Astros 6 Phightin’ Phillies 4

By Mr. Happy

Tonight’s ball game was sweet. It is a rare bird this season indeed. For the first three innings, it looked like the Phillies were going to win in a walkaway, leading 4-0, as the home nine were making a pretty meh pitcher, Tyler Cloyd, look like Cy Young du jour. That all changed in the fourth frame, when, with two on and nobody out Matt Dominguez found the Crawford Boxes to his liking, cutting the Phillies’ lead to 4-3, which chased Cloyd.

Meanwhile, Lucas Harrell, who apparently didn’t appreciate HPU Bill Miller’s strike zone tonight, bent but didn’t break, exiting the ball game with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, getting tossed after Tony D had given him the hook. That’s a belt and suspenders way to get a pitcher out of a ball game.

The game stayed 4-3 Phightins until the bottom of the eighth, when the Astros erupted for their second three run inning of the evening. This inning was highlighted by Jed Lowrie’s pinch hit two run double, which plated one Jordan Lyles with what ultimately was the winning run. Lyles had entered the game as a pinch runner for Scott Moore, who took one for the ball club off of the foot.

In the ninth inning, Wilton Lopez gave up a one out single to Ryan Howard. However, he induced Domonic (who spells his name unusually) Brown to ground into a game-ending 3-6-1 twin killing to preserve the win for Wesley Wright, who wins for the first time this season, going to 1-2. That was Lopez’s fifth save. The Astros now stand at 46-98, and Tony D is 7-16 (.304) since replacing Brad Mills.

It was an excellent day for Mr. Happy at work today, and it was culminated nicely with an Astros victory on a night in which he had recap responsibility. I received my first paycheck in over six years today, and I must say that it feels great. I love this job; I get up early and get in early too. There’s just something to be said for a daily routine after not having had one for many years. It’s quite comforting, and I like it a lot. The Game Zone was particularly active tonight, which was great.

Cubs 5, Astros 1

By Sphinx Drummond

I like the way some have incorporated popular songs in their recaps. It seem as though there is a musical piece for any and every circumstance. If there is a story to be told, chances are it has been told in a song.

In 1952 composer John Cage released his most famous and most controversial composition, 4‘33“ (pronounced “Four minutes, thirty-three seconds”). Conceived over a period of years it is more challenging for the listener to hear than it is for any musician to play.

In 2012 the Astros began marketing major league games at their home field Minute Maid Park but infamously and controversially refused to supply a complete team of major league talent. Conceived over a period of years, the move by the Astros to use minor league talent at the major league level was/is more challenging for the fans to watch than it is for the players to play.

John Cage, unlike anyone within the Astros’ brain-trust, was an artist.  Not an artist in the traditional sense, an experimental and avant-garde one. His famous piece is 4 minutes and 33 seconds of ambient sound as the musicians are instructed to merely hold their instruments, do nothing, and allow the sounds of the concert hall to be the music. A man clears his throat from the back of the auditorium, a woman fidgets in her chair, another person flips through the program. So it’s not 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence–that wouldn’t be music.

The Astros’ players aren’t instructed to just hold their glove, bat, or ball, and do nothing, while allowing the everything around them to happen without their influence, it only seems that way. So it’s not really nine innings of nothing happening on the field–that wouldn’t be baseball.

There was a scary moment in the eighth when Mickey Storey took a liner that hit him three times like some kind of magic bullet. Lucky for him it his hand and shoulder before his face, much of the impact had been absorbed by the first and second blows before the last one smashed his grill. After what happened to Brandon McCarthy, it was a relief to find Storey wasn’t seriously injured.

At least the Astros avoided a sweep in the Cub series. Now the red-hot-suddenly-fighting-for-a-wild-card-only-three-games-back Phillies are in town for a four game series. Maybe the Astros can silence the Phillies hopes and dreams of a wild card.

Astros 1, Cubs 0

W: Lyles (4-11)
L: Germano (2-7)

Box

Contributed by Reuben

Now we know why the Astros have been winning so (relatively) much lately. Interim Manager Tony DeFrancesco has begun giving out pairs of headphones to his chosen player of the game after a win. Not just any pair of Coby or even Sony – we’re talkin’ a $200 pair of headphones. Evidently he was so pleased after last night’s 1-0 victory that he gave out “$1000 worth” – Maxwell, Wright, Cedeno, Valdez, and Lopez each got a pair. What, no pair for Jordan Lyles, who threw 5 shutout innings and worked around some crappy defense? Perhaps Jimmy Paredes (3 errors) was forced to give Lyles his own pair, or maybe even a whole iPod.

Really, this game was just a whole series of gifts – the ones Paredes and Greene (surprise, surprise) tried to give the Cubs by kicking the ball around, but the Cubs didn’t seem to want, and the ones the Cubs gave the Astros. In the 3rd, a throwing error by the catcher allowed F-Mart to reach 1st, and Paredes to go all the way to 3rd, from whence he would score on a Maxwell sac fly.

In the 6th, DeFrancesco tried to give the Cubs a gift, by letting Xavier Cedeno face two righty batters, Castro and Sappelt. He gave up a single and a double to them, leaving Mickey Storey a 1-out mess to clean up. Storey gave up a fly ball to center that seemed certain to drive in the tying run, but alas, the Cubs had another gift, this one a joint present from Sappelt, who stupidly decided to try to advance to 3rd, and Starlin, who jogged the last ten feet to home, allowing Dominguez to make the tag at 3rd before he crossed the plate. Perhaps it is foolish to gloat about moments like these when the Astros are the undisputed worst team in baseball, but it was a very Cub moment.

I didn’t watch too closely, the last few innings – I was listening to the Valleycats’ playoff game, which was pretty exciting (they won, a 5-4 walk-off). I know Jose Valdez pitched the 8th, struck out a couple guys, then had some Valverde-esque gesticulations as he walked off the mound. Wilton gave up a couple singles in the 9th but ultimately shut the door, preserving the unlikely 1-0 win.

Now, what I don’t understand is, what are some of these guys going to do if they get 3 or 4 pairs of $200 headphones? Can they trade in 2 for a BB gun?

Astros 5, Reds 1

W: Gonzalez (2-0)
L: Cueto (17-8)

I like kicking the Reds in the teeth.

Sure, they can’t feel it, they’re on their way to the division championship, but this season you take what you can get. In this case, it’s the first road series win since June and today’s came against a Cy Young contender who probably won’t win that award now.

This one marks the end of another rivalry, another NL team the Astros won’t play again as a league foe. I’ll miss the NL, but I’m not going to miss the Reds. When I was a kid I didn’t care about them at all – they were a team with no players I gave a damn about.

I remember reading the back of Frank Robinson’s 1967 card, with the little cartoon about his MVP season, and wondering why the Reds traded him but being happy that he’d had such a great season after leaving such a dimwitted franchise. None of these guys could get me interested. Jim Maloney? Leo Cardenas? Tommy Helms? Lee May? Gary Nolan? I couldn’t care less.

I liked Vada Pinson, but it’s not like I was some big fan, he just seemed to be a good player and had a good card. Tony Perez? Eh. I couldn’t stand Johnny Bench, what with everybody talking about how great he was. Big fucking deal, I liked Bill Freehan, dammit.

And I fucking hated Pete Rose. Hated.

I don’t remember ever seeing the Reds play in the Dome, but I remember going to see them play the Phillies just so I could boo the hell out of Pete Rose. Fuck him, along with that shitty excuse for chili.

1981, baby. Now, that was a year. Best record in the entire league, by three whole games, but you know what? That earned the Reds a seat at home in front of the TV, watching the Astros battle Fernandomania in five games. Suck it, Reds.

Cueto came into this one throwing right at the Astros, challenging them to hit his stuff while bringing it right over the plate. Well, three singles and a sac fly to the first four batters gave Houston the lead. Cueto continued throwing over the plate even though everyone knows the Astros will chase like Pepe LePew after a striped cat. Cueto didn’t care, he was so impressed with his unhittable stuff that he got chased after giving up a three-run burrito to Matt Dominguez, who is showing a power stroke Billy Squier would envy.

Meanwhile, the enigma of Edgar Gonzalez continued stoking the smoulder that is threatening to become Edgarmania. Five innings, only two hits, one walk and one run given up while fanning six, Gonzalez was in smoke-and-mirrors control the whole way, throwing that Mexican League menudo past the division leaders’ bats.

Pulled after five because of a blister on his toe (“I’m Mexican. I can try,” he pled), Wright, Storey and Lopez threw the last four while allowing three hits and striking out eight. Greene added a solo shot in the sixth and despite the pervasive Fear every time the Houston bullpen is involved, this one was all over.

Like I said, miss the league, won’t miss the Reds.

Reds 5, Astros 1
By Mr. Happy

One night after the Dominguez ninth inning heroics against Aroldis Chapman, which our own NeilT chronicled so musically in the game recap, the pumpkin returned as the Astros dropped a 5-1 snoozer to the Dickities against Bronson Arroyo, who improved his record to 12-7. The Astros opened the ball game by scoring their lone run, courtesy of a two out single by Justin Maxwell. Unfortunately for the Astros, the Dickities scored all the runs that they would need tonight with two solo home runs off of tonight’s loser, David Stefan “Bud” Norris, who hasn’t won since May. Bud’s road record drops to a grotesque 2-11 7.34, which, when compared to his 3-1 1.90 home record, makes no sense whatsoever.

What else is on Mr. Happy’s mind, you ask? Thanks for asking. I’m lonesome for my wife up here in Missoula and missing my DirecTV (and television in general since I’m without one presently), but the job is going great, so I have no complaints. I haven’t had much time for SnS during the day and haven’t been on Facebook in awhile either. Things change a lot when you become employed. Maybe one day I’ll have more time or at least the guts to log in while I’m at work. Not right now, though.