Chad Billingsley simply didn't have it tonight, posting one of the worst starts of his career. He couldn't get out of the second inning, and the Astros and Roy Oswalt cruised to a 8-1 victory in game two of the four-game set. Oswalt may have had a shutout, were it not for a fly ball triple by Orlando Hudson in the third inning, a ball that Hunter Pence simply lost in the lights.
I don't have much to offer as a recap, other than these words of wisdom by Vin Scully, uttered in the top of the second:
People always understand if you talk about a hitter, and you say "well he's struggling; he's in a slump." they rarely realize that pitchers also get into a slump. Where a hitter can get into a slump because if he slips into a hitch, or he's trying to pull everything, or he opens up too soon, or he over-strides, there's a million reasons why a hitter falls into a slump.
But pitchers have to do so very much out on the mound that people sometimes overlook the fact that they have their own slumps. That they fall into a trap of getting away from their natural rhythm. And whatever it is, for CB, like so many other pitchers before him, he is in a slump.
Clayton Kershaw faces Mike Hampton tomorrow night.
In the meantime, enjoy this video of Matt Kemp with his "big brother" Torii Hunter (thanks to shoothoop for the link):
WP - Roy Oswalt (6-4): CG 9 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 5 strikeouts
LP - Chad Billingsley (9-5): 1.2 IP, 9 hits, 6 runs