Mets (58-50) at Astros (50-57)

Minute Maid Park

Friday, August 1, 7:05pm CDT.  FSN & FSN-HD
Saturday, August 2, 6:05pm CDT.  FSN & FSN-HD
Sunday, August 3, 1:05pm CDT.  my20 & my20-HD (yeah, I don’t believe it either)

Hate the Mets, Hate the Mets,
Step right up and berate the Mets.
Don’t bring the kiddies, don’t bring your wife,
MetFan may force you to run for your life.
Because the Mets are really suckin’ on balls,
Watchin’ our home runs over the walls.
East side, West side, everybody’s coming down,
To HATE the M-E-T-S Mets, of New York town.Read More

Cincinnati (50-56) at Houston (48-56)

MMPUS(FKAEFUSFKAAFUSFKABUS)

• Monday, July 28           7:05 p.m.   FSN-HD (maybe or maybe not in Austin)
• Tuesday, July 29          7:05 p.m.   FSN-HD
• Wednesday, July 30     7:05 p.m.   FSN-HD 

Miller Park 

Friday, July 25, 7:05 p.m. CDT – FSN-HD

Saturday, July 26, 6:05 p.m. CDT – FSN-HD

Sunday, July 27, 1:05 p.m. CDT – my20

2 of 3 from the fucking Cubs.  0 of 3 from the Pirates.  4 straight losses.  But, fear not my friends, starting Sunday the season is saved even though the Brewers just completed a 4 game sweep of the 3rds and have won 8 in a row including all 7 games after the ASB.  Be. Leive.

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The Astros won the first two games of the series against the over-reaching Cubs but then took a pounding in the finale, probably because the Raups couldn’t find enough Cubfans to hassle. The Cubs will falter down the stretch, most likely in hilariously epic fashion, but the Astros still have a long climb ahead before they can even think about making a run.

A good series against the Buccos could put some distance between the Astros and the cellar, and they might even overtake the Reds. On the other hand, a shitty series could mean an extended basement brawl with the Bucs. And the Pirates haven’t mucked out the basement since before the Cubs spent the offseason there two years ago, so you know it’s fucking rank.

The Pirates just got swept in a four-game series at Colorado where they scored a total of nine runs. Their pitching rotation is day-to-day and mainly consists of whomever didn’t pitch at Indianapolis or Altoona last night. Their outfield is having a good year, especially Nate McLouth, but former NL batting champion Dirty Freddy Sanchez is batting .230. The Pirates have lost five in a row and have started to take a colossal dump; we best leave them alone in the cellar so they can finish their business.
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The 2nd half of the season that is. Despite the fact the Good Guys (and everyone else) have played more than half of their games already, the All Star Break is over, and we’re off and running toward an unpleasant ending in the Central divison, no matter how you cut it. 13 full games back. Fuck. And to make things even more exciting, myself and the old man will be in attendance for the series. So if you see someone getting arrested with the severed heads of several Cub fans in his hands, thats probably me. Apologies if this is short and not sweet, but we gotta hit the road soon.

Minute Maid Park

Friday July 18, 7:05pm FSN (HD)

Saturday July 19, 6:05 FSN (HD)

Sunday July 20, 1:05 Mylilstation “HD”
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THE LAST RIDE

Houston Astros (42-50) at Washington Nationals (35-57)

Nationals Park
1500 South Capitol St., SE
Washington, DC 20003

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This is the last series before the All Star break, and it is easily among the most meaningless series being played this weekend by anyone anywhere in baseball on the entire planet.

You have the Astros coming in to Washington after a 10-16 June and a 2-7 start to July, floundering about the cellar of the National League West (Central, whatever.) If everything goes perfectly for them the rest of the way – the offense becomes consistent, the pitching magically becomes consistently effective, and a couple of teams ahead of them stumble – the Astros are looking at an outside chance of finishing in fourth place in their division. If they are really, really lucky.

The Nationals were out of their division’s race before the season ever started. They, too, had a terrible June (9-18) and are having a terrible July, and should soon start bringing up prospects to try out with a look to the future. They are going nowhere presently. They have lost seven of the last eight, thirteen of their last eighteen. Lovely.

No one will be watching these games except the hardcore fans of each team. And maybe not so many of those. The only thing that will keep me inside this weekend, in front of the TV and watching these games, is rain, and lots of it. And right now, it doesn’t look that is going to happen. I suppose it is possible by then that Hurricane Bertha, which is, as I write this, tracking in the general direction of the upper Eastern Seaboard, will make these games seem even more irrelevant than they already are.

Whatever. Wake me up when September comes.

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