RyanED, I didn't watch the bloodbath in Philadelphia (thankfully). But as you know the Astros were playing well until the last three games. In terms of this most recent spell, I think the Astros' pitching has come back down to earth. The Astros' starting pitching was not expected to be as good as the early season stats were showing (particularly without Jennings, who is on the DL). During the period without Jennings, the starting pitching is probably going to be "middle of the pack." On the offensive side, Berkman's slump is probably the biggest problem. (I notice he hit a HR last night, so we can hope he is coming around.) If Berkman was hitting like he normally does, I don't think we lose 2 of 3 in Philadelphia. As it is, the Astros had a chance to win every game in Milwaukee, but just came up short in two of the games. Luke Scott is also slumping, which has compounded the issues with middle of the lineup hitting. Burke's offense is disappointing, but his offense seems to be improving lately. Biggio is "feast or famine" on offense...he has not had many hits on the road trip, but those he has hit have been HRs. I think both Berkman and Scott will bust loose at some point.

Last night notwithstanding, I'm not too worried about the relief pitching. Except for the much discussed Lidge fiasco Friday night (and the Astros DID win that one), the relief pitching hasn't been bad on the road trip. Last night's game was lost by Chris Sampson, and Borkowski blew it in a semi-mop up role. A bad outing from the back of the bullpen will happen from time to time, and if Bork continues to blow, then I suspect he will end up in RR, replaced by someone else.