“[I was] coming off the field and he approached me,” Backe said. “I don’t know. It’s apparent that we don’t like each other. That’s OK. There’s plenty of people I don’t like in this game. It doesn’t matter. It’s baseball. It’s the way it goes. The competition between he and I just escalated and it’s OK. It’s no big deal. This is what makes it fun.”

Backe said. “I felt like he confronted me at the wrong time. I don’t think it was very professional on his part. It’s OK. Cooper was there, and he heard everything. It wasn’t going to go any farther than what it did. He had to say his piece to me, I said my piece to him and that’s it.”
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Chris Sampson missed Monday’s home opener after catching the flu bug that’s been circling around the Astros’ clubhouse,…

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Cooper surmised that Valverde might have been “pumped up” a little bit — maybe too much. Valverde, however, said he simply didn’t have good control of his fastball. … Asked what he learned from Valverde’s performance, Cooper answered, “I’m going to go to Valverde every time in the ninth inning, if he’s available. That’s why he’s here — he’s our closer. No ifs, ands or buts. I’ll run him out every time. If he’s available, he’s our closer in the ninth inning.” Link

Flashback, April 3, 2007Read More

Wigginton has a non-displaced fracture on the upper tip of his left thumb. The Astros will give Wigginton three more days before re-evaluating if he can avoid going on the 15-day disabled list.

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How’s the arm Roy? “It’s fine,” Oswalt said.

If it wasn’t fine, would you tell us? “Nope,” he said with a smile.

But Roy, lookee here, your velocity is down, “I don’t look at velocity,” he said.
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Any further questions can be addressed to Sparky’s press secretary, this here solid brick wall.

Ty Wigginton left the game today with a bruised left thumb. Digital X-rays taken later that day showed a small fracture in the thumb. Wigginton will be re-evaluated by team medical director David Lintner on Monday.
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