by Sphinx Drummond
Pads beat ‘Stros 8-4
W: Clayton Richard (7-10)
L: Wandy Rodriguez (7-8)
I didn’t realize they were playing a day game until I heard the final score on the radio. In Austin, during the daytime, the Astros’ radio station is contractually bound to broadcast the Jim Rome show over the Astros.
When I got home from work I walked my dog, which is my usual routine. My dog crapped a big heaping steaming pile and before I could scoop and bag it–it had become almost completely covered by those green iridescent colored shit-flies. Forgetting about food chains for a moment, I hesitated and contemplated. I watched those flies and couldn’t figure out for the life of me, why those flies loved that piece of crap so much.
Is that what we, who follow the Astros so closely, look like to some cosmic overlord up on high?
Wandy started the day all right, retiring the Padres in order the first time through the line-up. At the time in possession of the longest running streak of pitching at least 5 innings, Wandy was unable to showcase his positive features beyond the fourth inning, stopping the streak at 48 games. In spite of some shitty defense, he was lit up for 5 earned runs in the fourth, essentially ending the game. However, the teams still played to completion as it is part of the rules.
Playing beyond the fourth gave a few of the Astros’ players the opportunity to pad their individual stats. Matt Downs took full advantage of the opportunity to hit his 6th and 7th homeruns of the season and edged his batting average up, now at .171, a bit closer to the Mendoza line.
Clayton Richard allowed four runs in 8 1-3 innings to snap a personal two-game losing streak. The big lefty gave up nine hits and struck out, leaving the mound after Downs’ homer in the ninth.
They talk about winning ugly and beautiful losers. What a cop-out. You either win or lose, doesn’t matter how you got there. And losing is the shits.