April 5, 2007
Cardinals 4, Astros 2
W: Adam Wainwright | L: Wandy Rodriguez
Pigpen watch: 2,934 (1-4)
Gamezone thread
http://www.orangewhoopass.com/forums/index.php?board=10.0Piss and moan about it in the TalkZone
http://www.orangewhoopass.com/forums/index.php?board=1.0Other coverage:
AP
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=270406118&prov=apThe Footer
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070406&content_id=1882872&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=houTonight was Bagwell Appreciation Night. And Jeff, standing before a big Edward R. Murrow style mike in the middle of the field, looking suave in a loose, untucked white shirt and jacket with artfully tossled hair, intoned, with the whole Lou Gehrig feedback thing going on, “really, what I want to thank today is you the fans.”
Wandy worked 7 strong, 4 hits and no walks. He worked quick. At one point JD noted he had 10 of 12 first strikes. He threw a total of 7 pitches in the 5th. The best part of his game was he didn’t come apart after his trouble in the 3rd. The Astros will take 3 runs and 7 innings all season.
The game, ground to a halt in the 2nd with Bagwell in the booth. Brownie asked him whether he felt that his “life is over now?” Bags noted that “these guys are going to hit” and that if they get the pitching they’ve had the first three games they’re “going to win”. Brown asked how his shoulder feels and Bags said “terrible”. On Pence, “He…has
definitely got a chance”. And he admitted that his 2000 mennonite beard was “bad karma”. Bagwell. They’re retiring 5, ceremonies are August 26, a Sunday game vs the Pirates.
We rejoin the game in the 3rd. So Taguchi scooted a single just to the right of Biggio. Adam Wainwright popped a double over Burke that landed on the warning track, Mihoba noticed in the Game Zone, “Burke is running with his head turned, ugh…” Then Wandy made his only real mistake of the night, 2-1 count, glancing over at Pujols on deck, he threw Chris Duncan a meatball over the middle of the plate. He knocked it over the bullpen wall.
Astros mounted an attempt at a comeback in the 4th. Lamb, getting the start at 3d, worked a come from behind walk. El Vendo bounced a single through and the Good Guys were set up. Flap Jack, while the cameras focused on the Los Cabillitos massed by the Pump, wearing their huge Homer style cowboy hats and waving their horses on a stick, popped a fly ball to center, scoring Lamb. Scott singled, but Mr Peepers K’d and Maximus, trying to go up the middle, only got the ball halfway, grounding out to Wainwright.
In the 5th, the Astros had another chance, runners 1st and 2nd, Lamb grounded into a 3-6-1 dp.
The Cardinals tried to shake something loose in the 6th. Duncan lined a solid double to right. He tried to make it to 3d challenging Scott’s arm. But the relay went to Everett and not Biggio. Duncan was dead on Maximus’ strike on the bag. W.Rodriguez was unflappable tonight, he faced only 3 batters in 6 of his 7 innings.
The Astros had another chance in the 7th. Burke slashed a double right by Dumb Ass Cove, no one even tried to touch the ball. Everett then dropped a pop fly in the middle of Wilson, Pujols, and Kennedy. With no outs, runners 1st and 3rd, Garner called for a squeeze. Ausmus bunted the ball right back to the pitcher. Wainwright flipped the ball home, Molina “tagged” Burke and threw down to first to complete the dp. Ausmus could have just ground into a dp, they would have at least scored a run. The Early Footer put it this way “they blew their biggest chance with a botched squeeze attempt in the seventh.”
The Cardinals added a run vs Trever. Down, 4-1, the Astros tried again in the 9th, scoring one more run when OP, pinch hitting for Ausmus, singled home Lee. But Lane ended the game with a high fly to right with a runner on.
Astros, the worst team in the majors, the only team with no wins, “their worst start since 1990, “ Brett Coomer helpfully points out in the Chron, throw Sparky out tomorrow.
