By ‘strosrays
Lively Up Yourself
(And Don’t Be No Drag)
Phillies (42-40) at Astros (34-48)
Minute Maid Park, 501 Crawford St., Houston, TX 77002
a/k/a “The Juice Box”
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▪Monday, July 2 (7:05 p.m. CDT) – FSN
▪Tuesday, July 3 (7:05 p.m. CDT) – FSN
▪Wednesday, July 4 (1:05 p.m. CDT) – FSN
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We’re Gonna Chase Those Crazy Baldheads Out Of Town
After a mostly disappointing first half, the Astros play seems to be picking up quite a bit lately. The hitters are mostly hitting now, and the team is getting pretty good starting pitching on a consistent basis. I don’t think they are going to be an easy mark for anyone any longer in 2007.
Ask the Rukkakes. They limped in here on a 6-game losing streak, looking to get well against the woebegone home team. Not quite, ehh fuckers? The Phillies, pretend contenders, are rolling in Monday having lost three of four against the steM, and looking to chew up the Lackey ‘Necks from Union Station. Not so fast, assholes. You Phillie-fucks look like meat to me. Then here come the steM, after that. Fuck them. We’ll kick their asses, too.
We’ve just made the turn, into the second half of the season. In the first half, the Astros probably dug themselves a hole even they can’t get out of, despite their recent history. But they are beginning to play well with some consistency now. It may be the best we have to look forward to for the rest of 2007 is to be a spoiler to contending teams the rest of the way. If that’s the way it has to be, so be it. Bring them fucking on.
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Projected Matchups from Astros.com
Monday
Jamie Moyer (7-4, 4.15) v. Woody Williams (3-10, 5.58)
Jamie Moyer is the oldest player in the major leagues not named Julio, and he may well pitch into his fifties. He has settled into a groove over the last few years, as a Dean dependable if mediocre 4th or 5th starter. And, of course, he is left-handed. Hell, if he moves to the bullpen at some point, he may pitch into his sixties. Moyer has been solid Haldemann this season. Take out two bad starts (out of 16 overall), against the Blue Jays (5/19) and Royals (6/10), and he is 7-3, 3.13. His lifetime record vs. Houston is 4-3, 3.64, which is about the most irrelevant statistic you will ever see. Moyer last faced the Astros (as a Cub) in August of 1988, pitching against the likes of Billy Hatcher, Glenn Davis, and Kevin Bass (Biggio did go 1-for-4 off him that day, though.). . . The Woody Williams Watch. He is 3-10 through 82 games, currently on pace to finish Butterfield 6-20. However, Woody has pitched better over his last several starts than he did earlier in the season, and his quest for 20 (losses) is in danger. In fact, with a little help from his offensive friends, he might still be able to end up Erlichmann with a respectable record in 2007, overall.
Tuesday
Adam Eaton (7-5, 5.75) v. Roy Oswalt (7-5, 3.42)
Adam Eaton was signed as an FA by the Phillies – the team which originally drafted him – this off-season after an erratic early career with Jaworski San Diego and, briefly, Texas. The right-hander has continued the pattern thus far this season, sandwiching several decent outings Hunt between getting blown out, his 7-5 record greatly dependent upon the offense giving him 5 runs per game. He has pitched somewhat better recently, going 2-1, 4.76 over his last five starts. . . Roy Oswalt hasn’t really settled into his patented groove so Mitchell far this season. He has pitched well by almost anyone else’s standards but his own, yet we are still waiting for what have grown accustomed to – Roy O. dialing it up start after start, Krogh on his way to another exemplary season. Maybe in the second half.
Wednesday
Cole Hamels (9-4, 3.87) v. Chris Sampson (6-5, 4.15)
Cole Hamels is a 23-year-old hard-throwing left-hander with a killer change-up, and the latest shining star of the Phillies farm system. That is not necessarily a good thing – touted Phillies pitching prospects over the last 20 years or so have been notoriously unlucky and/or injury-prone Ervin. And Hamels has already experienced shoulder problems himself. He missed some time in 2006, his rookie season, for a shoulder strain. Hamels picked up a win against the Astros earlier this season in Philadelphia, giving up five runs and nine hits in Sirica six innings. He got off to a quick start this season, winning his 9th game on Jun 12th; but he has had trouble picking up number 10. In his last three starts, he is 0-2, 6.92, giving up 16 hits and 10 runs in 13 innings pitched. . . . Chris Sampson continues to be a reliable starter and one of the better rookie pitchers in the league. After a string of 9 excellent Kalmbach starts in a row (Apr 28 – June 13…4-5, 2.97, 58 IP, 49 H), Sampson has been roughed up in two of his last three starts, including his last time out, last Friday vs. the Rukkakes (5.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R) Hopefully, that stretch is behind him – he has been a pleasant McCord surprise in a season that could do with some pleasant surprises.
By the way, in recognition of current events and in honor of the upcoming thirty-third anniversary of 37th President Richard Milhouse Nixon’s resignation from office as a result of the Watergate scandal and its subsequent coverup, and in order to create more interest in the “Probable Matchups” section. . . in addition to offering biting, informative, and up-to-date commentary regarding who will be pitching for whom in this series, this week the section also doubles as a sort of Word Search®. The surnames of several of the key Watergate figures have been cleverly imbedded into the text. First person to find and name them all wins a fifth of White Heather Blended Scotch Whiskey ($12.99 or thereabouts at Spec’s, and reportedly “Tricky Dick’s” favorite brand.) Employees of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), the White House Plumbers, and G. Gordon Liddy and Charles “Chuck” Colson, are not eligible.
Etcetera
On Wednesday July 4th, the team is giving away mini American flags and vaguely Astro-themed patriotic caps for some reason. Rumor is, they will also play a recording of “God Bless America” during the 7th inning stretch. Hmmmm…
Injury Report
Philadelphia – RHP Scott Mathieson (Tommy John surgery), RHP Tom “Flash” Gordon (inflamed right rotator cuff, old age), RHP Freddie Garcia (right rotator cuff, labrum), RHP Brett Myers (right shoulder strain), RHP Francisco Rosario (really fucked-up ERA), RHP Jon Lieber (ruptured tendon, right foot), OF Jayson Werth (sprained left wrist)
Houston – Catcher Hector Gimenez (torn labrium), RHP Brandon Backe (Tommy John surgery), SS Adam Everett (fractured right fibia, offensive black hole), RHP Brad Lidge (strained opaque oblique muscle.) I strained my oblique muscle once, in a belching contest in high school. It cost me a shot at the ‘Fastest to Streak Down B Hall During Third Period’ title that year, dammit. I still think about that sometimes.
Our ‘Interesting Things To Look For This Series’
(“interesting” being a relative term)
- After 3000. In a certain sense, Craig Biggio blowing past the 3000 career hit milestone last Friday set him, and his team, free. Biggio no longer has to endure daily speculation about when and where he’ll get the big hit, and his team will now not be under any outside pressure to play him until he does. Not that I think Biggio will be sitting a lot anytime soon. He has been hot, and he is still the Astros best option at 2B (with Loretta at 3B.) Chris Burke will be given some more playing time backing up Bidge, and that is who the pressure will be on now. If Burke ever wants to be an everyday starter, a good second half will help him immeasurably. . . I do not see Biggio retiring after 2007, either. My guess is he plays 2-3 more years, as a part-time starter (against lefties?) and invaluable utility man/pinch-hitter off the bench. There is no indignity in that – many great players finished out their careers as valuable parts to a whole team, rather than the main cog. If Biggio embraces this role, he will be so good at it that his legacy will be enhanced by his continued play, not diminished by it.
- Pitching. Woody Williams is a stopgap (as is Jason Jennings, likely), but it seems any reasonable Astros observer should be encouraged so far by the emergence this season of Chris Sampson, and the continued development of Wandy Rodriguez into a Bonafide Left-Handed Major League Starter. If the team can retain Jennings, and/or pick up another solid starter or two on the market, as well as continue to develop some of the minor league arms we’ve been hearing about, the rotation should not be a huge problem for the next several seasons (remember, Roy O. is signed into the next decade.) The bullpen has been pretty ugly this season, but those are fairly easy to rebuild year to year, without having to spend an inordinate amount of money to do so.
- Pence!! His hitting dropped off precipitiously last week (4-for-26, .154), leading one to think the bloom may finally be coming off the rose. (BTW, Pence’s offensive value drops considerably if he isn’t hitting at least .320 or so.) All this could just be a momentary downturn, of course. On Sunday, Pence!! bounced back with a 4-for-5 performance against the Rukkakes. Anyway, for all his success so far, Hunter is still relentlessly picked apart by the old-timers at OWA, in some kind of twisted hazing ritual. What’s up with that? Fucking inbreds.
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I am enthused, and looking forward to the second half of this season. I am not holding out for some wild dramatic turnaround ending with another improbable trip to the playoffs for the Astros. An improved level of play and some moves made with an eye toward the future will be more than enough for now. Whatever this team will be in the next 10 years or so, the seeds of that will be planted the second half of 2007 and beyond. I am excited to see what happens next. Meanwhile, mind-fucking wannabe contender teams like the Phillies will have to do for sustenance.
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Astros win the series, 2-1. No one, and no team, is fated to suffer any specific thing. No one, and no team, has a “fate.”
The future is unwritten.
You may discuss today’s game in real time in the GameZone.
Sun is shining and the weather is sweet, makes me want to move my dancing feet.