Despite walking six, Roger Clemens came out on the winning end in Houston's 9-3 rout at Turner Field. Reliever Chad Qualls issued a walk in the eighth, but the Braves couldn't capitalize. None of the seven batters who walked ended up scoring.

Vitals check
A look at key statistics through Game 1 of the NLDS.

Team stats

Digits		Trend	The Deal
ERA	9.00		Overcoming four home runs allowed by the Braves' pitching staff was too much of a task
BA	.212		Unable to convert numerous chances, leaving 12 on base
BA w/ RISP	0-for-7		Stranded second and third in the second inning and bases loaded in the third
Runs	3		Wasted chances early led to fewer chances late
Fldg %	1.000		Marcus Giles and Chipper Jones each made great diving stops

Who's hot?

Player	Digits	Trend	The Deal
Andruw Jones	.667 BA, 2-for-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI		Provided some missing pop

Who's not?

Player	Digits	Trend	The Deal
Chipper Jones	.000, 0-for-4, 2 Ks, 1 BB		Team leader counted on to produce playing with bruised right hand

Behind the numbers
Carlos Beltran's two-run homer in the fifth may have padded the Astros' lead to 6-1, but the switch-hitting All-Star had a pivotal at-bat in the third inning. With the game tied, Beltran slapped a two-out single. The two-out hit kept the inning alive and the Astros added three more runs, two on Lance Berkman's homer.

Frozen moment
Rafael Furcal got the job done leading off, walking twice and slapping an RBI triple. But he was left on base three times.

Second guess
Jaret Wright grooving a full-count fastball to Beltran with first base open in the fifth inning.

Lucky 13
The Braves have won an MLB record 13 straight division titles. How have they done in their first playoff games in those respective seasons? Overall, 6-7.

Braves tidbits
Chipper Jones aggravated his right hand making a diving backhanded stop on Morgan Ensberg in the fifth inning. Jones will see how the hand feels in batting practice Thursday. If he can't play third, Marcus Giles likely would, with Nick Green playing second. ... Catcher Johnny Estrada was drafted by the Astros in the 71st round of the 1994 draft. He didn't sign. ... Beltran's two-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Astros a 6-1 lead. The six runs at the time matched the total number of runs the Astros scored when they were swept by the Braves in the 2001 Division Series. ... Wright allowed three home runs for the fourth time in his career, and second in the postseason.

Last word
"This wasn't typical of our season. We gave up a lot of home runs, a lot of runs. We didn't put a lot of [runs] against them. Hopefully, we can bounce back tomorrow." -- Estrada

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.