Astros Rough Up Cole Hamels, Win Third Straight

The Phillies offense is suddenly struggling mightily and the Astros have been able to take advantage the past three days. This time it was Bud Norris shutting down the Phillies offense enough to give his guys a chance against Hamels. They took the chance he gave them and banged out eight hits off of Hamels and strung them together at the right times to get four runs of the Phils’ lefty. Hamels had pitched twenty-one consecutive scoreless innings before surrendering a run in the third. Offensively, the Astros were led by Miguel Tejada and Michael Bourn:

Offensively, Miguel Tejada collected four hits including two infield singles. Hustlin’ when your club is 15 games out. Thank you, Miguel. Mike Bourn stole a base each of the two times he was on, and was knocked in along with Kaz Matsui on a Carlos Lee single in the sixth inning. That hit would prove to be enough for the Astros, as they won their 3rd consecutive game against the leaders of the NL East.The good news for the Phillies is that the Marlins and Braves both lost as well so they maintained their six and half game lead over the Marlins.