MLB Game Wrap | Footer Story | Wigginton’s Injury | GameZone | Comical
Roy Oswalt brought his A-game to Coors Field Saturday night, throwing his fifth career shutout and his first since 2005. Except for a leadoff single surrendered to Brad Hawpe in the fifth, Oswalt held the Rockies hitless, the first one-hitter of his career.
Hunter Pence supplied all the offense Oswalt required, drilling a two-out, two-run homer off Colorado starter Jeff Francis in the sixth. Francis otherwise pitched well, scattering seven hits and striking out five Astros in 6-1/3 innings.
Unfortunately, the victory was not without cost, as the Astros lost Ty Wigginton when he strained his groin trying to run out a grounder on the first plate appearance of the game. Wigginton, who has been perhaps Houston’s most consistent hitter this year and has excelled filling in for the injured Carlos Lee, is expected to miss at least a week. Wigginton is batting .294 with 22 home runs, a .363 OBP and a .552 slugging percentage this season. Spark plugs, anyone?
Oswalt struck out six but walked two batters and hit two others. His stellar performance gave Oswalt a scoreless streak of 23-1/3 innings and was his seventh straight outing of seven innings or more. Over that span, Oswalt is 6-1 with a 1.33 ERA and has lowered his season ERA from 4.56 to 3.72. After a 7-8, 4.56 first half, Oswalt is now 7-1, 2.20 in the second half. His prior career shutouts include a two-hitter in 2005, a three-hitter and a five-hitter in 2004 and a seven-hitter as a rookie in 2001.
With the win, the Astros improved to 75-67, remaining one game behind the Cardinals for third place. The Astros have won nine of 10. Houston and Colorado play again Sunday at 2:05 p.m. Central Time, with Wandy Rodriguez (8-6, 3.76) facing Jorge De La Rosa (8-7, 5.23). Rodriguez has faced the Rockies once in his career. De La Rosa will be making his first appearance against the Astros.
