It's Andy Pettitte (11-9, 2.67) vs. Derek Lowe (8-12, 4.20) tonight as the Astros start a 3-games series with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are coming apart at the seams - Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent don't like each other (big surprise), they've been hit hard by injuries (J.D. Drew, Eric Gagne, Jose Valentin, Bradley for a while), and their bullpen has been awful. But their starting pitching is still decent - the Astros will face D. Lowe, prospect Edwin Jackson, and underrated Jeff Weaver in this series (we miss Odalis Perez and Brad Penny).

I don't have any more comments except that we need to win, and win often.

Uh oh:

Brad Ausmus wants to return.

Ugh, ugh, ugh. I'd be the first to admit that Ausmus has been better than I expected this year. In fact, he has a .348 OBP! But he also has a grand total of 14 extra base hits all year, is 36 years old, isn't as good defensively as he used to be, and....well, he's Brad Ausmus. The Astros don't have the offense they once did, and if this is true:

When Purpura begins building next year's team, power from the catcher position won't be a priority...The Jason Variteks of the world are few and far between, and Purpura would gladly take a cerebral catcher over one that hits in the middle of the order.

Crap crap crap. Another year of Ausmus? Say it ain't so.