Astros 1, Rangers 6
Astros lose the battle for the Silver Boot.
W: Kevin Millwood, L: Wandy Rodriguez

Astros Recap
Yahoo Recap

Astros highlights:

Congrats to Ivan Rodriguez for his record catching game. Hopefully tomorrow you will get a win for your record breaking game. And may you hit a homerun in that one also.

I’m glad Michael Bourn is still batting lead-off. He has been doing a good job at that role. Minus the “stolen base” attempt in the first, he does what I want out of a lead off hitter.

Alberto Arias did a good job in relief going 3 innings of scoreless baseball. That, young man, is an excellent way to help your team. Tim Byrdak pitched the 8th without giving up any runs.

Rangers highlights:

Ian Kinsler hit two homeruns off of Wandy in the first inning then in the second inning, got a walk for his third plate appearance. Wandy might want to consider just tossing a softball pitch at him so he doesn’t have to waste a good pitch on him and limit the damage to one base the next time he pitches to him. Ian went 3 for 4 on the night. I hope Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton keep him off the bases.

Kevin Millwood was the Cy Young pitcher this game. Seems like the first pitcher the Astros face in a series is good enough to win the Cy Young that game. He only gave up 4 hits in 7 innings of work. Of course, the Astros helped him a bit.

Game Analysis:

I have to say that the Astros offensively did not look ready to play this game. I do not think the best defense was out there. Nothing against Darrin Erstad, but when was the last time he started a game? Glad he’s getting the work. Kaz Matsui looked rusty also.

I am also going on the record saying Wandy Rodriguez is not an Ace. This team doesn’t really have one. Every pitcher has to deal with umpires that don’t necessarily make the calls you want or deserve. You have to pitch through it. Hopefully he does better in his next start.

Hunter Pence hopefully does a better job showing off for his peeps than he did in this game. I’m assuming that his peeps were there since he is from Arlington, Texas.

It is hotter than Hades in the Arlington area. Apparently there is nothing to do during the day. Boot be dammed. Maybe I could blame the heat, or the day off, or even the pressure of winning the Silver Boot for Drayton, as a reason for this team losing but I will not. I have not exactly made it a secret that I do not have a lot of faith that this team will do their second half magic as they have for the past 5 years. I’ll even go out on a limb and say the Astros get swept this series. They’ve been doing good for the past 5 series, but they just haven’t really shown me anything making them seem like they are turning a corner.

Bench Tidbits:

You want to know the best way to watch this game? Go work out after work. Run a couple errands, change the shoe strings in your tennis shoes, cook dinner, take a shower. Then sit down and watch the game in fast forward. Any special moments needed to pay attention were highlighted in the Gamezone.

Check out Jane Doe’s Series Preview. She’ll sing for you.

Astros 8, Diamondbacks 3
W: Brian Moehler, L: Billy Buckner

Astros Recap
Yahoo Recap

Astros Highlights

Michael Bourn went 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored. Seems like the boy, excuse me, young man gets on base he scores. He’s keeping that average hovering around .290, I’d love for it to go up, but I’m not going to complain. He’s been a favorite of mine since the trade. (I can’t say the favorite since Bradley Ausmus was still an Astro.)

Miguel Tejada went 2 for 4 on the day with 2 runs scored. He’s having a good season. I’m glad he’s having a good season. It will help to trade him, if that happens.

Hunter Pence scored 2 runs on 1 hit and 1 walk, he also stole a base.I really don’t know what to think about Pence. I have a hard time trusting the numbers the kid is putting up this season. I’m thrilled for him, but I just can’t believe it is for real. I sincerely hope this isn’t a career year for him. Oh, yeah, he hit a homerun too.

Lance Berkman went 1 for 3 with a walk. He had two RBIs. Good thing Tejada was on base when he hit his homerun. I’m glad Tejada and Pence are making it easier for Berkman to find his groove this season. Imagine the conversations on talk radio stations if those two were having the season Berkman was having also.

Brian Moehler went 6 innings giving up only 3 runs. The thing I now find interesting is that his ERA is now 6.66. Seems the beast is there now.

The two members from the bullpen who pitched today threw 3 innings of scoreless baseball. Good job by Jeff Fulchino and Jose Valverde.

Diamondback Highlights
Clay Zavada pitched a scoreless 8th. There are no words necessary for his facial hair but I’m going to add some anyway. JD mentioned a similarity to Rollie Fingers and there was a Three Amigos reference from a friend while watching the game (and another I can’t remember right now). I really can’t imagine the chicks dig the long handlebars. Then again, maybe he can work some magic with it.

Chad Qualls pitched a scoreless 9th inning. I always liked him and hope he does well in his career. I wouldn’t mind him back with the Astros bullpen.

The Astros gave up another first for pitcher Billy Buckner, his first double. Seems like the Astros do this a lot. I’m sure other teams do this also, it’s only reasonable, but I really wish the Astros didn’t seem to do it as often as they do.

I felt bad for Chris Snyder when Bourn went to steal 2nd and no teammate of his covered the base.

Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds both homered off of Moehler.

Game Analysis

I watched this game at a friend’s house today, great chicken spaghetti. While the game was fun to watch, I must admit, it did not have me excited. I guess I am still expecting that other team to come back. You know the team we saw earlier this season. The team that could and would find ways to lose. I don’t know maybe it is because I don’t think the Astros have beaten any good teams in the 5 series winning streak. The Astros have won 5 series in a row and are still three games back of .500. I don’t even want to talk about how close they are to the wild card or division leader.

Bench Tidbits:
The Lakers finally ended the NBA season.

For the in-game reactions, please check out the GameZone.

The Hangover hangs on to the box office lead this weekend. I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I plan on it. Mainly because one person I know said she wasn’t impressed with it and Bradley Cooper is HOT. (Not necessarily the picture I wanted to link but one I thought was good.)

Is there a pool or something where I can wager on how long before Miley Cyrus is involved in a scandal? Seriously, the girl is a time bomb, especially now that she is 16. Only a matter of time before something breaks.

Astros 6, Diamondbacks 4
Contributed by BatGirl

Astros recap

After suffering through a 7-game losing streak in May, the Astros have gone on to win 4 series in a row, and are playing Sunday in hopes of extending it to 5 straight. Oh, and they’ve also pulled to within 5 games of first place in the Division. Also, suck it, Joe Buck.

Roy Oswalt got win number three Saturday as the Astros beat the Diamondbacks 6-4 at Chase Field. He held them to just one run in 7 innings and showed better command and more confidence in his curveball – hopefully a sign that he’s beginning his patented second-half-of-the-season-dominance.

The excitement began in the sixth inning, when Miguel Tejada hit number 2000 of his career and drove in Bourn from third to tie the game at 1. Miggy continues to have a career offensive year for the Astros, and is hitting .341. He is only the 29th shortstop all-time to reach 2000, and had his wife, kids, sister, and several close friends on-hand to help celebrate the achievement.

Lance Berkman followed Miggy’s milestone with one of his own, just one out later. He jacked one almost 400 feet off of Jon Garland to collect his 300th career homerun. That makes the Puma only the 7th switch-hitter to hit 300 HR’s.

Coop ended up using almost every single player on his bench Saturday, and acknowledged after the game that the Astros were, “pushed to their limit,” and that, “it took everybody and almost everything they had to win”.

Literally. That’s because Pence!!! was the only position player left on the bench. The Astros had to piece this one together using what little they had, considering the bench is short and the injuries just keep on keepin’ on…

Carlos Lee got crampy in the leg while galloping to first base during the 4th and had to leave the game, and the D-Backs chased Sampson out in the bottom of the 8th after he began experiencing right arm fatigue. They’ll be able to compare notes with Blum and Keppinger on where it hurts.

Jose Valverde, available for first time since April 26th, was brought on in the eighth when Arias ran into trouble getting out of the inning. Although Coop had hoped to get Valverde back on the mound in a “non-pressure situation”, he called on him with 2 out and a man on 2nd. Papa Grande looked ok, but he may have gotten lucky with the pop-up that ended the inning that came on a fastball that was up in the zone.

La Troy Hawkins closed the 9th and collected the save.

For less information, read the GameZone and embrace the brevity
(now available with 100% fewer hockey references).

Moehler takes the mound Sunday at 3:10 for the final game of the series.

That sucked.  I know that this is one of those “you gotta tip your hat to the other guy” losses, but damn.  It would’ve been better if the whole thing were pinned on Spaz’s diving gamble in the first inning, but then Brandon “IED” Backe had to go and forget that he wasn’t on a rehab assignment and throw batting practice for three innings  on top of a a fairly reasonable performance by Mike Hampton.

Dan Haren was stellar for the D-backs, only allowing two hits en route to a complete game and his fifth win of the season.  The only run came on a soloo bomb by El Caballo (his 11th of the season).  Puma recorded the other hit, which I guess we’ll take as a positive sign that his slump is drawing to its inevitable close.

In the Series Preview, I said that we should consider this Brian Moehler’s last turn in the rotation, but after Backe’s performance and seeing Russ Ortiz’s success lately, I think that the best solution of all is to have a steel cage death match between Moehler and Backe (no tasers allowed), with the winner awarded a one-way ticket to Round Rock.  Besides, with Double Dub getting stretched out down there now,  the long reliever to replace Ortiz might be a familiar face.

Up next, Roy vs. one of the worst hitting teams in MLB. Not even going to tempt the BBGs by saying anything else. Plus: the return of Papa Grande! C’mon, we’ve got to find the silver linings where we can. If only there were something to cheer us up…ah, yes. Schadenfreude is spelled M-E-T-S.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

FTC 1
Astros 2
F-13

W: Fulchino (2-1) | L: Ascanio (0-1)

astros.com
AP via Yahoo!
Game Zone

“It’s fair! Holy shit!” The exact words that came out of my mouth as I’m having a discussion with my boss about something I can’t remember. He’s a pretty cool guy and I have a pretty cool job but even he was a bit taken aback. He knows that every so often I have to keep an eye on an afternoon game to write about later and unless I have clients in the office, he has no problem with it. The reason I’m telling you all this is that I never would have had my expletive exclamation at the time I had it had events in the game turned out the way it was headed. 9 innings. Pitcher’s duel. Over by 5. Recap by 6. Meeting with boss. BAM!

Enough about me, here’s the story. Russ Ortiz had a hell of an outing. He kept the mighty FTC in check to the tune of 3 hits and 3 walks through 5.1 without allowing a run. It was precarious at times, 1st and 3rd with 1 out in the 2nd after the Good Guys got 1 in the 1st was worrisome but the well-turned DP took care of things.

Dempster settled in and had the Astros on their heels, never able to capitalize on men-on-base situations. He effectively shut ’em down the rest of his 7. 1-0 Astros.

As Ortiz approached 90 pitches into the 6th, he walked fucking Dempster to leadoff the inning, then gave up a double-play ball to Miggy’s left, who flipped to Kepp for 1, then on to Twinkie for 2 single into CF to the Temper Tantrum to leave 1st and 3rd with no one out. Coop kept his faith in Ortiz and it paid off with a big K of Terry-o to put the inning-ending DP back into play. Then Coop went match-up, bringing in Byrdak to face Fuku. Tim slidered him into submission then blew the FB by him for out #2. Arias was next to face Lee, who grounded sharply to Kepp to FUCK THE CUBS!!! Sorry, that just came out.

If you haven’t seen this, do yourself a favor and click the link. That WAS the 7th inning.

Sampson ho-hummed the 8th.

LaTroy jogged out to the mound to save a 1-0 lead in the 9th and he faced the heart of the FTC order. Fuku made him work, fouling off 4 before grounding out to 2nd. Next batter Lee turned on a high slider and deposited the ball into the RF seats. Shitfuck!

We gotta fast forward here. Bottom 13 and the FTCs Ascanio is on his 2nd inning in relief. First batter Miggy is out on a nice play by Scales off of Ascanio’s foot. Tejada’s slide into 1st made it look more routine than it should have. Next up, newly patient Beaker takes a pass, then steals 2nd as Michaels Ks. 2 out for Twinkie, who’s put on intentionally to bring up interim manager Blum, with last night’s heroics still dancing around in his spiked 80’s ‘doo.

Astros 2
FTC Babybears 1

W: Sampson (3-0)
L: Guzman (2-1)

Astros.com Wrap