Enjoying this last year of real baseball. No matter HOW bad the team. And Milwaukee isn’t lookin nothin like the team that had Prince Fielder on it last year. Of course, his new team isn’t doing so well in spite of Da Prince killing the ball because their starting and relief pitching has been bad and ex-Stro Vlaverde has been stinking it up.
Uncle hit another homer today – woulda been an out on the Hill here…
Giants beat Berkman and the Cards today – Cards made THREE errors (all allowing runs to be scored) and pitchers gave up NINE walks. Saw this ad for the 3 upcoming games – Zito, Vogelsong and Lincecum. Guess which of those 3 guys has an ERA over 5?
To the game: looks as if there are like maybe 8000 people in the stands.
1st inning: Aoki grounds out, Happ throws 2 strikes, then 3 balls to Rickie Weeks, hitting .155, then grounds out to Lowrie. Carlos has to stretch to get the throw. Carlos has done a REALLY good job as a first baseman this year, gotta tip my hat. Braun singles to right – Bogu almost gets it. Aramis Ramirez up, Braun steals – he’s a good baserunner – pretty close to a real 5 tool star. Aramis goes to 3-2, fouls off a bunch, then flies out to center. 23 pitches. Happ needs to get efficient two 3-2 counts on 4 hitters.
Speaking of center, Michael Bourn has a 128 OPS+ but 5 CS with 11 steals, 16 walks, only 29 K. He’s a Boras client in his walk year – wonder how much $$$ and years he’s gonna get. He certainly won’t be coming back here, there won’t be any contracts like THAT you best believe.
Marcum out there – Schafer Ks – that is a WIDE strike zone, none of the 3 were over the plate (according to pitch fx). Altuve singles to center. JD takes a pitch above the ankles for a strike. Good grief. Fouls off a curve, swings and misses a FB. Carlos, who has gotten his BA back over .300, up. Altuve steals second, takes 3rd on a bad throw from Lucroy. But Carlos grounds out on Ball 4 on a bad pitch down and outside. 15 pitches.
At least we won’t get no hit.
2nd – Corey Hart up. Seems he KILLZ Happ (yeah, JD says 7 fer 15) but he Ks swinging this time. Lucroy – 3rd round of the 07 draft – is kind of like JD Mart and Altuve – called up after 122 AB at AA/AAA in 2010 and never looked back. Anyway, he’s called out on that wide strike. Same with Ex-Stro Brooks Conrad. 38 pitches.
Happ just struck out the side, can you believe it?
Jed Lowrie flies out on the first pitch. Bogu grounds out to second. CJ singles to left – YESSSSSSSS. Snyder goes to 3-2 takes a home run cut and misses.
3rd. Izturis, the SS, grounds out first pitch. Marcum walks – yes, the pitcher. It’s a bad thing to walk a guy who doesn’t hit. sigh. Aoki doubles to the RF corner. Here we go. Weeks up and singles to third – CJ has to fall and stretch to get the ball, look Marcum back and Weeks is on first with an IF single. Bases loaded 1 outs. JEEZ. Braun does Happ a favor (woulda been a bigger favor to GIDP, but hey, out is out) and pops out over near the dugout and Marcum, not exactly fast, has to stay put. Aramis grounds out to CJ. Man, they’re looking like the Astros. 57 pitches.
No I don’t blame the Brewers 3rd base coach for not sending a slow footed slug like Marcum from third on a popup – it would have been close with a fast runner as the throw from Carlos wasn’t a perfect strike – let’s put it like that.
Happ up, and he can actually hit, so let’s hope he does. Nope, not this time, grounds out to Weeks. Schafer bloops a popup into right near the line for a double – ran HARD all the way and made it in ahead of the throw. CMON JOSE!!! But he grounds out betwen the first base line and the mound and he’s out although Schafer makes it to third. But JD Martinez grounds out on a pitch at his ankle and Schafer is stranded. 42 pitches.
sigh
4th inning: Hart gounds out to Lowrie. Lucroy flies out to JD near the LF bullpen. Conrad hits a chopper to Happ. 67 pitches. That is a HUGE strike zone and both Happ and Marcum are really enjoying this. Hitting is gonna be done on something that hangs or one of those unusual golf swing type things.
But youneverknow…
Because Carlos hits a line drive into right. Lowrie goes to 3-2 and hits a high pop over the RF wall, maybe 30′ from the foul pole, but hey, out is out. Bogu singles up the middle. CJ up, but he dribbles a ball to third and is barely out. Snyder up, and he singles to shallow center, Bogu, who is FAST, easily beats the throw home and Snyder goes to second – throw skipped in the dirt. But he would have beat a GOOD throw, too. He’s a GOOD baserunner. Error on Aoki is for letting Snyder get to second. Happ up, goes to 3-2, then takes strike 3 down the middle. Too bad. Schafer up and he lines a high FB into shallow center and Aoki can’t throw out Schafer at the plate and Lucroy fires a bullet to second, But Schafer has already taken second and the throw is late!!! So Altuve hits a dribbler to third and barely beatts the throw to first – or maybe not. JD thinks that Conrad didn’t get the out call because he doesn’t have the rep. JD Martinez NEEDS to really hit some kind of serious double or homer here. But no, just a routine grounder to short. 76 pitches. But it’s
Astros 4 Crew 0
5th inning: Izturis singles up the middle. Marcum bunt pops up. Aoki singles to center, Bogu went to get the ball, drops it and runners at second and third. Bogu’s first error this year. I keep talking about what a good OF he is and what a good and accurate arm he has. He could easily play center and play it well. Weeks up, 1 out. Takes called strike 3 down the middle. Braun is up – but he grounds out to CJ – easy 5-3. 82 pitches.
Caballo up, goes to 3-2, takes a walk – first walk of the game. You notice all that walking the Astros were doing in April has kind of vanished. Lowrie flies out. Bogu hits a slow roller to second for a FC. CJ up – hope he isn’t swinging at all that low stuff again. Bogu steals second – throw a lil too late. But CJ swings at crap and strands him.
6th: Aramis grounds out to short. Corey Hart is long and he’s strong and he’s down to get the longball on, but the ball goes off the RF bullpen fence for a double. 5 more inches and it woulda been out. Lucroy singles to right, Hart stops at third, but Bogu didn’t make a good throw and Hart would have scored.
Broakey out. Happ stays. We’ll see.
First pitch, Conrad pops up. Two out. Izturis up. He grounds out to Lowrie on a 2-2. 97 pitches and he strands men on second and third 1 out AGAIN – he’s done this in 3 of the 6 innings he’s pitched and he left Braun on second in the first. Only two 1,2,3 innings. But he’s gotten his ERA under 5!!!!!
New pitcher, righty Kameron Loe in, Marcum and Brooks Conrad out, Travis Ishikawa now at 1B. Snyder up and he doubles off the scoreboard – barely beats the throw into second. Marwin Gonzalez up to sac bunt and JD says what I’m thinking – namely, why on EARTH not let the pitcher, who is USED to sac bunting, lay it down? Marwin Ks. Schafer is HBP on the 0-2 on a curve that curved. Altuve up and Ks on a 3-2 looking and this one WAS a strike, not that outside stuff getting called a strike. JD Martinez up and he has GOT to get his mojo back. But no, he grounds out to short on an 0-2.
Might could be time to move him down in the lineup because hitting 3rd doesn’t seem to be doing it for getting his hitting back. Not sure whether or not he knows that Fernando Martinez, Brad Snyder and Justin Ruggiano are tearing it up at OKC…
7th – Wesley Wright out. Gets Ishikawa to groundout to CJ. Aoki HBP on a 3-2. Wilton Lopez in, Wesley out. Rickie Weeks lines out to CJ and Braun grounds out to Lowrie.
Vinnie Chulk, RHP in – his ERA is 7.71 AFTER last night’s 2 scoreless IP.
JD says that the actual turnstile count tonight is 15,173. There must be a whole lot of people who aren’t actually sitting in seats is all I can say.
Carlos flies out to center. Lowrie works a 3-2 walk. Bogu strides to the plate, goes to 3-2, hits a ball to the LF corner – thought it was gonna be a Lance Berkman CBox homer, but no, juuuuust short of both the scoreboard AND the wall. Lowrie gets back in time. CJ singles down the RF line on an 0-2. Men on first and third, 2 out. Chris Snyder hits a ball hard to left, but just gets under it and Braun catches it just before the scoreboard. Astros have left TONS of runners on so I’m hoping that 4 run lead holds up.
Vinnie Chulk wishes it could be all Astros ALL the time.
8th inning: Wilton back out and walks Aramis on 4 straight balls – first walk of the season. Corey Hart Ks. Lucroy hits a high chopper to short and they can’t turn 2. Tyler Green in to pinch hit. Foul ball to the LF corner – barely foul – like by 1 inch because he wasn’t near close to that ball. But fortunately, he grounds out to Wilton. JD just is NOT having a good month at ALL. He’s 4 fer 34 for May. He’s lucky he started off so smoking hot – it’s always bad for them when they start out in a slump.
Jose Veras, RHP in. Travis Buck is pinch hitting, grounds out to first. Schafer grounds out to short. Altuve gets his second infield hit tonight – between short and the mound. Hey, a hit is a hit. And he’s 3 fer 4. JD up and takes a bad swing at a bad pitch in the dirt and he gets extremely lucky when it takes a bad hop over the SS and it’s a single – hey, ANYTHING. Carlos up and I hope HOPE he drives in some runs because Abad is going to mopping up and no one else is warming up and I’m feeling nervous.
It’s weird how I’m writing earlier about Michael Bourn and Brownie and Deshaies start talking about him – he’s leading the NL in hits. He’s leading the team in WAR, too.
9th – Abad out, gets Izturis to ground out. Edwin Maysonet up, goes to 3-2 and pops up to short. I can’t believe it – 2 straight rightys out. Aoki, LHB, singles up the middle. Righty Weeks up. And Abad gets him to fly out to center.
Stros leave 12 on base and win anyway. Happ, I think, really benefitted from that wide strike zone – he threw almost everything just inside or just outside. I hate calling a 2 game series a “sweep” but hey, I’ll take wins no matter WHAT you call it.
This weekend is interyecccch – the hell that Bud Selig has finally achieved his dream of turning baseball into. Nolan Ryan is coming in to gloat – he, um, encouraged (yeah, let’s call it that) Selig to destroy this team by turning into the crap DH ball that he was reduced to. Revenge is a dish best tasted cold, as my Daddy loves to say, and Nolan sure got his – he was ignored and disrespected when he was here, both times – first when McMillan let him go in 1989 – and, as I’ve said, absolutely NOBODY thought Ryan was any sort of Hall of Fame player at the time he left for the DH team.
And when he came back as an “adviser” Drayton used him as a tourist attraction and had no interest in much of anything he had to say, so he left for that DH team again. And when his chance came to kill the Astros once and for all, he did.
And he’s throwing out the first pitch tomorrow. And the Astros are giving out a bobblehead of the person who thoroughly, totally destroyed the team. Rivalry my ass. Will be the best day of his life. I’d love to tell him that I have really enjoyed watching the Cards (and Lance Berkman) kick him where it hurts, coming back TWICE to kill em dead.
hehhehheh


