Phillies Recap: Astros 2 Phillies 1

In an effort to bring you the most extensive Phils coverage, the effervescent Phillies Superfan Ballz D. McGuillicuty will be providing you with his insights after every Phils game. Hold onto your butts.

The Good:
Kyle Kendrick: Gonna be a short list of the good today but KK leads the list. Bouncing back from that horrendous effort against the Mets last time out, Kendrick looked solid in 7 strong. Even the ball the Bourn hit out was a good pitch. Only a 10-6 ground ball to fly ball ratio so the sinker wasn't at its peak, but solid enough. Another wasted outing from the starting staff.

Duration of Game: A crisp two hours and seventeen minutes. Easier to rebut the fiance's playful jab of, 'Oh good, I was hoping we'd get to watch baseball again tonight.' Ineptitude at least has some redeeming quality.

The Bad:
The Offense: Some days you just tip your cap to the opponent and I'll do that today to Roy Oswalt. He had nasty stuff working last night. We're talking frat party porno nasty. Anyone else see the curve he struck Burrell out on? Pat actually laughed in disbelief after missing it. It was that good. But...but...in the 8th and 9th innings, with Oswalt out of the game, the 'Stros called upon two relievers, one of a Rule 5 draftee, pitching his 3rd major league inning; the other, a 40 year old journeyman. Both throwing primarily fastballs. Wesley Wright did nothing other then strike out the side. Feliz, Utley, Howard. The last of those K's more predictable then the plot of The Devil's Advocate. Doug Brocail then mopped up, notching 2 strikeouts of his own. Note to Greg Dobbs: Stand closer to the plate!

The Hero:
Toss-up. Oswalt was great, but I'll go with Bourn. Responsible for both Houston runs including a surprising home run that wound up being the difference.

The Goat:
The offense, as a whole. This level of futility is inexcusable for this lineup, even without Rollins.

The Bottom Line:
Couple of quick thoughts. For the love of God, put Rollins on the DL. Two nights ago when he pinch hit, he almost collapsed after one of his swings. Last night, after getting a pinch hit single, they needed to run for him with Taguchi. The Phillies continue to play all of these close games and do so one man short on the bench. And every time they pinch hit with Rollins, that's just one more day we can't retro activate his DL stint.

And time to mention one of my favorite whipping boys here in the early going. Carlos Ruiz is hitting .186 with 0 HR's a two extra base hits in 43 AB. Chris Coste is hitting .267 with 1 HR and 3 extra base hits, in 28 fewer AB's. Coste has a career average of over 50 points higher then Ruiz, both with about 1 full season worth of AB under their belts. I understand Ruiz is the future and Coste is already long in the tooth. But can't we at least give Coste 2 out of every 5 games instead of 1?

Not a ton of insights today, but the game last night was pretty uneventful. Prediction for today, day game: Phillies 6 Astros 4 Chase Utley goes yard today...I have a feeling.