Rockies 11, Astros 5
W: Morales (1-1) | L: Sampson (0-2)
Arriving in Houston after sunup Friday morning, the Rockies used the momentum from a 22 inning victory in San Diego Thursday night to jump on the Astros and Chris Sampson for a 6-spot in the first inning and cruised to an 11-5 victory over the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
The Rockies batting practice began @ 7:05, with Sampson providing the up in the zone pitches the Rockies managed to slam all over the park, causing the home crowd to boo Sampson off the mound after recording just two outs in the first. Long man Brian Moehler relieved and finally recorded the third out with no further damage. Sampson walked the leadoff man for the Rocks twice and allowed six hits in a disappointing effort after a long rest.
To the Astros credit, they came out hitting too, scoring four in the first and also batting around. Moehler tried to work a walk going to 3-2 count, but finally struck out to end the threat. I’ll bet he didn’t expect to swing the bat in the first inning when he came to the ballpark. The fans made a quick turnaround, jumping back on the bandwagon and cheering the good guys just a few minutes after chastising one of their own.
Much was made in the Talk Zone and the broadcast booth about the Rockies lack of rest and the overuse of the visitors bullpen dwellers. As quite often happens, it was the Astros bullpen that wound up being taxed on this day, as the home nine let young Rockies lefty starter Franklin Morales off the hook after his own rough first inning. He pitched five complete for his first win of 2008, allowing only one single and a pair of walks in his next four innings of work.
Moehler kept the Rocks at bay until he ran into trouble in the 4th when he allowed three runs and was replaced by Dave Borkowski, who shut things down until exiting for a pinch hitter in the bottom half of the 6th. The Astros failed to do any more damage against the Rockies tired pen, only a couple of singles and a pair of walks in the last four innings. The TV booth was evidently bored with the proceedings in the 8th inning, so Patti Smith corralled a few of the Los Caballitos and presented Brownie and JD with their own ridiculously large hats.
As skipper Cecil Cooper mentioned in the post game press conference, one positive from this game was the hitting of Hunter Pence, who stroked three hits, including a double, scored two of the runs and drove in a third.
Saturday @ 6:05, Wandy vs. Aaron Cook