By Craig the Bastard
The Astros went 22-7 in July and moved into first place in the wildcard race. But there are still two months in the season, so I wouldn?t dig in there if I were you. We?ve got three of the top five pitchers in ERA in the majors, and also the best home record in baseball. And we?re nine games over .500.
Arizona is three games under .500, but tied with San Diego for the lead in the West. They just won three out of four in Wrigley, so the Snakes are good for something.
When:
Tuesday, August 2, 8:40 p.m. CDT ? FSSW
Wednesday, August 3, 9:10 p.m. CDT ? FSSW, ESPN 2
Thursday, August 4, 8:40 p.m. CDT ? FSSW
MLB Extra Innings ? The first two games will be on the Arizona broadcast, and the third one will be on Fox Southwest. Wednesday?s game will also be on ESPN 2, which is probably the only game I?ll get all week because of the stupid fucking blackout rules. I used to like the Diamondbacks until I moved into their regional broadcast area.
Where: BOB
The D-Backs are in the midst of a nearly month-long road trip that?s broken up by six home games. I guess if you have to leave Arizona for a month, doing it during July and August is the right time.
Projected Matchups
Roger Clemens (9-4, 1.46) v. Claudio Vargas (4-5, 5.26)
Roger is 6-1 since the first of June and has won his last two starts. But one of his four losses was against Arizona. Most of the Snakes have seen him before, but they haven?t done much with it. Luis Gonzalez is 5-for-18 (.278) with a homer, Tony Clark is 9-for-37 (.243) with a homer, and that?s about as good as it gets. Glaus is 5-for-25 and Shawn Green is 3-for-19.
Vargas is 1-0 against the Astros, and nobody on the team has more than four AB against him. Biggio is 0-for-4, Berkman is 0-for-3, and Ensberg is 1-for-2 with a homer. Viz is 2-for-2.
Ezequiel Astacio (1-4, 7.17) v. Javier Vazquez (9-9, 4.29)
Zeke looked pretty good (figuratively speaking) against the goddamn fucking Mets. He pitched an inning in relief against Arizona earlier this season, and three Snakes are 0-for-1 against him.
Vazquez is 2-4 against the Astros, which includes a loss early this season. Biggio and Berkman are a combined 10-for-45 against him, and Bagwell was 1-for-17. However, Viz is 6-for-10 and Ensberg is 3-for-8.
Wandy Rodriguez (6-4, 5.90) v. Brad Halsey (7-7, 3.81)
Wandy is 4-1 since early June, including a nice win against the Stem last week. He?s never seen the Diamondbacks, so he probably lives in my cable area.
Halsey is a left-handed Houston native who beat the Astros back in May when we sucked. Viz is 2-for-3 against him, and Biggio, Berkman, and Ensberg are all 1-for-3.
Key injuries:
Houston ? Clemens is questionable for his start, and Backe is on the 15-day DL.
Arizona ? Brandon Lyon, Russ Ortiz, and Oscar Villarreal are all on the DL and may return soon. Kelly Stinnett is eligible to come off the DL Wednesday. Shawn Estes may be back late this month.
Other shit
? I could have done without hearing Greg Lucas gush about his fetish for Ed Wood movies. Everyone has Plan 9, but the whole library? Dude.
? I was driving around Saturday and got the XM game broadcast, so I actually listened to Milo for the first time in years. While driving anyway. And all Milo talked about was how he fucked up Craig Biggio?s surprise birthday party for his wife.
? There must be a smartass somewhere in the Astros? PR department, because twice now on their website I?ve seen references like: ?not including the tie game in Cincinnati.?
