GRAND CENTER — Even with that strike out of Ryan Ludwick to end the seventh inning, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Wandy Rodriguez is throwing this kind of game at Minute Maid Park. He thrives at the place. Has his whole career, but especially last season.

The Astros went 11-4 in his 15 starts at home last season, and his 2.94 ERA put him in select company. The rankings in the National League, with a couple of familiar names for the Cardinals’ rotation:

1. Chris Young, SD … 1.69
2. Roy Oswalt, HOU … 1.91 — who the Cards avoid in this series
3. John Smoltz, ATL … 2.51
4. Jake Peavy, SD … 2.51
5. Rodriguez, HOU … 2.94
6. Kyle Lohse, CIN/PHI … 3.03
7. Brandon Webb, AZ … 3.17
8. Cole Hamels, PHI … 3.24
9. Brad Penny, LA … 3.27
10. Braden Looper, STL … 3.34

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All three of the runs that Todd Wellemeyer has allowed this season have been on solo home runs, including two on the past two swings by the Astros tonight.

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Speaking of which, Houston is going to need a new nickname for the thump in its order. The Killer B’s have been reduced to Lance Berkman, and it was possible that the Cardinals were going to see a Killer-B-less lineup tonight had Berkman not been able to play because of the neck spasms that kept him off the field this past weekend. 

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According to Pat Parris stopwatch, the first six innings took 1 hour, 19 minutes to play. At this dead sprint of a ballgame, Max Leinwand bemoans: “There hasn’t been enough time for me to make any witty quips.”

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