In terms of the loss colum, the Astros had a chance to be only two games back of first place had they won both of these games against the Royals. Not only did they waste two sensational pitching performances by Roy Oswalt and Russ Ortiz, they wasted a golden opportunity to be very close to first place in the NL Central.

As it remains, the 37-loss Astros currently have four more losses than the division-leading Cardinals and Brewers ( 33 losses apiece ). As long as the Astros take their time reaching 40 losses and stay close enough to first place in the all-important loss column, they'll be alright.

Things could be worse... We're not the Pirates at least...

What's frustrating to me is if the Astros go 3-1 in their next four games, that's still going to be a disappointing 3-3 and .500 home stand. They'll have to win the remaining four games in a row just to salvage a decent, winning 4-2 home stand.