For those of you keeping score: Brad Lidge has four consecutive saves in just as many opportunities. The problem is not the quantity though, more like the way those saves are earned.

Lidge got his eleventh rescue this season, once again with the possible tying run in circulation, and thanks to a great catch by Eric Bruntlett, the Astros insured a victory over the Cardinals 4-3, sweeping the redbirds in the two-game miniseries at Minute Maid Park.

Despite the fact it was another nerve-wracking ending for those who watched, listened or attended the game, there were several interesting things to notice:

– Andy Pettitte gave up a two-RBI double by So Taguchi in the second inning. However, he got back on track and only allowed three runs in 6.2 innings. (The third run was driven in by Jim Edmonds with a single).

– The Astros replied: Lance Berkman jacked a two-run homer in the fifth, off Chris Carpenter This was the eleventh dinger in 2006 for the first baseman, who is among the leaders in that department; combining power with consistency: he is currently hitting .347 with 37 RBI. (Singles by Willy Taveras in the fifth and Jason Lane in the sixth would bring home a run each).

– Dan Wheeler set the stage for Lidge in a remarkable way, with a shutout inning; at least the concerns are not coming from middle relief at this point.

– Phil Garner knows this very well: The only way in which a closer can deal with his crisis is by getting a chance each and every time a save is required. There’s nothing better to destroy a closer’s psyche than not using him in key situations. So that’s being avoided with Lidge.

– Albert Pujols went 0-for-4.

– This is the fourth consecutive defeat for the Cardinals, their longest negative streak since 2004.

After this very brief series, the Astros take the plane to Denver for one of the hardest tests the set
of rookie starters (Taylor Buchholz, Wandy Rodriguez and Fernando Nieve) will face this season: the red-hot Colorado Rockies in those special features that make Coors Field so unique, and so hostile to pitchers of all ages.

We honestly don’t know for certain who was traumatized the most with the episode lived by Brad Lidge and Albert Pujols at last year’s NLCS: if Lidge himself or many  members of the media.

Phil Garner, during a recent interview for our Spanish-language program magazine, Cronicas de los Astros, told us the young reliever had left it behind, saying "Everyone else is not letting it go, because everyone asks me for it!"

Certainly, last night was a proper occasion to remember it, because Lidge faced the redbirds for the first time this season, and with a two-run advantage for the ‘Stros, the closer lived yet another situation filled with suspense, giving up a run; however, Houston prevailed and beat St. Louis with a minimal difference of 5-4.

The Astros did just enough: they scored early in the game, with a two-run double by Lance Berkman and a sacrifice fly by Jason Lane.

Roy Oswalt didn’t allow the game to get out of his hands, despite the three homers he gave up: to Scott Spezio in the third, Albert Pujols in the seventh and Hector Luna in the eighth. Oswalt struck out 5 and allowed 4 hits in total.

Willy Taveras increased the advantage in the sixth with an RBI triple. The Dominican outfielder had a stellar evening, going 3-for-4 with one driven in. Taveras was brought home with a two-baser by Berkman, who went 3-for-5 and 3 batted in, becoming the NL leader in that category, above Pujols.

So Lidge got the ball, granting a double from John Rodriguez, who reached third with a sacrifice fly by Pujols; and scored with single by Jim Edmonds, representing the tying run himself. Tension increased when Edmonds stole second, and Lidge hit Juan Encarnacion with a pitch. In the end, the Astros closer took control of the situation, striking out Spezio and a grounder to first by pinch-hitter Aaron Miles.

The Astros did enough to get the win, nothing more and nothing less; and certainly the early runs proved to be valuable. We hope that Lidge, with this save, leaves his postseason troubles behind him, if he hasn’t done it so. And that also goes for the many who still talk about him being "Pujolsed". This tale is already old and worn off.

Every outing by Fernando Nieve had a thing in common: he was acceptable on the mound, but he had poor run support. That happened until tonight.
The Venezuela-born pitcher enjoyed his first Major League win, throwing seven outstanding innings in which he gave up for hits, seven runs and fanned seven, for an Astros victory 8-5 over the Milwaukee Brewers.

While Nieve gave proof of the quality of young Astros starters such as himself; it was a rough night for Ben Sheets, who allowed seven runs in 2.1 innings pitched, in which he was severely punished by the Astros offense.

It was a good night overall, offensively speaking: Lance Berkman went 2-for-4 with an RBI vía sac-fly; Mike Lamb was 3-for-5 scoring three; Preston Wilson (you?re reading it right) was 2-for-5 with a couple scored; Brad Ausmus had a perfect 3-for-3 night with a run driven in; and Adam Everett went 2-for-4 with 4 runs batted in. Even Nieve himself contributed with an RBI single. It?s good to see that the 5-6-7-8 batters in the lineup kept the hits coming in the second and third frames.

Surely this is a good note to end up a road trip, and it proves there?s plenty of lumber to get the wins. Tomorrow will be a test of fire, when Jason Marquis steps on the mound for the Cardinals against Roy Oswalt at Minute Maid Park.

Wandy Rodriguez was once again on top of his game, throwing six solid innings. It wasn’t enough.

Once again the Astros bullpen, this time represented by Dan Wheeler, couldn’t keep the Brewer offense on hold, conceding two costly runs that would ensure a Milwaukee win over Houston, 4-2.

Wandy was consistent enough, fanning 4 and granting 7 hits, two of them solo homers from Carlos Lee in the third frame, and from Bill Hall in the seventh, the only runs Rodriguez would earn in the contest.

For the Astros, Eric Munson got his first tater this season, in the seventh.

With a 2-2 tie, Wheeler gets the ball, and this time, he was hopelessly erratic in his delivery: walk for Prince Fielder followed by a double from Hall got two men in scoring position, driven in by consecutive sacrifice flies by Damian Miller and Brady Clark.

Houston only got four hits in the whole game, and to top it all off Wheeler handed the win over to the Brewers, in the first matchup of the series. We’ve seen too much of this "shaky bullpen" plot already; however, we can’t all say everything is lost. Far from it.

Today, the Cincinnati Reds’ winning streak stopped at six games. Taylor Buchholz gave a welcome birthday present to Manager Phil Garner on his 57th, with yet another remarkable pitching performance that ensured his second win this season, and an Astros win, with a final score of 3-2.

Buchholz did a solid job in 6.1 innings, fanning 2 and granting 6 walks, keeping a shutout until the 6th inning, in which Adam Dunn went yard for the ninth time this year, driving in the only pair of runs the Reds would get in the whole contest.

Houston launched some rockets of their own: Lance Berkman drove in two with a dinger on the first, setting a new franchise record in RBI for the month of April with 29. The previous mark was held by Moises Alou with 28, back in 1998. Three innings later, Jason Lane unloaded a solo shot. Both homers were off starter Elizardo Ramirez.

The most positive note today was that Brad Lidge finally got a save: all outs recorded in the ninth were strikeouts, only adding up more drama to the situation, considering there were men on base. Previously, Chad Qualls had a pretty efficient outing as well.

As Thomas pointed out in his blog, few people thought possible that veteran pitchers such as Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte would fall to Cincinnati, and that the only win in the series would be responsibility of a rookie like Buchholz.

The Astros got a 16-8 record for the month of April, and there are several things in store to keep an eye on: they remain a half game back in the NL Central. So the mission now is to get back on first place. Voting for the All-Star game has started, and you know that will keep us talking for a while (I’ll tell you my opinion about that later), and last but not least: starting tomorrow, Tim Purpura can call Roger Clemens and his agents freely.

Andy Pettitte is not having it easy  out there. He’s had a season start that’s too easy to forget, with a 1-4 record. His last defeat came on Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds 6-3, casually the second loss in a row for the Astros. This new Red Machine is streaking, and ready to give Astros and Cardinals a run for their money at the NL Central.

While Pettitte was shaky to say the least (6 ER, 11 H, 5.0 IP), Aaron Harang silenced the ‘Stros offense (3 runs and 7 strikeouts in 7.2 frames), deserving a standing ovation from the 24,873 people attending Great American Ballpark.

What has happened to Houston in these couple of road games? They have left 16 men on base between both contests, and adding up to a rare faux pas from Roy Oswalt (his first loss to the Reds since 2001), there’s Pettitte’s bad luck. The absence of timely hitting has been a problem for the Astros, who weren’t able to figure out Harang and his delivery.

This represents the first series loss for Houston this year. They hope to get the good vibes going once again, and that’s especially needed, considering they’ll face their nemesis, the St. Louis Cardinals in a two-game miniseries.

Wandy Rodriguez has caught the eye of international media with his stellar performance. El Universal, the leading newspaper in Venezuela, profiles his unbeaten record in a piece about latin pitchers, and says that he has become a breakthrough player for Houston.

The full text can be found at the El Universal website, in Spanish of course.

Astros fans should thank God for Dave Borkowski. When the ‘Stros faced the fact they didn’t have neither position players nor pitchers left on the roster, Phil Garner had to give a vote of confidence to a man, who came from Round Rock to subsititute an ailing Trever Miller, and who hasn’t been on a Major League mound in over two years.

Borkowski wanted to make up for lost time, and was able to keep Dodger bats silent during 4 shutout innings, striking out 4; and setting the scene so Houston could beat LA 4-3 in the longest regular-season game ever played at Minute Maid Park (4 hours, 48 minutes).

Fernando Nieve had a pretty good outing during 4.2 IP, in which he allowed 2 runs in the fifth frame, via a Kenny Lofton double and single by Jeff Kent, fanned 2 and walked a pair. After that, four relievers (Russ Springer, Mike Gallo, Chad Qualls and Dan Wheeler) appeared and avoided a Dodger rebellion, keeping the 2-2 tie.

The Astros took an early and brief advantage on the scoreboard due to a Brad Penny Wild Pitch in the seventh (that was how we and the official scorekeeper saw it; despite the many times Dodger announcers said it was a passed ball), allowing a run scored by Preston Wilson. It was a welcome change of pace for the new Astros outfielder, different from his pesky offensive drought. He ended the night batting 2-for-5 with 2 RBI. Certainly, he needs a few more nights like this one in order for his .227 BA to improve.

Once again Brad Lidge had a blown save in the ninth: Consecutive walks to Oscar Robles and Kenny Lofton, and an intentional base on balls to J.D. Drew congested the bases, in a script that is being played frighteningly often. Kent tied the score with a sac-fly sending Robles home.

So the hours went. Some fans took a nap, some returned home, while Borkowski made a spectacular Astros debut; until his turn at the plate was taken by Roy Oswalt instead. That meant Ezequiel Astacio would relieve Borkowski. Astacio took the win in the end, allowing no runs, despite the fact he walked two.

The fourteenth inning was once again solid evidence of how valuable Willy Taveras’ speed is. He took a free base courtesy of Hong-Chih Kuo; after that, a Lance Berkman single (and the subsequent handling of the ball in play) sent two men on scoring position. Kuo didn’t take any chances with Morgan Ensberg and gave him an intentional walk (it was obvious that Dodger pitchers respected Ensberg in a way that was reserved for guys like Barry Bonds). Wilson sent a fly to center which in the end meant a walk-off run for the Stros.

After the game there were several questions floating above a covered Minute Maid Park (it was a rainy night): How long is the Lidge crisis going to last? Is this the beginning of a solid bullpen performance from Borkowski? Did Wilson finally end his slump? Did Adam Everett had just a scare? (X-Rays were negative in the end, so there’s a sigh of relief).

Tonight Astros fans were submitted to an unjustifiable emotional roller coaster set out to test all kinds of endurance. I’m not exaggerating.

From the suspense that came from watching a pitching masterpiece being set by Andy Pettitte, being excited by a Lance Berkman tater, up to seeing Brad Lidge not being able this time to erase his own mistakes, making a rare blown save in the regular season, threatening us to see more of those often.

Lidge surrendered a grand slam to Nomar Garciaparra, and with that, a Dodger win over the Astros 6-2 at Minute Maid Park.

I will confess, I’m not much into looking for statistics and references for no-hitters while a pitcher is close to achieve that. It’s our duty though, and you might call my issue a superstition. But Andy Pettitte gave us a worthy right to dream about seeing a moment of glory not lived by a single pitcher for himself donning an Astros jersey since Darryl Kile back in September 1998; or by a collective group of hurlers since Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Lidge himself, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner no-hit the Yankees in 2003.

In 6.1 innings, Pettitte gave us solid evidence  why he’s one of the best pitchers in recent years. But the magic ended with a solo home run by J.D. Drew. Pettitte would end his performance without decision, walking 3 and fanning 5. It’s a radical departure from the Pettitte we saw in his last two starts: hardly a dominating pitcher, more erratic than ever before.

Derek Lowe also knew what it was like to be clubbed in his opening start this year. That was kept in the past though; and despite the fact he allowed four hits, he was a worthy opponent in the pitching duel against Pettitte during seven frames. In the eighth, Takashi Saito came to the mound, and surrendered a solo shot from Lance Berkman, his seventh for the year, giving the Astros a 2-1 advantage.

That was handed over to Brad Lidge so he could take care of it and turned it into a win that could appear on the NL Central standings. But that didn’t happen. Triple by Kenny Lofton, and consecutive walks for Drew and Jeff Kent prepared the scene for Garciaparra, who shot a monster dinger deep into center field, a grand slam that would seal the game’s fate.

This is certainly not the Brad Lidge we are used to see. We hope he returns, more sooner than later; and this only becomes part of the material in which he’ll build a tough armor that, as a closer, he must wear day in and day out.