NLCS Game 2 postgame notes

FIRST PITCH/TEMP: 7:29/ 67 DEGREES

WINNING PITCHER: ROY OSWALT (1-0)

LOSING PITCHER: MARK MULDER (0-1)

HOME RUNS: PUJOLS (1)

SAVE: BRAD LIDGE (1)

TIME: 3:03

ATTENDANCE: 52,358 (SELLOUT)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
HOUSTON	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	4	11	1	7
ST. LOUIS	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	0	8

PITCH COUNTS:

Houston	Total	Strikes	Balls
Oswalt	108	75	33
Lidge	31	20	11

St. Louis	Total	Strikes	Balls
Mulder	115	71	44
Tavarez	21	13	8
Marquis	17	9	8

STREAKY NUMBERS: Tonight's win by the Astros snapped a six game road losing streak in LCS games...Houston is now 3-8 on the road in NLCS history...The Houston victory also put an end to St. Louis' seven game winning streak dating back to the regular season...St. Louis' nine game winning streak at home in the first two rounds of the playoffs also ended tonight.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: The Cardinals trailed in a game tonight for the first time since the fourth inning in the final game of the regular season against the Cincinnati Reds on October 2.

DEALING WITH THE CARDS: In his last two starts against St. Louis, Roy Oswalt has allowed two earned runs in 14.0 innings of work (1.29 ERA)...Oswalt also allowed one run over 7.0 innings in his start at Busch Stadium last month on September 27.

LET'S GET IT STARTED: Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder have posted a combined 1.80 ERA (15.0ip/3er) in the first two games of this series.

GAME TWO TRENDS: The road team has now won Game Two of the NLCS on 22 of 36 occasions...In 19 of the 36 NLCS, the loser of Game One has bounced back to win Game Two...In NLCS history, the loser of Game One has come back to win the series on 10 occasions (the most recent was the 1991 Atlanta Braves).

HITTING THEIR STRIDE: The Astros are 4-0 this year in the postseason when they bang out 10 or more hits.

FROM THE TOP: Houston's 1-2-3 hitters went a combined 6-for-14 tonight.

PHAT ALBERT: Albert Pujols' home run in the sixth inning was the sixth of his career in the NLCS...Steve Garvey has a NLCS-high eight career home runs.

LIGHTS OUT LIDGE: Brad Lidge has not allowed a run in 10.0 innings of work in five career appearances in the NLCS...He also picked up his third career NLCS save in this evening's tilt.

PEN POWER: Houston's bullpen has posted a 1.82 ERA (24.2ip/5er) in the first six games of this year's playoffs.

SANDERS UPDATE: St. Louis' Reggie Sanders left tonight's game with a lower back sprain.

THRU THE GATES:

Here is a game-by-game report on this year's NLCS attendance, net gate and players' pool.

HOU vs. STL	Attendance	Net Gate	Player Pool
Game One @STL	52,332	2,559,019.76	1,535,411.86
Game Two @STL	52,358	2,559,685.19	1,535,811.11
Game Three @HOU
Game Four @HOU
Game Five @HOU
Game Six @STL
Game Seven @STL