Pork: The Other Pennant Race

The Astros beat the Cardinals 6-3 tonight to pull within 5.5 of St. Louis in the NL Central. They also broke the Cardinals' 8-game win-streak, which had been quietly overlooked while the A's and Angels put up bigger wins. With 6 games between the two (3 at Malfeasance Field and 3 at Busch Stadium), the Astros can take the Central lead with a clean sweep. Of course, the Astros have a harder schedule drawing San Francisco at Pac Bell in the final weekend while the Cards host the nearly clinched D-Backs-besides that the play the equally dreadful Milwaukee and Colorado.

The Astros have looked like they can catch the Cardinals if they really want to. The pressure may be on the aging Killer B's, who may be soon be pushed aside by the Houston fandom that has a new NFL team (Oilers, right?) and the rookie center Ming Yao, who just added to the Rockets. Maybe we'll get another pennant race out of them.