Nobody is ready to panic, but team leaders Jeff Bagwell and Moises Alou admit it is time for concern about the Astros offense, which has been largely MIA in the last two weeks. Game stories for yesterday's win a below. The offense snapped out of its doldrums, piling on 14 hits and 7 runs to give Roy Oswalt an easy 7-1 victory. He walked none and allowed only 5 hits. With the Cubs' loss today, Houston's NL Central lead jumps back to 4 games.
Someone needs to wake up the offense.
The Cubs are playing too well for the Astros to rely so heavily on their pitching staff, especially when Pedro Astacio 's return is uncertain. Game summaries for yesterday's loss are below, along with an interesting article about ex-Astro Tuffy Rhodes' chase for the HR record in Japan. The Astros lumber still slumbered, mustering only four hits and two runs against Elmer Dessens in a 3-2 loss to the Reds. Three of the team's four hits came in the fourth inning, when both runs were scored. Jeff Bagwell led off with a solo homer, Lance Berkman walked, then advanced and scored on singles by Richard Hidalgo and Vinny Castilla .