By Craig the Bastard
The Astros just took two of three from the Snakes and are 10 games over .500. We?re still leading the wildcard race by a game, and we?re nine back of the Jakes.
San Francisco is 46-61, 15 games under .500, but only 6.5 games off the lead in the West. They just won the last game of a series to avoid a sweep by the Rockies.
When:
Friday, August 5, 9:15 p.m. CDT ? FSSW
Saturday, August 6, 3:05 p.m. CDT ? Fox
Sunday, August 7, 3:05 p.m. CDT ? FSSW
MLB Extra Innings ? Friday?s game will be on the Bay Area broadcast, Saturday?s will be on Fox, and Sunday?s will be on the Southwest feed. Hopefully I?ll get the Saturday game on Fox, but I thought the same thing about Wednesday?s ESPN game in Arizona and instead I got some fucking AL game.
Finally the Astros are playing in my time zone, and I can?t watch any of the games because I?m blacked out. Brilliant marketing plan, Bud.
Where: SBC Park
I thought they played at Pac Bell, but now it?s called SBC. Probably just placeholder names until they can name it after Barry.
Projected Matchups
Andy Pettitte (9-7, 2.58) v. Jason Schmidt (7-6, 4.56)
Andy is 0-2 against the Giants with a 6.35 ERA. But Andy?s also won his last six decisions and was NL Pitcher of the Month in July. The only Giant who?s done much against him is Deivi Cruz, who is 12-for-36 with a double and two homers. Ray Durham is 14-for-55 (.255) with four doubles and two triples.
Schmidt is 3-9 against Houston with an ERA north of 5. He?s got four decisions since July 1, and has lost three of them. Craig Biggio is 12-for-39 (.308) against him, Ausmus is 8-for-24 (with a homer) and Viz is 6-for-18. Berkman is only 2-for-14 (.143).
Roy Oswalt (14-8, 2.40) v. Nick Lowry (6-11, 4.59)
Roy is 1-2 against San Francisco. His last start was his first no-decision of the year, and he?s won seven of his last eight decisions. Several Giants have hit him well in the past, including Michael Tucker (5-for-14), Pedro Feliz (5-for-9), and Ray Durham (4-for-7).
Lowry is 1-0 against Houston. Current Astros are 4-for-22 (.182) against him, with half of those hits coming from Viz. Biggio and Berkman (and Bagwell) are all 0-for-4 against him.
Roger Clemens (10-4, 1.45) v. Brett Tomko (7-11, 4.75)
Roger is 3-0 against the Giants with a 1.17 ERA, and his ERA on the road this season is 0.41. Most of the Giants have faced him before, but they are a combined 74-for-329 (.225). Their two best hitters against him look to be Randy Winn (13-for-40) and Deivi Cruz (11-for-37). On the other hand, J.T. Snow, Michael Tucker, Moises Alou, and Pedro Feliz are a combined 11-for-87.
Tomko is 4-5 against Houston with an ERA near 5. He?s lost four of his last six decisions. Too bad we don?t have Bagwell today because he has 13 hits off Tomko, 6 of which were homers. Mike Lamb is 5-for-13 (.385) against Tomko, and Ausmus is 7-for-23 (.304). Berkman only bats .217 against him, but he does have two homers.
Key injuries:
Houston ? Biggio and Berkman both have some sort of stomach ailment and Bidge had to take half a bottle of Imodium before Thursday?s game. It must have worked, because he didn?t have any runs.
San Francisco ? Moises Alou is questionable for this series because of a hamstring injury. Alex Sanchez is out until mid-August. Armando Benitez is on a rehab assignment, and Barry Bonds is either out for the season or coming back soon, depending upon the daily diagnosis he receives from his ego. Brett Tomko is hobbling but is expected to make his start Sunday.
Other shit
? In a little-publicized portion of the blockbuster 38-player, 9-team NBA trade this week, the Astros also received Ralph Sampson in exchange for Bill Worrell and a sunlamp.
? After Ensberg?s homer the other night in Arizona, I think we can say he has Shot the Bob.
