[jg2977]

Colin Cowherd:
This is one of those games that tells you something uncomfortable about sports: the best player on the field doesn’t always win. Mike Noble was phenomenal. Four hits. A triple. Three driven in. He did everything you ask a star to do in October — and Houston still lost.
That’s playoff baseball. It doesn’t reward effort; it rewards timing.
Harry Doyle:
Now I gotta say this — if you just watched Mike Noble tonight and didn’t look at the scoreboard, you’d swear Houston won by ten. The guy was on everything. Line drives, gap shots, you name it.
And yet… somehow… we’re talkin’ about him in a loss.
That’s gotta sting.
Cowherd:
Houston’s offense showed up. Twenty hits. Thirteen runs. Noble, Berthiaume, Garcia — they were relentless. But playoff games aren’t decided by volume. They’re decided by moments. Anaheim didn’t hit more — they hit when it mattered.
That ninth inning? That’s the difference between a great performance and a winning one.
Harry Doyle:
Houston kept punchin’. Anaheim kept punchin’ back. It was like two heavyweight fighters who forgot defense existed.
And then Anaheim sneaks in that go-ahead run in the ninth — a little bloop, a little bad luck — and suddenly all those Houston hits feel like old news.
Cowherd:
Anaheim didn’t outplay Houston — they outlasted them. And while the Angels finally get their first win of the series, Houston is left with something far worse than a loss: questions.
You don’t like losing games where your best guy was that good.
Harry Doyle:
Mike Noble walks off the field with four hits and nothin’ to show for it except a sore back and a box score that’ll make him shake his head tomorrow morning.
Final score: Angels 14, Astros 13.
Same stadium tomorrow. Same pressure.
And folks… after this one?
Anything can happen.