Due to craziness at work, this Series Preview will be abbreviated for the time being….
The defending World Series champs make their first trip to Minute Maid this year, with a bit of a different look than last season when they doubled up on the Astros with a record of 10 wins and 5 losses. First of all, they no longer have a hole of poo……Mr. Lidgelighter has made the move to the AL and went from being second place to the Almighty down to a mere plebian. In fact, Mr. Pooh of the Hole is currently without a HR and has only 5 RBI……one month into the 2012 season. Let’s revel in this just a minute or two: Pujols’ .202 BA would rank him 14th on the Astros, just above Bud Norris. His OBP of .245 would secure the 13th spot in the Astros order, while his 5 RBI places him at 11th, just behind Downs. I don’t know about the rest of you, but there is just a little bit of glee that that infamous smirk has been bitch-slapped off his face. But I digress…..on to tonight’s game.
Friday, May 4, 7:05 p.m.
Lohse vs Harrell
Lohse had two strong outings against the Astros last year, allowing only 1 run on 10 hits in two starts (15 innings). Lee has faced him 77 times, with relative success, 5 HR and a .300 BA. No other Astro has more than 20 AB against Lohse. He became the NL’s second four game winner of the season in his last start, despite giving up a season high 3 runs in 6 innings, and raising his ERA to a whopping 1.62 for the young season. (sarc-meter working, Mr. Happy?)
Harrell is a relative unknown to the Cards lineup. He faced them in a relief outing last year, throwing a three up, three down inning. His last outing was nothing to write home about, allowing six runs (five earned), one walk and nine hits in six innings while striking out only one on Saturday.
Injuries
Schafer (back) is probable for this series, while Escalona, Cruz and Weiland continue to occupy the DL, along with Berkman, Carpenter and Linebrink. Beltran is doubtful for tonight.