The Houston Astros admit they will be watching the scoreboard this week to see how the Cubs are doing in Puerto Rico against the San Juan/Montreal Expos. The Astros have won four of the last six National League Central titles, but they believe the Cubs are good enough not only to win the division, but also to reach the World Series.
“Absolutely,” center fielder Craig Biggio said. “They have one of the best pitching staffs in the National League. It’s no fun facing them.”
But Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, in a game the Astros won 8-4 to tie the idle Cubs for the division lead, they were more concerned about another pitching staff. Their own.
Their attention was riveted on the Miller Park mound, where ace Roy Oswalt was returning from the disabled list for the third time this season. Oswalt (7-5), who had been bothered by a strained groin, worked five innings for his first win since July 23, also against the Brewers. Milwaukee lost its fourth straight game, following a three-game sweep by the Cubs last weekend.
“I felt good out there,” Oswalt said. “I thought I threw a few good pitches out there. I feel good right now in terms of my arm and leg.”
Biggio said Oswalt “is the ace of our staff, and just getting him back picks you up. It’s like when the Cubs got [Mark] Prior back [from his shoulder injury in July].”
Oswalt was on a pitch count Monday, throwing 86 after what the team considered a good simulated game of 60 pitches Tuesday in Los Angeles. But manager Jimy Williams isn’t allowing himself to get too excited until Oswalt re-establishes himself as the head of the staff.
Oswalt made trips to the DL in May, June and July, and his sudden fragility is one reason Williams will not shrink his rotation to a core of four starters.
“Not counting Oswalt,” Williams said, revealing how tenuous the right-hander is in Williams’ mind, “we only have five starters. We have to prepare those five starters because if one of them goes down and Oswalt is not there, we have to get those guys what they need.”
Oswalt’s season, in which the Astros expected him to join Wade Miller in a Randy Johnson-Curt Schilling type of tandem, has been a monumental disappointment for Houston. That has been particularly true with Miller (12-12) not pitching up to his share of the dream either.
Oswalt finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting in 2002. He went 14-3 and 19-9 the last two seasons, including a 4-0 record against the Cubs last year and seven shutout innings in a no-decision May 31. Oswalt’s availability could be nothing less than a determining factor in whether the Astros can nose out the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals in the division race.
“You want to win or lose with your best out there,” said pitching coach Burt Hooton, a former Cub. “There is no doubt that he’s one of our better pitchers, and if we can keep him healthy, hopefully for the next seven weeks, it improves our chances of winning.”
The Astros gave Oswalt an early lead on Lance Berkman’s three-run double in the first. Jeff Bagwell’s 33rd home run with one on in the fourth made it 5-0.
Wes Helms’ 20th home run in the fourth brought Milwaukee within 5-3. Richard Hidalgo led off the Houston fifth with his 23rd homer. Milwaukee matched that run with one in the fifth on Bill Hall’s single, but Houston added runs on a double by Bagwell in the sixth and Biggio’s sacrifice fly in the ninth to take a step closer to Williams’ goal.
“You want to play when it’s cold twice: once in April, again in October,” Williams said. “You want to be in the hunt in September, and here we are, with a chance to do something. You don’t get that many chances to do something. Right now I don’t care how you feel. You are not allowed to be tired.”
