OMG OMG Bregman’s Here, Bregman’s Here to Save the Day

Posted on July 26, 2016 by BudGirl in Uncategorized

Yankees 2, Astros 1
W: Pineda, L: Keuchel, S: Miller
mlb recap

This game was supposed to be the one for the ages. Some people seemed to be more excited about Bregman being called up than Correa (I hope its not a racist thing). Personally, both call ups excited me. I am glad to see him succeed and have his opportunity, but I think it is a bit unfair to assume he is Altuve. He’s only played one game so far.

Great defensive plans in the game, both Correa and Bregman flashing some leader. Springer had the offensive highlight, a lead-off HR. It really felt like a good night was going to happen. Knoxbanedoodle seemed to be psychic on the night.

Totally bullshit hot take, granted, but it’s been my experience this year that leadoff bombs are often the chief highlights in otherwise punchless efforts. Hope that’s not the case tonight.

The Astros had their chances but came up short. Bregman remains hitless in the major leagues. Keuchel did a good job pitching, it is nice to see him have good outings, especially this time of the season. Otherwise this game was similar to the other 44 they’ve lost. 7 LOBs will make Astros fans sad.

Fiers on Fire

Posted on July 19, 2016 by BudGirl in Uncategorized

And not in a good way.

Astros 4, Athletics 7
W: Graveman, L: Fiers, S: Madson

mlb recap

So, Fiers started out alright, he wasn’t great but he was keeping the team in the game. Of course, everytime they handed him lead he gave it back. But in the bottom of the FOURTH, with TWO outs, he proceeds to give up 6 runs, Feliz helped in that he couldn’t get out of the inning and some of Fiers crap also scored, but Fiers left them there.

So, it is bad enough that you had a bad game, but then you go and throw gasoline on the fire. Here’s the exchange between Fiers and Gomez. But Hinch talked about it later. And then Fiers, Gomez, and Altuve give their explanations of the situation.

For a day that started with the cutest thing ever to end such a shitty way was disappointing. The loss just made it even worse.

Taking out the bullpen

Posted on June 28, 2016 by BudGirl in Featured, Game Recaps

Astros 4, Angels 3
box

Baseball in America, the game was aired on ESPN along with Roots. Since I was given the option of listening to Ashby or not, I chose not. It was rather like sitting with a lot of you guys watching the game, Aaron Boone and friends were trying to guess what the pitcher was going to toss, whether Marisnick would run, and what the batter would do. They did not seem to be intrigued by a game they had once played. Hmmmm.

Overall, McHugh had a decent outing. He did not receive any run support until Shoemaker left the game and the Astros got into the bullpen, but he kept them in the game when at times he could have gotten into really bad situations. Will Harris gave a bit of a scare loading the bases with not outs, but cool as a cucumber that he is while pitching, he gets a strike out then game-ending double play. He seems like nothing bothers him when he is pitching.

Valbuena was in the #2 spot in the line-up, he did pretty good. Springer, Altuve, and Correa were productive, as was Jason Castro (at-bat, he had a bad night defensively).

Great game by the Astros who gained no ground on the stupid Rangers (ugh, they beat the Yankees in the 9th) but are definitely in the race for the wild card. Yeah, I know it is too early to worry about the wild card, but the Astros were one game back of .500 and are now three games over .500. I hope they keep winning series and just play great baseball so the rest can take care of itself.

Astros tore up the Angels

Posted on June 21, 2016 by BudGirl in Featured, Game Recaps

Angels 7, Astros 10
W: Fister, L: Chacin,
box score

What a fun evening it was at Minute Maid Park on Monday night. The Astros bats found the ball and the ball found spots where the Angels weren’t. I do think Calhoun for the Angels had a bit of a rough night in RF and Trout could see the ball going over his head. It truly was a great night at the ballpark for Astros fans.

Doug Fister did a great job again. He went 7 innings giving up 2 runs. I think one of those runs should have been an out, but Gomez was not able to catch the ball.

You are also probably looking at the score thinking BudGirl that game wasn’t close the Astros only won by 3 runs. Well, it was close until Tony Sipp entered the game. He proceeded to load the bases, strike one out, then give up a grand slam (by former Astros Gregoria Petite) in the top of the 9th. Take away his third of an inning pitching performance and it was a great pitching effort by Houston.

So, here’s to the Astros making a strong run to .500 tomorrow and hopefully going straight to .507 on Wednesday!

Astros v Rangers Series

Posted on June 9, 2016 by BudGirl in Featured, Game Recaps, Uncategorized

Monday’s Nightmare
Astros 5, Rangers 6
W: Dyson, L: Giles
box

So, I’m working a flex schedule for the summer and Monday was my first day off. It started out great, I went to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion box office to get tickets for Jim Gaffigan and met a friend for lunch. So, I was in a good mood and relaxed when the game started. Didn’t take long for that to end. Mike Fiers seems to want to continue challenging the hitters to bail him out. He’s sitting at a cool 5.00 ERA for this season.

The hitters did their job for the most part. In fact, I thought the Rangers were being more than accommodating in trying to help the Astros win. I do not know why the Astros do not want to beat the assholes in Arlington. And they made it worse they by allowing Odor to be the one to get the winning hit. Ugh.

Tuesday’s Disaster
Astros 3, Rangers 4
W: Diekman, L: Keuchel, SV: Dyson
box

Well, the Astros took the lead early in this one, then let it slip away. Keuchel seemed to pitch well until the 8th inning when he gave up a two-run bomb that was enough to give the bad guys the lead and enough for the win.

I have to admit, I love the Astros. I love this team but I was almost in tears of frustration by their futility when playing the Rangers. I know the boys are trying, you can see it on their faces and in their actions but they cannot seem to cross the barrier that allows them to get the win. I cannot imagine how frustrated they are.

Wednesday’s Recap was brought to you separately by Sphinx Drummond.

Thursday’s Must-Win Did Not Happen
Astros 3, Rangers 5
W: Perez, L: McHugh, SV: Diekman
box

Not surprisingly, the Astros dropped another game to the Rangers. Instead of staying even with them by splitting the series, they fall back.

McHugh only lasted 3.2 innings and Devenski did a good job coming out of the pen. Feldman’s run didn’t matter since McHugh did enough damage. But, the Astros just cannot seem to find a way to get runners to cross home or fill the holes for the Rangers hits.

Work was a distraction from watching this game. Of course, the work distraction is not necessarily a good thing. But, that is for another discussion.

The Astros are 9 back of the Rangers and 4 back from .500. I was hoping for a better season. I was expecting a better season. There are so many problems with this team I have a hard time reconciling that with the trust I have in Luhnow. Not every move he makes is going to be good but I hope he has the character to own up to a bad decision and do what the can to make the right change. All this losing makes me sad. I like being happier better. And for that reason, I’m going to share a picture from the vacation I took in early May.
Siesta Key

Good Friends, Good Times, and Good Win

Posted on April 12, 2016 by BudGirl in Featured, Game Recaps

Royals 2
Astros 8
W: Collin McHugh, L: Chris Young

mlb wrap

What an outstanding April 11, 2016 it was!! Getting to visit with friends and talking baseball. I know there are things in life that are better, but that is one of the best. There were a lot of the regulars and some long time OWA posters attending (MusicMan) and newer ones (Doyce7 – who I didn’t meet but heard he was sitting behind me) in attendance for the first time. Waldo has a mini-me, who seemed to have a good time and is a good luck charm. Homer called Rasmus’ homerun. I said at the Flying Saucer that the Astros would win. There is just something about talking about baseball that makes us happy.

In regard to the game, one highlight was literally seeing Collin McHugh’s ERA drop after every out. I wish I had the foresight to take a picture of it when it happened. It was quite cool! Seeing George Spring and JASON CASTRO get hits was for sore eyes. Tyler White and Preston Tucker are doing everything they can to make sure they don’t get sent down. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are wonders and make it so easy to be a fan of this team.

Back to the pitching, Collin really did a great job against Kansas City. He pitched himself out of trouble, especially the 7th inning when the defense had a hiccup and helped the bases get loaded. Tony Sipp gave up the 2-run homer in the 8th, he seemed to be pitching tentatively, then got aggressive after he gave up the homerun. Josh FIELDS, did a good job closing the game in the top of the ninth allowing just one hit. It was nice to see the bullpen maintain a large lead. I cannot say enough glowing accolades about McHugh, he really stepped up and probably feels 1000X better than he has since his last outing.

The stars of the night really were McHugh and the bats. Everyone wanted to get involved in the hit parade, except Carlos Gomez, he just couldn’t connect. Colby Rasmus hit the only homerun for the Astros and things got uncomfortable around JimR after that. He got excited anytime Rasmus did anything. He had jalapenos and onions flying and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his face. I think Rasmus may need a restraining order more than Brad Ausmus ever did in regard to me!

Needless to say, the team we saw last night is the team we expect to see most of the season. Coming home seems to be good for their souls!

1 2 3 ›»