  But the 'pen let him down, and that's been a huge bugaboo with the Phillies the last two years.  Bullpen meltdowns happen over the course of 162 games ... but we've experienced way too many the last two years.  And in 2010, given the injuries and inconsistent play from the offense, the 'pen simply has to be holding up its end of the bargain.  While they've done a good job, it hasn't been playoff-caliber at times, and at others, it's been eliminated-on-opening-day caliber.

One of my favorite blogs, The Good Phight, mentioned that this is a series that could easily go to the Astros, 3-1.  I scoffed at that when I read it this morning over a Butterscotch Krimpet and some Bosco.  But I'm not really scoffing, now.  I'm concerned that it might actually come to fruition.  I don't think anyone wants a long homestand to end in disaster, and possibly with the Phils looking at a four-game deficit or worse heading into that dreaded "West Coast Swing" (programming note:  a particular 9-0 "West Coast Swing" will be the subject of a coming WABAC Machine article).

Many Phillies fans see the Astros as Phillie Killers ... but that's plainly a myth.  As you can see, since 2005, the only time the Astros "killed" the Phils was the year the 'Stros went to the World Series:

PHILLIES RECORD VERSUS HOUSTON, 2005-2010
2010 (including tonight):  3-1
2009:  2-6
2008:  4-3
2007:  3-3
2006:  4-2
2005:  0-6

Yes, we lost a pair of September games to the Astros in Philadelphia in 2006 that cost us a wild card berth by one game, but those were in early September, and there were other games later in the month we could have won that would have made the losses to the Astros inconsequential.  But to label the Astros as "Phillie Killers" would be a misnomer.  Interesting how fiction quickly becomes reality.