The Houston Astros fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon inside Busch Stadium. The loss means the Astros fall two games to one in the midweek series between the two teams.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Cardinals (9-9) went with Steven Matz on the mound in this one. He allowed back to back hits to start the game. Then, Isaac Paredes came through with an RBI to give Houston the early 1-0 lead.
The Astros (8-10) countered with Ronel Blanco. Blanco allowed a leadoff work, but then made quick work of the St. Louis lineup to post a zero in the opening frame.
Things were smooth sailing after that for both starting pitchers until the bottom half of the fifth. In that inning, Lars Nootbaar crushed a three-run homer to dead center field to put the Cardinals on the board and give them a 3-1 lead. Blanco would depart after five innings and those three runs allowed.
Logan Van Wey came on for Houston in the sixth, and immediately gave up three base runners. An RBI double from Thomas Saggesse made it 4-1 St. Louis and ended Van Wey’s outing after just one out.
No further damage was done by St. Louis, but the Astros’ offense could not get any traction. After the first inning run allowed, Matz was excellent. He gave up just the one run in five innings, and the Cardinals’ bullpen was also great. They worked the final four innings without giving anything up.
Houston fell in this one 4-1.
BIG NUMBER: 8
The Astros went scoreless in eight of the nine innings on Wednesday. Their offense just could not convert on any opportunities.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Lars Nootbaar
Nootbar’s three-run homer in the fifth inning proved to be the difference, as both teams just scored a single run otherwise. He finished 1-3 on the day with the homer and three RBIs.
UP NEXT: The Astros will be off on Thursday before returning home to host the San Diego Padres beginning on Friday at 7:10 PM. That game can be heard on Newstalk 98.5.