Thursday, April 23, 2009

Dodgers 2
Astros NIL

W: Billingsley (4-0) | L: Wandy (1-2) | S: Broxton (5)
HR: NIL

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Wandy pitched another gem. 6 innings, 1 run. The Astros line up was controlled by Billingsley for 7+ innings and wasn’t able to muster a run as the lone Dodgers score in the 1st held up and the Good Guys dropped the series finale 2-0.

Berkman’s struggles at the plate are maddening. 3 times up with men on, 2 Ks and a GIDP. Miggy was tested tonight in the field and had a rough go of it. A grounder off of his glove diving to his right in the 7th turned into the Dodgers insurance run. But his double in the 1st was as far as any Astros got against Billingsley who snuffed all threats with an efficient mix of pitches that induced either a K or ground ball outs.

Torre pulled Billingsley at the 1st hint of trouble. With 1 out in the 8th, Bourn reached on an infield single and Broxton was brought in to close it out. Pence lined to short and Kaz grounded to 1st to end the 8th.

Bottom 9 was wacky. Miggy singled followed by 2 quick Ks of Berkman and Lee. Then Blum was (was not) hit in the foot by a pitch, bringing the winning run to the dish in Erstad. First pitch to him bounced 3 feet in front of the plate, off C Martin and over towards the Astros dugout, moving the tying runners into scoring position. Erstad swung at the next 3 pitches, a nasty curve and 2 filthy sliders, connecting on the second and sending it bouncing lazily to Loney at 1st who ended it unassisted.

Bud’s Bunch roll into town for the weekend on a 2-gamer. Gallardo vs. Paulino tomorrow, first pitch 7:05.

Dodgers 5, Astros 8
W: Russ Ortiz, L: Clayton Kershaw, S: Jose Valverde

Box Score
Astros Recap
Yahoo Recap

Well, this was an interesting game tonight. The first inning ended at 7:42 pm. That took a long time. Both Russ Ortiz and Clayton Kershaw threw a lot of pitches. The Dodgers putting up a 3 spot did not seem to bode well for the evening. Even though the Astros scored one run in the first also. But those of us with faith stuck around to see the Astros play some winning baseball.

I have to admit that one of the frustrating moments on the night was the Sonic Grandslam inning. I really feel bad for the contestant tonight. There were four chances for the Astros to hit a grandslam. All they could muster was one run. One, leaving three men on base. But I guess I should be okay with them scoring one.

A scary moment in the game was the top of the ninth. Rafael “Cheers” Furcal reached on a bunt error. Orlando Hudson reached on an ankle hit to Jose Valverde. Manny Ramirez came up with a chance to tie the game with no outs and proceeded to make a long fly ball out. Runners on the corners for the Dodgers. Andre Ethier worked a walk to load the bases with one out. I have to admit, I was very uncomfortable. This is not the Astros with bases loaded, this team could score some runs. Jose Valverde got James Loney and Russell Martin to strike out. The Dodgers left them all on base. It’s not just for the Astros anymore.

Memorable Moments from the game. Let’s start with Mr. Carlos Lee. He hit a shot that hit some lady going to see Mauritius at the Alley Theatre. Jason Michaels hit a ground rule double to center field that bounced out of the field. There were only six men left on base by the Astros, that does seem to be an improvement over the past few games. Russ Ortiz pitched well after the first inning. Wesley Wright, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless inning each.

Manny Ramirez hit a shot that went 437′ straight to center.

Overall, it was a good win for the Astros.

Bench Tidbits:

Brad Ausmus is still good looking.

Kazuo Matsui has a group of fans that come out to the games.

Those furries for Lance Berkman are still stupid.

Check out the Game Zone for in-game reactions.

Taras Bulba has the Series Preview for more information.

Reds at Astros, 4/20/09
Reds 4, Astros 3
W: Arroyo (3-0), L: Geary (0-2), S: Cordero (5)
HR: Berkman (3), Lee (2)

(Request to programmers: please set macro for “the Astros lost a heartbreaker as the bullpen and offense were unable to support a surprisingly effective starting pitching performance.” Thanks – MM.)

Hampton came out with struggling with command a bit, and was unable to put hitters away; Taveras and Votto both singled with two strikes, moved up on a grounder to second, and Encarnacion plated both with another two-strike hit. The flip side is that each hit featured the type of take-the-pitch-the-other-way, adjust-for-two-strikes approach that is sorely lacking from the home team. Following those struggles, though, Hampy settled down and mowed his way through the next five innings.

As far as Astros “hitting” goes, a run was scratched out on singles by Pence and Blum in the second. Berkman and Lee then won the “it’s about time” award by absolutely unloading on Arroyo for back-to-back homeruns, giving the Astros a 3-2 lead in the sixth. Following Lee’s trot, Pence slashed a single into CF. Unfortunately, the Franchise did not realize that he had hit a routine single into CF and blew right past first, resulting in the look on his face at left.

Sorry about that… I meant, the following look on his face:

If you did not see the result… picture Biggio’s 3,000th hit. Pence was out by much, much more than that at second.

On to the seventh, where Hampton allowed a leadoff single. Hampton provided the bookend to his 2-strike struggles by allowing Arroyo to bunt the runner over on an 0-2 pitch, and gave way to Geary and Byrdak. If you don’t know what happened next, you haven’t been watching real closely this season. At least Bourn and Miggy combined for a nice 8-6-2 at the plate to stop it from becoming 5-3.

Bottom 8 featured the Astros with runners on 1st and 3rd for Berkman with only one out, but no runs. Lance popped to 2b, Lee walked, and Pence, in his most impressive AB, actually battled to a 3-2 count before taking called strike 3. Baby steps, people. We’re taking baby steps.

Final score: Reds 4, Astros 3. But in better news, Baseball Prospectus declared the Astros a 3-1 series winner based upon their better run differential over the 4 games.