Being .500 was nice while it lasted, right? While tonight was an especially bad game, the Astros have to keep their eyes on the prize. We said from the beginning that winning a 3-2 series against the Nationals would be considered a successful outcome... happy the team would be at Even McStevenson going into the break. As rough as tonight was, an L is an L. Win tomorrow and everything is fine.
There may be just one single quality that gives this team a fighter's chance to make the post season: the ability to forget one night's result and start fresh tomorrow. It's what you saw in Roy Oswalt during Game Six of the 2005 NLCS. It's what you saw in Geoff Blum the night after being on the receiving end of the very rare (reserved for the likes of Jimy Williams) Houston hometown boos. It's the contributions of guys like Chris Burke, Orlando Palmeiro, Jeff Keppinger, and LaTroy Hawkins. Guys that other teams would have/actually did give up on, end up being the keys to the team's success. Somehow, despite regular turnover of the roster, the veteran attitude of 'one game at a time', remains year to year. Normally, losing leaders/organization heroes the likes of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio would leave a vacuum in the clubhouse. Instead, the new leaders are picking up the slack. As shitty as diehard Astros fans felt after a game like we saw tonight, my guess the attitude in the locker room is just fine. I believe this team understands the big picture.
As much as I just talked up our favorite sports franchise, the fact remains, tomorrow is a very important game. Sure, if you lose tomorrow then sweep the Dodgers coming out of the break, everything is fine. That ain't happening though. A strong finish to the first half would feel really nice and go a long way towards the future of this season. Even and 2-under are two totally different situations.
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