The Astros check list to win the game tonight probably went something like this: Give the ball to Roy Oswalt, let him dominate the inferior Pirates lineup, score just enough runs to win. Things were pretty much going according to plan through eight innings. Oswalt threw 7 and 2/3 dominating frames in which he threw 75 of 92 pitches for strikes against the Pirates hacking batters and the 'Stros took a 2-1 lead into the ninth. In the ninth, Phil Garner made the curious choice of bringing Brad Lidge out to close instead of leaving Dan Wheeler in to finish the Pirates off (Wheeler had only pitched to one batter in the eighth) as he should've. Lidge got two outs, but Xavier Nady launched a 2 out game tying homer. Lidge managed to get out of the ninth, but Jason Bay launched a two run homer off of Chad Qualls in the tenth and the Pirates stole the Opening Day win.
Beyond Lidge, this was mostly a pitcher's battle for the first eight innings. As mentioned, Oswalt completely baffled Pirate hitters, save pinch hitter Nate McLouth who hit a homer in the eighth, and Zach Duke mostly cruised through seven strong innings with some solid defense behind him lead by Chris Duffy's two outfield assists and Jose Castillo's two tough double play turns and a diving catch and flip DP. It was mostly a lucky win for the Pirates, but hey, us Pirate fans will take whatever we can get.
The Astros' lone runs came from a Luke Scott two run homer in the fifth and that probably should've been enough except for the Lidge fiasco. So yeah, the Lidge watch is on and it probably isn't going to last much longer than the Pirates' reign in first place.
