Astros 4, Dodgers 1

Same old, same old. Dodgers went 1 for 9 w/RISP and the one hit didn't even get the run home, a single by Luis Maza in the fifth on which Blake DeWitt could only move up one base to third. Two strikeouts and a fly ball later, DeWitt still hadn't moved, and the Dodgers still hadn't scored. They have now scored a total of two runs in their past three games, both of them on sacrifice flies. And Jason Repko's first major-league game since October 2006, when he pinch ran in Game 1 of the NLCS? He went 0 for 5 with four Ks that would have been five Ks if plate ump Gary Cederstrom hadn't called a balk on Jose Valverde as Repko was striking out for the fifth time. Repko also misplayed a ball in CF, a key moment in a decisive, three-run fourth for the 'Stros. Eric Stults wasn't going to dominate forever, and this ballpark isn't kind to lefties with its short porch in left field. If that got in Stults' head, he wouldn't admit it afterward. But that fourth-inning rally did start with a one-out walk to Lance Berkman, who had taken Stults off the ivory-colored wall ABOVE the leftfield paviliion in the first inning. With half the season still to come, Berkman looks suspiciously like the N.L. MVP. ... Dodgers fall to 38-44. The bad news is the Snakes won, so the boys fall to 3 1/2 back. The good news is the Giants are getting hammered at home by the Cubs, so they'll stay 2 1/2 behind the Dodgers.