Houston Takes Two of Three from Detroit; Backe Left In Shock; Hampton Returns

I was able to go to all three games at Minute Maid Park this weekend against the Detroit Tigers. Boy, what a fun time I had. It was awesome.

On Friday, Detroit got off to a fast start, earning a 4-0 lead in the first two innings. However, the Astros held them scoreless the rest of the game.

Then, the Astros scored two in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-run double by Tejada, and then scored one more in the sixth, and two more in the 8th thanks to Zumaya hitting the strike zone as often as a David Eckstein home run. Astros won the game, 5-4. There were fireworks after the game.

Saturday, everything went well. Paulino pitched an amazing game with a 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, and 9 K line. Paulino set a new personal career record for most strikeouts in a game.

Astro bats were hot throughout the entire game, busting in five runs in the third with help from a Matsui two-run HR. Astros finished off with 13 hits and eights runs, winning 8-1.

Sunday was a bit more disappointing. In the fourth, Hunter Pence laced a double down the line. Keppinger scored from second, and Lee scored from first on the hit. However, a fan reached down and tried to catch the ball, which resulted in a ground rule double for Pence, forcing Lee back to third, and an automatic ejection of the fan.

Pudge then struck out, leaving Lee left to hang on third. That fan cost us a run! And it came back to haunt us...Valverde comes in for the save with a 3-2 lead. Gets two outs, then walks Thames.

Inge comes up, Valverde makes a mistake with a fastball up the middle, and Inge takes advantage, crushing the ball over the Crawford Boxes for a two-run HR giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead.

Rodney then finished the game off, only giving up one hit to Geoff Blum. Had that fan not touched the ball, the game would have been tied, heading to extra innings...

Houston could have swept, but Inge capitalized on Valverde's mistakes. Other notes from Houston:

- Brandon Backe was designated for assignment...and was completely shocked.
"It's kind of a shock to me," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I got to talk to my agent. To be honest with you, hopefully another team picks me up and I get to the big leagues. I don't know. We'll just have to take it one step at a time. I've never been in this situation before. It's something new to me. I'll just see what comes about."

Backe will likely not start for Houston ever again.

- Cecil Cooper is contemplating a tough choice out in Houston. Mike Hampton is scheduled to return from the 15 day DL and start Tuesday against San Diego, leaving Russ Ortiz and Brian Moehler fighting for one spot.