Bramhall's 23 strikes among 42 pitches is slightly better than Savery's 41 and 83, but that ratio is a long way from what Wayne Graham would like to see from one of his go-to relievers. Bramhall allowed three free passes (two walks and a hit batsman) to go with three hits and three earned runs.

Jimmy Cesario and Dustin Kingsbury, Houston's No. 3 and 4 hitters respectively, continue to impress. Cesario lined a double to the right-field wall to score Ryan Lormand from second, and Kingsbury put the ball in play to score Chris Joseph from third. Josh Stirneman at least partially made up for his defensive lapses with a great two-out single to score a third Cougar run and close the Rice lead to 6-5 before right-hander Scott Lonergan relieved Bramhall and got Luis Flores to foul out.