Angels 5, Astros 2
W-Shoemaker (6-2) L-Oberholtzer (2-7) S-Smith (10)
contributed by Mr. Happy
When the highlight of the Astros’ night is Kike Hernandez (who played LF tonight) doubling up superhuman Steve Trout at 2B, you know that it was a long and late night for the Astros. They dropped their fourth in a row and now sit at 36-51, tied with the Snakes for the 1-1 pick. The only consolation is that the stRangers are matching the Astros futility for futility, losing their fifth in a row to stay only two games in front of the Good Guys. You gotta look for the silver lining where you can find it.
There were other high points in the game, like the Piranha getting three hits to raise his BA to a nifty .347 and Jason Castro actually getting two hits in the same game, something that he’s not done much this season. Perhaps hitting in the two spot will get him going. The ball club again sucked with ducks on the pond, going 1-8. There was good and bad base running by No. 4; he stole his fourth bag but also got picked off of 1B.
Oberholtzer was typical Oberholtzer. He did the best that he could, bless his heart, but the Halos star-studded starting nine were just too much tonight. Veras finished up and had a scoreless outing with two Ks in 1.2 frames. We really need Veras to regain his form because I am starting to doubt that we’ll ever see Jesse Crain or Matt Albers this season.