Astros 6, Rockies 2
W: Brandon Lyon, L: Matt Belisle

Astros Recap
Game Zone

P’s—Felipe Paulino pitched 8 innings giving up 2 runs. He did a great job. This was his third consecutive outing of pitching 8 innings. I think he may be getting his groove. Good for the Astros.

Q’s–Humberto Quintero had a pretty nice game also last night. He had two hits and two throw’em outs, only one of which was ruled an out. But he was flashing his arm, in a good way.

The bittersweet part of the night was Matt Belisle’s outing. While many here at SnS want Belisle to do well, we can’t be too upset when Carlos Lee hits a grandslam to get the Astros the win. It was a good gamble by the Rockies, Lee was 1 for 15 prior to that hit. I do not doubt Belisle will bounce back and continue pitching well again. There’s that shitty saying, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Matty B just got stronger.

I watched this game after watching the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. I must say that is the best trophy celebration in sports. Jeremy Roenick was holding back tears since he did not have the opportunity to hoist the cup when he played. Something about that trophy is just tons better than the others. I think winning a championship in any sport is an amazing feat, but that trophy is one of the best sports moments shown. Plus, they get to spend a day with it doing whatever crazy shit they want with it.

Nationals 1, Astros 5
W: Wandy Rodriguez, L: John Lannan

Astros Recap

The last two games Jim Deshaies seems to be amusing himself with Baseball Bingo during the games. I decided to recap this game by finding some stats to fit into the number ranges on a regular bingo card.

B5 – Number of runs scored by the Astros.

I26 – Pence’s team leading RBIs (2 for the night). Carlos Lee is in second with 23.

N40 – Strike outs by Manzella (1 for the night). 44 strike outs thrown by Wandy (8 on the night).

G60 – Innings pitched by Wandy (5 for the night).

O64 – Successful Stolen Base Percentage against Quintero (Morgan stole a base) (36% Caugt Stealing, obviously leads the team, Cash is at 27%).

The Astros won this game, but no one really seems to care since ArmandoGalaragga pitched a perfect game, but there was an umpire error.

The Gamezone has its usual information and strosrays preview is simply outstanding .

The Astros go for the series win today at 1:05 pm. Also, just a note that the Cubs are packing their bags to come to Houston for the weekend.

Astros 6, Reds 500,000
W: Lecure, L: Rodriguez

Yahoo Recap

This game was started by Road Wandy. It was just bad. It was so bad that Brad Mills had catcher Kevin Cash pitched the 8th inning. He only gave up one run. If only the other pitchers had done as well.

There was some posting in the GameZone.

I’m going to my parents’ lake cabin for the weekend. Should be fun. I hope my nephews eat all the cookies I baked because they are not coming back to Houston with me.

I hope the Astros have some fun playing baseball this Memorial weekend. For some good reading check out the Series Preview by GBB.

Astros 5, Brewers 0
W: Roy Oswalt, L: Chris Narveson

Astros recap

This was an enjoyable game to watch for a change. There were some timely hits, good pitching by Oswalt and Lyon, and some solid defense (no errors).

Roy went 8 complete innings allowing no runs and only 4 hits and 1 walk. If Roy keeps pitching like this and there could be a great bidding war by teams to acquire him. Go Roy Go!

Lance Berkman also had a good game last night. He went 3 for 4. If he keeps that up, he should get his average up to where it should be and increase his trade value at the same time.

Carlos Lee also seemed to swing the bat well. He had his average up to a whopping .201 but made an out at his last at-bat to lower it to .199. But, I think he’s getting his grove back and will be the Carlos Lee that smiles alot.

I also think anyone that pisses and moans about Carlos Lee’s defense needs to be glad that we don’t have Ryan Braun prowling around left field. What a train wreck. He’s horrible on defensive. I hope his offense is enough for the shitty way he plays out there.

But, back to the trade values. While I have enjoyed watching Oswalt and Berkman play for the Astros, I do not have the same love for them that I had for Bagwell and Biggio. I do not necessarily want to see them be traded, but if that is what it takes to improve this team then that is what is needed. Bagwell and Biggio were fortunate to be on teams that had a good farm system which helped keep the teams competitive. Oswalt and Berkman are not as fortunate.

Other side note:
I watched the game at Griff’s last night with Bench. I ate the Oreo early and good things happened. I didn’t pass up any shots and good things happened. I do not plan to go to Grif’s everynight and follow this ritual, but it was good time. I even learned some handy driving tips. Good times.

Rockies 3, Astros 7
W: Brandon Lyon, L: Esmil Rogers

Astros Recap
Game Zone

A couple weeks ago, JD, Bill and Bagwell called Jeff Keppinger a fungus. Saying he kind of grows on you. He sure did last night. I do not think I was the only wondering why the Rockies would walk Michael Bourn to load the bases for Jeff Keppinger. Sure, Keppinger isn’t known for power, speed, or much of anything sparkling, but if you are an Astros fan, you know he’s one of the few that has been here all season and doing relatively well. And what does he do after Bourn’s IBB, hits a bases-clearing-game-winning double.

Felipe Paulino had a good night on the mound, but is still winless in his starts. This time the no-decision is courtesy of Chris Sampson. I’ll cut him slack since he’s been rather stellar to-date this season.

Carlos Lee hit a homerun, making it consecutive games with a homerun for the first time this season. But for the most part, the middle of the order has remained the same.

After the win the crowds were pleased (I assume) and rioting began when word came out that Kaz Matsui got released. Best wishes to him in his future. May the Cardinals or Cubs pick him up thinking he is a reclamation project.

The next 122 games will be hard for the Astros, but especially the next 4 games. Apparently, the Tampa Bay Rays have some good pitching and some kid from Colorado has been having a good season. Just go get’em boys.

Astros 3, Giants 4
W: Barry Zito, L: Brett Myers

Game Zone
Astros Recap

The Astros were swept for the 5th time this season. They have only won 4 series this season. We all know this not a good team. I still believe it is not as bad as they seem. Maybe they are. Maybe I am just an optomist. Maybe I just don’t want to believe they are as bad as they really are. Maybe I have no clue what I may be talking about anymore. Maybe I never really had a clue to begin.

One good thing about this game is that Myers pitched a complete game. He has been a nice addition to the pitching staff. I do not think many Astros fans thought he would be as effective as he has been.

One bad thing about this game is that the Astros outhit the Giants. The Astros seem to get a man on base and leave them stranded. I’m too lazy to look up the stat, but I would not be shocked if they led the league in stranding men on the bases.

I was looking at the upcoming schedule and think MLB did a great job of creating a mess. The Astros go to LA Dodgers for 2 games then Colorado comes to Houston for 2 games before the weekend series with Tampa Bay. I find 2 game series weird. But hey, Bud Selig is in charge so who knows?

Hopefully the Astros can get back on the winning track because I am not ready for another 8-game losing streak.