A week's worth of runs in one game

That's pretty much what the Astros did Thursday night against the Cards with their 18-1 win. More impressive was the performance by rookie catcher JR Towles. Towles with 4-4, HR and 8 RBIs. The 8 RBIs was an Astros' rookie record.

Now let's put the win in perspective:

• The Cardinals are a beaten team. The Rick Ankiel HGH thing seems to have taken the wind out of their sails.
  
• No Albert Pujols in the lineup. Granted, Pujols doesn't pitch, but the guy is a game-changer.
  
• It's September, stats in Sept. are meaningless in my opinion. Particularly when it's essentially a lot of minor leaguers up against minor leaguers, which was the case with the Cards-Astros game last night.
  

But hey, there hasn't been much positive Astros' news to get excited about, so I will take it.