Big surprise!

We won!

The Astros beat the Rangers 7-0 behind the brilliant (there, I said it) performance of Taylor Buckholz and the firepower of Mike Lamb, who was 3-5 with a HR, triple, and a double. Lamb was robbed of a second home run by Gary Matthews Jr., who made a Jackie Chan catch up and over the center field wall to prevent what would have been an additional 3 runs.

How lovely is the win. Maybe the players will start having a little fun now, as Oswalt hoped.

You know, I haven't had a "favorite" player for a while now. Last year it was Ensberg, who impressed me with his wit in interviews and his interaction with fans as much as his bat. This year, however, Ensberg tends to ignore the fans before games, and hasn't really put together anything consistently at the plate (okay, sure, he has 18 jacks, but none since June 4th, and it drives me crazy that he changes his stance every time he gets up to bat). I mentioned a couple of weeks ago at work that Mike Lamb might be my new favorite this year, only to be met with incredulity. But now, I think it's pretty hard to argue with his numbers, and plus, he seems to be such a nice guy. He always comes across in interviews as a guy who still thinks he's so blessed to get to play, and last year, when talking about Houston fans and his experience with the club, he actually teared up a bit. (And yeah, that stuff gets to me every time. Including when Frank Robinson cried.) And given Mike Lamb's response to the catch made by the Rangers' center fielder, it's now official.

My new favorite player, by a landslide score of 1-0 (hey, my vote is the only one that counts!) is Mike Lamb, a.k.a. Lambchop!