Nationals @ Astros 08/08/12

[Mr. Happy]

Your lineups:

Nationals

2BSteve Lombardozzi
CFBryce Harper
3BRyan Zimmerman
1BAdam LaRoche
LFMike Morse
RFJayson Werth
SSDanny Espinosa
CKurt Suzuki
PGio Gonzalez

Astros

2B Jose Altuve 
3B Matt Downs 
1B Steve Pearce 
RF Justin Maxwell 
LF J.D. Martinez 
C Carlos Corporan 
CF Brandon Barnes 
SS Marwin Gonzalez 
P Armando Galarraga

[Ron Brand]

Take that shit, Lombardozzi.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I can't get gameday audio to work.

[Ron Brand]

Just tuned in but it looks like Gallaraga wasn't fooling many so far.

[Ron Brand]

Oh good, another bullshit balk call.

[Ron Brand]

So now LaRoche gets another swing and the runner goes to second. 1-0 Nats.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Gameday not updating either. Guess I'll have to turn on the radio.

[Ron Brand]

Gameday not updating either. Guess I'll have to turn on the radio.

Maybe you can pick up the skip from DC.

[Ron Brand]

Lot of conversation from Gallaraga. Can't tell if he's got communication problems with Corporan or Angel Hernandez.

[chuck]

Gameday not updating either. Guess I'll have to turn on the radio.

And mlb.tv is not working either. I have to cut them some slack, this streaming broadcasting business is really cutting edge stuff. Hey, anyone liking Nirvana's latest album?

[Ron Brand]

Gallaraga takes For-Fucking-Ever to throw a pitch.

[jbm]

Gameday not updating either. Guess I'll have to turn on the radio.

There was a bullshit delay where a fucker called a phantom balk.  

The ball hit to Downs should have been an error. The official scorer is clueless. He fields the ball and forces the runner at third, at least a decent third baseman does.  

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Maybe you can pick up the skip from DC.

If only.

[strosrays]

Corporan hitting sixth.

Wonderful.

[Ron Brand]

Altuve with a lead off double!

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Can't get the audio feed from my iPone either. More damn shitty shit from Selig--give him a raise!

[Ron Brand]

Gotta go to work.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Work that offense.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

That was kind of a bullshit balk call.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Son of a bitch, their pitcher??!?! A two run homer...

[jbm]

Son of a bitch, their pitcher??!?! A two run homer...

Sure got ugly quick. Hit a dude in the ass, next pitch gone.  More than likely enough to prevent a third staright extra inning loss.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Just walked the dog so I missed the Astros three up three down in the bottom of the second.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I really don't like the Washington Nationals and I feel bad for the people of Montreal who might have loved their Expos.

[Mr. Happy]

I really don't like the Washington Nationals and I feel bad for the people of Montreal who might have loved their Expos.

Next year, my NL team will be the Giants. But I don't dislike either the Nats or the Pirates.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I dislike every team but the Astros, some more than others.

[Mr. Happy]

I dislike every team but the Astros, some more than others.

I like the Giants because I live out here and can follow them.

[Ron Brand]

Next year, my NL team will be the Giants. But I don't dislike either the Nats or the Pirates.

NL? Fuck the NL, they play that shitty Neanderthal ball. Go Rangers!

[Ron Brand]

Listening to the radio on the drive was torture. Gallaraga is so fucking slow, and he's throwing lots of pitches, and he's mouthy, so all that means more time for DoRay to be annoying and for Milo to wander through the Swiss cheese he's got for a brain. Awful.

[OregonStrosFan]

Listening to the radio on the drive was torture. Gallaraga is so fucking slow, and he's throwing lots of pitches, and he's mouthy, so all that means more tie for DoRay to be annoying and for Milo to wander through the Swiss cheese he's got for a brain. Awful.

Angel Hernandez is behind the dish, or 'umpiring' somewhere on the field.  Whatever mouthing is going (by either pitcher) on is WELL deserved...

[OregonStrosFan]

3-2 bad guys thru 5...

[OregonStrosFan]

And Galarraga with 5 6 walks in 5.0 IP and I'm guessing the Natinals won't only have 3 runs here shortly...

[hostros7]

Wow, easy to pitch when that's a strike.  Love that cedeno went back to it on 3-2

[jbm]

Wow, easy to pitch when that's a strike.  Love that cedeno went back to it on 3-2

Yeah, rook's been screwed by an angel, but nice job again by the pen.

[Reuben]

I've never seen a pitcher so pissed off after catching the third out of a scoreless inning. I guess Gio's still mad about the strike zone in Maxwell's AB?

[Reuben]

I really don't like the Washington Nationals and I feel bad for the people of Montreal who might have loved their Expos.

I expressed similar sentiments in my recap of last night's game. I really liked the Expos in the 80's and 90's.

[Mr. Happy]

Fick? Fuck!

[jbm]

Downs is a crappy third baseman.  This team doesn't score much anyway, just go with the best gloves.

[NeilT]

Downs is a crappy third baseman.  This team doesn't score much anyway, just go with the best gloves.

Pearce?

[NeilT]

Best i've seen Fick throw.

[subnuclear]

I really don't like the Washington Nationals and I feel bad for the people of Montreal who might have loved their Expos.

Expos had a lot of fans throughout Canada. A lot of Canadians don't care for Toronto. But they needed a new stadium and that wasn't going to happen.

[jbm]

Pearce?

Might be Moore on the current roster, but they could bring up Dominguez and dump Downs.  If his glove is what they say, he would help plug that hole at third.

[OregonStrosFan]

Might be Moore on the current roster, but they could bring up Dominguez and dump Downs.  If his glove is what they say, he would help plug that hole at third.

I heard there was some kid named Paredes that used to play some third. Evidently HOU hasn't heard of him, but I'm pretty sure that I have... (I know, they are grooming him to take over for Shreefer...).

[Mr. Happy]

Downs is a crappy third baseman.  This team doesn't score much anyway, just go with the best gloves.

Downs doesn't do anything well.

[hostros7]

Downs doesn't do anything well.

Lingering, apparently.

[NeilT]

Downs doesn't do anything well.

And that makes him unique?

[jbm]

Best i've seen Fick throw.

Indeed.  He has done his job well tonight.

[NeilT]

Angel sucks.

[OregonStrosFan]

2 on B8 against LHP with HOU down by 2. Who does he call in to pinch hit against the lefty? None other than Chris Snyder (.174 AVG, .148 against LHP).  All I can say is THANK GOODNESS he did not let Wallace face a lefty.  That coulda been bad...

[hostros7]

2 on B8 against LHP with HOU down by 2. Who does he call in to pinch hit against the lefty? None other than Chris Snyder (.174 AVG, .148 against LHP).  All I can say is THANK GOODNESS he did not let Wallace face a lefty.  That coulda been bad...

Geez, I figured there was no one left since Snyder is the available catcher, and, you know, he can't hit.

[hostros7]

Francisco's base running potentially cost the astros extras.

[jbm]

If Francisco had hustled, that might have tied it.  Downs with a chance at redemption.

[hostros7]

Seen more than enough of downs at this point. 

[Reuben]

If Francisco had hustled, that might have tied it.  Downs with a chance at redemption.

Well, he never had much of a chance, really.

[jbm]

Well, he never had much of a chance, really.

Yeah, a terrible AB.  Over anxious from pitch one.

[juliogotay]

Francisco's base running potentially cost the astros extras.

More head-up-their-ass ballplaying by someone that should know better.

[Reuben]

Yeah, a terrible AB.  Over anxious from pitch one.

I agree 100% with OSF. I would've far, far preferred to have Wallace up there in either of those key situations instead of Downs or Snyder. Check out his splits from OKC. He actually hits lefties better than righties, and I believe that was the case throughout his minor league career. Mills is crazy if he thinks Snyder is a better hitter than Wallace against any type of pitcher.

[OregonStrosFan]

All my bitching aside, it was GREAT to see Barnes get his first MLB hit tonight!

[jbm]

Mills is crazy if he thinks Snyder is a better hitter than Wallace against any type of pitcher.

I'd be surprised if using Wallace ever crossed his mind there.  The guy pretty much worships the left-right thing for both hitting and pitching matchups.

[Mr. Happy]

I'd be surprised if using Wallace ever crossed his mind there.  The guy pretty much worships the left-right thing for both hitting and pitching matchups.

He doesn't just worship the "book"; he's a fucking slave to it. When I saw on MLB At-Bat that Snyder was hitting, I screamed "fuck" in the car coming home from SFO, and my wife said wryly "what didn't the Astros do now?" She even knew it was a major fuckup. .148 against lefties? Are you fucking kidding me, Millsie, you imbecile. I hope that they fire your ass tomorrow.