Dallas pitches a gem in Astros 8-1 victory

contributed by Sphinx Drummond

I like day games when I remember them. It gives me something different to listen to as I go about the work day. I remembered the Astros were playing around 2:30 or so Wednesday afternoon and tuned in to find that Jose Altuve made the first and last out of the first inning, but in between the Astros were busy putting up six runs…the Astros already had a 6 run lead over the A’s, and it was just the second inning.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this, so I thought to asked my imaginary friend but she was nowhere to be found, just an imaginary note saying she had gone to France and will be back in a week or so. So I asked the dog that was hanging around where I was working but dogs don’t talk. I would have called Jeff Luhnow but he isn’t answering my calls. The only thing I could figure was that it must be because of me, I started Jason Hammel.

In the Mihoba’s SnS War fantasy baseball league (the official league of Orange WhoopAss), I have Jason Hammel on my team. He was pretty good for the Cubs but since the trade to the Athletics, he has been awful. The A’s have lost all four games he has started. He ERA as a Cub was 2.98, as an A prior to Wednesday’s game it was 7.11.

Dallas Keuchel on the other hand, pitched brilliantly. He picked up his fourth complete game of the season, allowing only a solo homerun to Josh Donaldson in the second inning and scattered three more hits along the way. His ERA is now down to 2.97 and his record is at 10 wins and 7 losses.

The Astros scored 8 runs on 8 hits. Altuve eventually got a hit, all the Astros got one hit, except for Marc Krauss. And Krauss at least drove in a run with his ground out in the first inning. Jonathan Singleton and Robbie Grossman both hit home runs, Singleton’s 8th and Grossman’s 4th. However, both are still batting under .200 for the season.

Thursday the Astros welcome the hard hitting Toronto Blue Jays to Minute Maid Park with Jarred Cosart (9-7) looking for win number 10, matched up against Drew Hutchison (7-9) in a 7:10 pm CST start.

Game Time: 2:35.
Weather: INDOORS
Wind: 0 mph, .
Attendance: 17,637.

A’s 3, Astros more than 3
W: Oberholtzer, L: Chavez
recap

I must say Oberholtzer did not look happy pitching last night. I have no idea if that was just his game face or he was sad because he pitches for the AStros. I rather think most of the pitchers have the expectation that their teammates are not going to score more runs than the opposing team. But, luck was on Oberholtzer’s side last night. He pitched 6.2 (I think he should not have been pulled) innings of 8 hit, 3 run baseball. He only gave up 1 BB on the night. I thought he did a great job and deserved the chance to finish the 7th, but Porter thought differently.

The bats came out to play, with all runs scoring on 4 HRs. The boys scored 7 runs on the night. I really wish they could score more runs than by a HR. Altuve did his usual of getting a hit and scoring a run. I’m also really like Kike. Just something about that kid makes me think he could make it. I don’t necessarily put a lot of stock in my opinion, I liked Brett Wallace after all.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Luhnow and the Front Office. I decided to be a follower. I really have no choice. I want my team to succeed in the future and I have to believe the FO is doing all it can to make that happen. I think a kid set a line in the sad and was too proud to cross it. I think some players get moved up and down for reasons we don’t necessarily know. I think some players think they know the players in the minors better than the FO since they may be friends/colleagues. Regardless, I have to believe that Luhnow and the FO are making the right moves toward a winning team. Otherwise, I might as well follow another team.

On a personal note, I went to the beach on Sunday and while reading a book did not realize I should have reapplied the sunscreen more than I did. I have a pretty good sunburn on the back of my legs, the back of the knees and the hiney area. It freaking hurts to sit, lay, or walk. I know better and pretend I will do better next time. I usually get a good sunburn once a year, but man this one hurts to move.

Another funny thing going on in my little part of the big world is my home owners association. Goodness gracious, people are crazy. We have a faction of people trying to make changes without having any suggestions of what to do differently, they just want change. One way they tried to get change is to cause someone in our management office to commit a postal violation. (Accusation was she tried to prevent postal worker from delivering mail.) What a trip when her personal attorney handed out a cease and desist letter at the board meeting. I’m just going to stay on the Social Committee and plan parties and pass out donuts periodically.

Les Marlines 4, L’Astros 2

Submitted by Reuben

It was a crappy Sunday all around. For one thing, I returned from a wonderful trip to France only to discover that my brand-new car had died in long-term parking. (I’ll only say, for now, that it is a popular hybrid model. I’m going to wait and see how the company’s Warranty Service division handles this before I decide whether to use the power of my high-profile OWA Column to either sink the company or send hordes of new customers their way).

After about 2 hours’ worth of waiting and attempts by JFK Parking Services to jump-start the car, we finally resigned ourselves to needing to get it towed to a dealership. This decision was followed by another 2 hours of waiting for a tow truck that never came. By this point it was about 3am EST, or 9am France time, meaning we’d been more or less awake for 25 hours.

So after cabbing it to Brooklyn, I’m back at long-term parking, waiting for another tow company that was suppose to be here a half-hour ago. In case you didn’t know, you should never trust a tow company.

But you know who really had a rough day? Anonymous Astros Players. Those poor souls had to deal with a minor leaguer coming to their ballpark in the morning and actually throwing pitches in front of an actual pitching coach! How awful! How tough it must have been for them! And to think, most of them don’t get paid enough to put up with that kind of shit – as little as $4-or-500,000 a year in some cases! Can you believe it!?!

I’m sure this horrible, feel-bad-making event was the real reason that they got broomed by the Marlins that afternoon. How could they be expected to see a baseball through all those tears?!?

Marlins 2
Astros 0

contributed by NeilT

I was really excited about this recap. I had most of it written two weeks ago, and it was brilliant: politically astute, timely, and hilariously funny. Then I figured out that the Astros didn’t play the Blue Jays until next week.

Stupid, too, because I really knew they were playing the Marlins. I had tickets to tonight’s game, but sold them. One of the guys in our ticket group sent out a request for tickets, and I said that I would sell mine. I didn’t want to, really, but I got this nice note from the buyer saying that he appreciated the tickets. His nephew was a baseball fan and was coming to town. I felt ok about that, but figured the guy could have walked up to the box office and got pretty good seats.

So I came home, took a nap, poured a scotch and sat on the back porch and listened to the game. I had two scotches into the 8th inning. I spent a lot of the game when not reading petting my dog, Lola, who has always been a good baseball dog. No head for statistics though.

When I wasn’t petting Lola or listening to the game I read my book, Paris to the Pyrenees by David Downie. I picked up the book at random at Brazos Books. Downie, it turns out, is a beat up old atheist, maybe my age, who had moved to France when younger and proceeded to eat and drink himself to near death. The book is about his pilgrimage along the French leg of the Camino de Santiago, as a kind of health regimen. It is something I would do in a heartbeat if I had the money and the time. A friend of mine started the Spanish leg this year, from Roncevaux across the north of Spain, but gave it up after two weeks because of blisters. He told me I could come along, but I didn’t, and never will.

My son’s former Boy Scout troop is doing the Spanish leg this year on mountain bikes, which I bet will piss off a bunch of walking pilgrims no end, and should. Being part of the world’s most affluent Boy Scout troop was actually kind of fun though.

So tonight I sat on the back porch, petted Lola and thought about how she was an 11-year old dog of a breed the average life-span of which is 12 years, and drank 15-year old Highland Park. It was a melancholy sort of night, and a good game for that sort of thing, with Keuchel pitching well and Hand pitching better. Keuchel had plenty of runners, and got out of Dallas Kerfuffles in the 5th and 6th with double plays. I hope that’s the real Dallas Keuchel. That Dallas Keuchel is a good major leaguer, not a superstar, but a guy who will give up a couple of runs but keep you in the game. Which he did.

But there weren’t a lot of hits. Altuve and Petit got random singles, and Castro chased Hand with an 8th inning double. Carter, who has been on fire for July, walked twice. Maybe Hand was brilliant, maybe the Astros offense sucks without Fowler. Sucks more.

Kris came home in the 8th and made pasta and salmon, and the radio broadcast played songs by Bobby Goldsboro, which I hadn’t heard since my childhood, and would have been happy not to have heard tonight.

Three up, three down in the 9th, and the ‘Stros have lost three in a row.

Athletics 13 Astros 1

contributed by Mr. Happy

Behind the strong right arm of the Shark and the booming bats of the Athletics, the Astros were routed 13-1 in a matinee slaughter. This one should have ended early. The putrid pitching of Feldman and his merry band of mess makers (Zeid and Bass) were pounded by 14 hits, and they gave six free passes and a grand slam. The Astros bats could muster but six hits against the two Athletics pitchers. Chris Carter hit a home run off of the flag pole in the fourth inning for the lone Astro run. In fact, the only other good thing that I can say about this game is that the Astros made no errors.

The Game Zone was fairly light for a matinee, as the GZ denizens were as unhappy with the ball club as I was.

Astros fall to A’s 9-7 with a little too much doo from Peacock

WP: Chavez (8-6)

LP: Peacock (3-7)

SV: Doolittle (15)

Brad Peacock got off to a horrible start for the second straight game. This time he made it out of the first inning, barely. He threw close to forty pitches in the first inning but ultimately pitched his way out of a jam without giving up any runs. He wasn’t so fortunate in the second inning, giving up 5 runs, the first one, a solo shot by Jed Lowrie on the first pitch of the inning.

Jesse Chavez, who has kind of owned Houston this year, did not have a horrible start. After a first inning walk to Chris Carter, he kept the bases empty of Astros until Matt Dominguez picked up the first Astros’ hit of the night with one out in the fifth, and eventually came around to score the Astros first run of the night on an RBI ground out by Marwin Gonzalez. Chavez is 3-0 against the Astros so far this year and Wednesdays’ game was the closest contest of the three.

Jim Johnson, the ex-closer, demonstrated why he is the ex-closer while doing best to help the Astros in the 8th inning by surrendering 4 runs without retiring a batter. Dan Otero took over and gave up another run before Luke Gregerson came in to shut the flood gates and finish the inning. Sean Doolittle closed the game for the A’s in the ninth and picked up his 15th save in the process.

Altuve picked up another hit (out of 5 AB) and continues to lead the league in batting average and all of MLB with hits. Chris Carter got a double to go with a walk and only one strike out in 5 PAs. His average has now climbed to .212 with an OBP of .288. He now has 44 RBI which is second on the club behind Springer’s 51 and one ahead of Dominguez’s 43. Jason Castro and Kiké Hernandez both got two hits on the night, Kiké is batting a nifty .310.

Astros close the series with a rubber game Thursday, a Businessman’s Special which begins at 2:35 pm CST with Scott Feldman going against Jeff Samardzija.

Game Time: 3:30.
Weather: 66 degrees, Clear.
Wind: 7 mph, Out to Right.
Attendance: 28,310.