The Astros

Houston comes to town tonight having made up something ridiculous like 5 and 1/2 games on St. Louis this week and finding themselves only 2 and 1/2 back with 6 to go (St. Louis has the extra game in hand). That makes this a tough series. I'd love to see the Pirates play well to the end of the year, but I'd also kind of love to see LaRussa and co. choke just about as hard as anyone in history. The Bucs need one win to wrap up both a winning record after the break and a winning record at home, so I'd like to see them get that for mostly arbitrary purposes. Tonight Ian Snell and Andy Pettite take the mound. Snell needs this win for 15, the Astros need this win for the playoffs. Should be interesting.