Wallop O’s Eleven to Zip
WP: Oberholtzer (1-0)
LP: Gonzalez (8-5)
contributed by Sphinx Drummond
A little over a month ago I was woken up by a phone call. “Do you want to go see the Monkees?”
“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” I was a big fan of the Monkees when I was around eleven years old, but by the time I turned 13, I had completely turned on them. I couldn’t get over the fact that they weren’t organically formed. For some reason I let that override the fact that they actually produced some good songs, a few pop classics.
Bud is gone. Maxwell is too (Who saw that coming?). Two of the oldest guys on the team. So it was kind of nice to see that losing those two savvy vets didn’t have a disastrous effect on the team’s ability to win a game here and there.
The Astros took the lead scoring four runs in the second inning, but with the quality of arms in the bullpen, and knowing that usually four runs isn’t enough, they scored five more runs in the fourth inning. Four of those runs were provided by Jason Castro’s grand slam, it was his 13th home run of the season. Also Matt Dominguez added his 14th homer of the year and Robbie Grossman hit his very first.
Brett Oberholtzer started and was excellent, giving up only 3 hits in his seven innings while striking out six and walking none, earning his first career win. Lo Chia-Jen and Jose Cisnero each worked a scoreless inning in relief.
So, I didn’t see the game, I saw the Monkees and they were okay, I was impressed by the skill of the backing band and Peter Tork’s musicianship. Mickey and Mike harmonized really well. They did a lot of the songs they composed, that were album cuts but not necessarily featured on the TV show.
A couple of kids came out of the audience to sing lead on Daydream Believer. Most of the crowd seemed more excited than I was but it was still a good time and more than just nostalgia.
For the record, after dropping two Wednesday games in a row, the Astros are back in the victory column, raising the Wednesday record to 11 and 6. Tonight, I hear some new guy on the Orioles is starting against the Astros… Bud something or other… I don’t know if that’s true but or not, maybe just a rumor. Jordan Lyles is pitching for Houston.
Attendance – 25,265
Game Time – 3:03
Temperature – 80