Pirates 1 Astros 0

Well, I think we can call tonight a "good win." I'm not exactly a fan of calling wins at this point in a futile season "big" or "important" because, well, nothings been important for a while. The only thing that matters is that guys like Doumit, Eldred, Duffy, McLouth, Duke, Snell, etc. get their time in so that we can convince ourselves to be hopeful again come next Piratefest in February. Tonight was one of those games that gives people like me hope. So where to begin? Clemens and Kip of course.

The Rocket was absolutely on tonight. I could complain 9 strikeouts we only made him throw 88 pitches in 8 innings, or the fact that he got a huge strike zone at some points, but instead, let's just focus on the fact that no matter the size of the strike zone, the guy was unhittable tonight. Our only two hits were grounders just out of the reach of infielders by Mackowiak and Doumit. That being said, I have to compliment Lloyd for playing both Eldred and Doumit tonight. Tonight would be a night where giving Ward a start at first would only draw protests from a few people (me being one of them). He could have just as easily gone with Cota behind the plate, a guy Kip is used to throwing too, a guy that isn't a rookie, to go against the Rocket. He didn't, and he should be commended for that. I absolutely loved watching Doumit and Eldred battle Clemens tonight, no matter how many times they struck out or how many hits they got. They both started tentatively (Eldred only managed two check swings on awful pitches in his first AB, Doumt struck out looking), but by the end of the game they were getting their hacks in, with Eldred being about an inch away from launching one over the traintracks in the 8th(but still missing a Clemens heater) and Doumit pullling an 0-2 pitch between first and second for our second hit off the Rocket. It was good stuff, and it's exactly why these guys should be here now and playing every day. One day against Roger Clemens does these guys more good than a month at AAA right now.

As for Kip, well, he was the old Kip tonight. He kept getting ahead and falling behind (he's one of the worst pitchers I've ever seen in 0-2 and 1-2 counts) but he more or less hit his spots tonight. He gave up a bunch of hits, but nothing was really hit very hard off him. Oh yeah, and he didn't give up any runs. That was big. Of course, true to form, we gave him ZERO run support (he's last in the league in that category so even with as awful as he's been, it's not all his fault), though the reason for that was, clearly, the opposition. All in all, a great start for Kip tonight, on the road (where he hasn't won since MAY) in a tough place to pitch.

So that brings us to the 9th. Phil Garner (who's done a great job in Houston, I thought it was an awful move when they brought him in last summer, shows what I know) flashed back to last year's playoffs (when he managed his pen similarly to Lloyd) pulled Clemens after the aforementioned 88 pitches to bring in Brad Lidge. Sure, Lidge is great, but Clemens was still hitting 94 on the gun in the 8th. It wasn't Brad Lidge time. Lidge got ahead 0-2 on Jack and Bob Walk braced the crowd for Lidge's filthy slider. Lidge groved a fastball (perhaps because he was facing a .238 hitting 8 hitter) and Jack hit a ball that's a homer pretty much nowhere but Houston. Good thing that's where we were tonight. Somehow two of Jack Wilson's seven homers this year have accounted for two of the five Brad Lidge has given up. Baseball can be a funny game. We threatened for more in the 9th, but didn't get them, then Mesa slammed the door (I know, it sounds funny, but hey, a 1-2-3 inning with 2 Ks is good stuff, as long as he's NEVER SEEN IN A PIRATES UNIFORM EVER AGAIN).

So where does tonight leave us? Well, 17 games under .500 in August. Not a great place to be, but when you stand up to the best stuff Roger freaking Clemens throws at you and come out with a 1-0 win with a lineup full of players no one would be sorry to see next year (except Tike Redman, but that's a different story), well, no one's sorry to see that.