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In Which Wilton Lopez Blows The Save, I Go To Bed And Miss Roy-O Play LF and CJ Drive In The Winning Run

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

I guess Wilton Lopez, who had been perfect for SO long, was gonna throw a bad pitch sooner or later. But I’m getting ahead of myself, here.

I would have said, a long time ago, that I LUUUUVVVVV 6 PM game starts because I can watch it all and be finished writing my writeup by the time I get the last kid in bed. But things change – and between feeding kids and dogs, getting kids started on (shudder) homework and who knows what, I missed the first inning. And of course, there were lots of interruptions because Certain Kids, who had exactly zero interest in watching games during the summer, suddenly have developed this intense Astros Fanhood, in which they can’t bear to not watch a single pitch (instead of doing homework, you feelin me here).

So by the time their Daddy got home, got fed and got going, it was the 4th inning and Pence had singled and then Carlos Lee had homered. And here it is noon the next day, and I’m just getting time to going back to the replay. Babies and toddlers are easy. Kids take TONS of time.

So, the important points: once again, Brett Wallace was benched against a lefty, with Clank playing 1B. Bud Norris is looking as if he has turned the corner, he really is. One of the things that rookie pitchers have to deal with is to not lose focus/concentration when the HP umps don’t call a strike a strike – especially when they have called that exact same pitch a strike on an earlier occasion or for the other pitcher.

In the second inning, Bud threw 30 pitches. With 2 outs, he walked Victorino (and yes, those balls WERE balls) and then he got overly distracted, trying to keep him on first, then balked. He had Ruiz struck out on pitch #5, but Victorino stealing 3rd distracted the HP ump, and a pitch RIGHT in the strike zone was called ball 2 instead of strike 3 (actually, ball 1 SHOULD have been strike 2, but I digress) and the next pitch was ball 4 (it really was). Hamels was then up with runners on first and third. He swung at the first 2 pitches, and the next pitch was called Ball 1 instead of Strike 3 – it was a FB right at the top of the zone – INSIDE the zone, but noooooo. But Bud kept his cool and FINALLY got Hamels out.

Third inning, Hamels gets 1,2,3 outs on 12 pitches. Bud goes back out – gets Rollins out on 3 pitches, gets Polanco out on 2 – and Strike 1 (called a strike the last 2 innings for Bud) was called Ball 1, gave up a single to Utley on 3 pitches and got Howard out on 2 with a lineout to center. What was good is that for all 3 innings, Bud kept the ball down, except for the deliberate high FB, and only had 1 pitch mid plate – the second pitch to Howard in the 3rd, whose swing was just a leeeeeetle off – good thing for Bud.

Fourth inning, Bud was handed a 2 run lead and went out there with grim determination. He got lucky with Jayson Werth – left a ball in the middle of the plate and it was fouled off. But he got him out, then got Ibanez to GO, walked Victorino on 5 pitches (and yes they really were all balls) then got Ruiz to flyout – threw over a few pickoff throws, but didn’t lose focus this time.

Fifth inning, he got Hamels out on 4 pitches, Rollins out on 4 pitches (and Ball 1 should have been Strike 1) then watched his first 2 pitches to Polanco get called balls, even though they were most definitely in the strike zone (lower outside corner) and had definitely been called strikes before (I hate to say it, but I think that some of this is the fact that Q is lousy at framing pitches – I’ve said this for YEARS) but kept at it and got him out on the 6th pitch. I’ve lost count of how many pitches in the strike zone were called balls – AND he didn’t get any pitches OUT of the strike zone called strikes.

6th inning, at 89 pitches, he went back out, got Utley out on 4 pitches (and another strike called a ball – midplate, right above the knees) then got Howard out swinging – good thing, too, because the ump probably would have called that sllider a ball. Then Werth singled – after 2 pitches called balls which were strikes (you notice a pattern here? And watching the mlb replay, even the Phils announcers are surprised at how many pitches are not called strikes) and Ibanez doubled to the LF corner – ball 1 was strike 1 (the Phils announcers noticed) and then ball 1 was called strike 1 (Phils announcers groused) then Victorino singled. With Ruiz up and Domonic Brown on deck, Bud threw a ball, did that sillyass fake to third fake to first thingy (WHY on earth do pitchers do that? All it does is risk a balk, which you do NOT wanna do with a guy on 3rd – and it never gets anyone out anyway) then got Ruiz to flyout to Bourn.

And there you go – 6 tough, gritty innings, DEFINITELY not exactly helped by the HP umpire’s crappy and inconsistant strike zone.

Since Bud came back from the DL, he has had only 2 of 11 starts in which he didn’t go 6 innings – before that, he had only 1 start out of 9 in which he went more than FIVE innings – 8 innings against, naturally, St. Louis. One thing I noticed this game is that Bud used his changeup effectively – only 10 of em in 108 pitches, but he threw all but 1 for strikes, got 2 of his 18 outs with them. Earlier this year, he either couldn’t throw the changeup for a strike, it had no movement on it, or it was down the middle. Bud pretty much kept the ball down, painted the corners, and had good movement on his pitches.

Bud’s July ERA was 3.73 and his August ERA is 3.58. I really REALLY hope that this is something permanent – he’s beaten 4 good teams this month (of course, he’s had outstanding run support in 2 starts in which he gave up 4 runs) and so it isn’t just him beating lousy teams.

And the rest of the game?

Well, I watched Byrdak come in the 7th, walk the first 2 guys, then get 3 outs. I watched Gustavo Chacin come in in the 8th, get 2 outs, then give up a double (ahem) to Ibanez on what SHOULD have been an easy single to center, only Michael Bourn, of all people, booted the ball. Ibanez, one of the 5 slowest runners in the majors, decided to go to third and SHOULD have been dead meat, but Sanchez, the cutoff man, dropped the throw from Pence and made it into third. With switch hitting Victorino coming up, Mills pulled Chacin and sent in our best reliever, Lopez. Who got Victorino out.

When Lopez came back out in the 9th, I knew that Lyon wasn’t gonna pitch tonight, but figured, no problem, Lopez is Da Man. So I let the kids stay up to watch him get the last 3 outs, even though it was most DEFINITELY bedtime on a Tuesday night, and he breezed through the first 3 outs, then went to 3-1 on Rollins, threw a mid-plate, thigh high FB, which Rollins popped up into the RF seats, just left of the foul pole to tie the game.

sigh

Then, of course, I had to get the kids settled and into bed – and they, uh, resist this, not seeing why on earth a good night’s sleep is necessary for skool, and by the time I got everyone in bed, I was tired, it was late and Fernando Abad had managed to throw 2 scoreless innings (which I didn’t think possible – GLAD to be wrong) giving up a single, no walks and 3 Ks,  watched the top of the 12th in which Michael Bourn came in with 2 on, 2 outs, the game on the line, and grounded out. Melancon came in to pitch the bottom of the 12th, gave up a bloop single but got 3 outs, and I was just too tired to stay up and watch, having been up since around 4:30 AM.

So I missed the 14th. JMike struck out swinging, CJ singled, then Tommy grounded into his SECOND DP of the night – hadn’t been his night at all – he’d been called out on strikes his last AB on a FB at LEAST 4″ off the plate. Then Melancon came back out, got 2 outs, gave up a single and a walk and it was Ryan Howard at the plate.

He fouled one off, then checked his swing on the next pitch. Only the 3B ump thought he’d gone around and called it a strike. Watching the replay, it sure nuff looked to ME as if he’d checked it – and I’m an Astros fan. Ryan was NOT happy and started yelling. The 3B ump looked grim, but Ryan calmed back down, went back into the box after walking around a bit to shake it off. He fouled one to the 1B line, then Melancon threw a breaker in the dirt, which Castro didn’t block (HIS weakness as a catcher, just like Q’s weakness is his lousiness at framing pitches) and both runners moved up, even though the ball didn’t roll far. Howard fouled another one off, then checked his swing on Ball 2. I mean, he didn’t even go as far around as he did the first time, but the 3B ump IMMEDIATELY called him out.

Howard immediately turned to him and screamed (and it was not the bad word that starts with F or C) and the 3B ump IMMEDIATELY tossed him. And Howard is not a guy who gets tossed – in fact, I think that Berkman has gotten tossed more often. Victorino, like a foot shorter and 100 lbs thinner, came in kind of grabbed Howard, tried to shove him backwards with his shoulder. There was a WHOLE lot of yelling, no contact, and finally a furious Howard stormed down the dugout stairs. I don’t blame him. It was a bullstuff call – and the 3B ump OBVIOUSLY did it because Howard had had a fit about the FIRST checked strike call.

Interesting because the 3B ump was the HP ump for the previous night’s game and I thought he had done an EXCELLENT job behind the plate with balls and strikes. INCREDIBLY better than tonight’s HP ump.

And some guy in the Phils dugout got tossed too – even though he’s on the DL. Pretty silly, you ask me.

So Roy Oswalt got sent in to play LF. And sure nuff, first out, top of the 15th, he catches a nice can of corn from Jason Castro. I love stuff like this – Kevin Cash pitching, pitchers fielding and pinch hitting (Wandy grounded out) when everyone has already been used up. As long as the season is not on the line, that is. It’s not like 05, when it seems that 1 of every like 4 games went into extra innings – and we lost them all…

Melancon ended up with 3 scoreless and Herndon, pitching his 3rd straight inning, gave up a single to Pence, then hit Wallace with the 9th pitch, then IBB Michaels to pitch to CJ and hopefully get an inning ending GIDP. And CJ hit a ball to 3rd, but it was smashed, Polance couldn’t handle it and Pence trotted home with the go-ahead run. Then Tommy Manzella, going for the trifecta in GIDPs was up. I mean, not even Brad Ausmus or Miggy Tejada had managed THAT feat. And sure nuff, he hit the ball RIGHT to short, but a sliding CJ broke up the DP and Manzella beat the throw into first and Wallace scored the insurance run. Fulchino struck out for the 3rd out. Yeah, the pitchers had to hit for themselves by then, you know.

So Fulchino had to slam the door – got the first 2 outs, then walked Polanco, IBBd Utley, and then Roy-O was up. And even though he isn’t on our team any more, it would have been teh KEWL if he had gotten a hit and tied it up again, but he grounded out and the Astros won after 5 something hours.

And tonight, all those tired guys have to go out and play at least 9. Happ faced Halliday. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get shutout.

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Posted in Bud Norris | 8 Comments »

In Which The Umps Flog Bud Norris, But Carlos Lee Stakes Him To A Well Deserved W

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Angel Hernandez was the HP ump – yeah, one of the 4 worst umps in baseball and one of the other 3 was the HP ump last night – what a crew. He didn’t call 12 pitches which were no question in the strike zone as strikes, and Bud had to throw more and more pitches. It And, by the way, it’s not as if Bud had exquisite command – he DID throw a lot of pitches out of the zone, but not THAT many. He went to six 3-2 counts and Frenchy, of all people, required 12 pitches to get himself out in the second.

But the blow to what SHOULD have been a scoreless outing happened when the maroon at second, Rob Drake, called David Wright safe, saying that Sanchez’ foot didn’t touch second (and the replay showed CLEARLY that his foot had most CERTAINLY touched it) which meant that the GIDP was just a FC with runners at second and third - and the subsequent groundout, which SHOULD have been out #3 scored a run instead. Then the 1B ump MISSED A CALL – called the runner safe when Sanchez had thrown him out (could it be that Clank looks clumsy or was it just that it was an unusually suckulous throw from Sanchez) and ANOTHER run scored.

Bud looked like one of those cartoon guys with steam coming out of his ears. And after that, filled with absolute seething fury, he set down every batter 1,2,3 through the end of the 7th – they couldn’t do NOTHIN. No more walks, only one 3 ball count and a K of the pitcher.

Meanwhile, the Astros swung early and swung often and easily got themselves out. They were looking like the Sean Berry All-Sucks instead of the supposed New Improved Jeff Bagwell All-Studs. At the end of the 6th, Misch had thrown only 62 pitches and it looked as if he would have a 90 something pitch shutout.

But then, a miracle happened. Sanchez hit a little blooper to right. Then Pence had a broken bat blooper to left that landed. The entire Mets team, just about and the pitching coach all swarm the mound - there hadn’t been a hard hit ball since Sanchez’ flyout and Pence’s double in the first inning. So after the powwow, Misch gets himself back into the stretch and first pitch Clank promptly Pujols that Lidged slider onto the tracks. Stros lead 3-2 and Bud is in line for the W – he CERTAINLY didn’t deserve that L.

Manny Acosta comes in and gets the remaining 3 outs. Then in the 8th, Pedro Feliciano gives up a 10 pitch single to Q, a single to Bourgeois and a sac-bunt to Bourn. He is pulled, in comes righty pitcher Iganshi and he gets Sanchez and Pence swinging to strand 2.

So Lopez has come in to pitch the 8th, gives up a single to Reyes, who goes to second on a passed ball, but gets the 3 outs, no sweat.

Lopez has been one of Ed Wade’s best pickups – he’s GOOD at getting relievers, that is fer SHER (well, except for Braves rejects – but with any luck, he’s learned his lesson)…

And Brandon Lyon comes on to close with a 1 run lead and gets Wright swinging, Davis grounding out to Blum at second, and then Frenchy hits one of those high pops which Pence, screaming IGOTITIGOTIT catches it in shallow right center on a sliding catch. A lil drama to end the game never hurts.

Should I mention that CJ has taken the sombrero for the last 3 games and is swinging at crap – looks as if he needs a day off…

So now we are off on a 10 day trip to the East Coast, starting with Miami. JA Happ faces Anibal Sanchez and his 3.38 ERA this year and his 0.96 ERA over 18.1 IP/ 3 GS vs Houston.

The good news is that we DON’T face Josh Johnson and his 1+ ERA. Then off to Philly, then to NY.

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Posted in Bud Norris, Carlos Lee | 3 Comments »

Pedro Feliz Is Traded – YAY!!! And Tommy Manzella Is Back

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

The Cardinal’s GM said they needed Feliz for – get this – an UPGRADE – at third base. He thinks that Feliz has a great glove (like, he hasn’t watched the guy during Cards games? he hasn’t bothered to check ANY defensive stats and yes, I know they don’t ALL agree) and will provide some – get this – “pop.”

Well, what can I say? Last time the Cards picked up a washed up crappy player from the Astros (Preston Wilson in 06) they won the Series. So who knows, maybe McGwire will teach him to hit and Jose Oquendo can get him to not suck with the glove.

youneverknow.

The Carpenter we got in return is not Chris, but an A-ball pitcher – a 25 year old righty named David Carpenter. He started out as a catcher, couldn’t hit, and converted to pitching in 08. He spent 08 at rookie ball, 09 at A-ball and this year at high A in the Florida league: He’s a reliever with 49 appearances, 44 games finished and 20 saves: 2.36 ERA, 1.13 WHIP: 7.6 H/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 8.4 K/9.

With any luck, this will turn out well. Ed Wade has been VERY good at picking up relievers offn the scrap heap and out of other Organizations minors. He’s really only been wrong with the 2 ex-Braves and the guy he got from the Rox.

Tommy Manzella was brought back from the DL today – looks as if he’ll be on the bench – pretty silly, he’s had only 1 1/2 weeks worth of minor league AB – 6 games at AAA in which he went 9 fer 27 with 2 BB; 5 games at AA in which he went 6 fer 14. So now he can sit on the bench, come in to pinch hit against top relievers and look bad.

ah well…

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Posted in Bud Norris, Pedro Feliz, Tommy Manzella | No Comments »

Hitter Pence Helps Nail Bud Norris’ 14 Strikeout Win Over Pirates

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Well, this has got to be one of the most incredible pitching performances I have ever seen. Bud Norris struggled to find his release point and grip right off – he had a tough time throwing strikes to McCutchen, leading off, then threw a fat one down the middle, which he lined waaaaaay to the right of the RF bullpen – Bourn tried desperately to dive at the last second, but missed, and by the time Pence retrieved the ball and threw it in, McCutchen, who runs like Bourn, was on thrid with a standup triple. Then he hung a slider to Garrett Jones, who promptly sent it into the lower RF bleachers.

Great.

But then suddenly, Bud found his stuff and his release point. The next hitter, Tabata, hit a GB to Sanchez, who threw it past Clank at first (yes indeedy, Mills AGAIN benched Wallace against a lefty. I give up) for a 2 base error. But he struck out the next 3 guys on 10 pitches. SWINGING. That FB MOVED and that slider SLID. I couldn’t hardly believe it. Now I know that all yall thinking – well, yeah, you talkin bout the Pirates. But I am telling you that if he threw that stuff at All-Stars, they wouldn’t have hit it neither.

He gave up a 3-2 single to start the second, then one of those little bleeders over Clank’s head, then he simply mowed em down. Through the ned of the 7th, only 2 reached base – Doumit on a HBP and the pitcher singled.

Of his 14 strikeouts over 7 innings, all but 1 were swinging. Of his 110 pitches, 74 were strikes. 5 went for hits, 7 were outs on balls in play, 20 fouls, 20 called strikes, 22 swinging Ks and 1 ROE. That is 22 of 74 strikes SWINGING – which is a huge number. And this is not counting the 3 pitches which were clearly strikes (according to gameday) which were called balls.

THIS is the Bud Norris the Astros Organization is looking for.

And, by the way, Bud hit a single and a double, too.

For a long time, I was worried that Maholm was gonna throw another easy shutout, and Jason Michaels, playing left, hit a clean single in the second, so at least I didn’t have to worry about being no-hit. And speaking of JMike playing left, a batter hit a ball to the LF corner, but he was held to a single because Michaels runs about 3 times faster than Clank and has a strong, accurate arm and anyone slower thaqn McCutchen would have been dead meat at second – whereas with Clank, even Bengie Molina can make it in standing up.

Pence hit a line drive homer into the second row in the Crawford Boxes, about 20′ from the LF foul pole (347′) but hey, at least it mean we wouldn’t get shut out. But the guys were mostly swinging at the first or second pitch and getting themselves out quickly.

Chris Johnson’s streak of 25 straight games reaching base was broken as he left 4 men on base. He left 1 on in the second, 1 on in the 4th, 1 on in the 8th and 2 on in the 6th. The 6th inning was interesting – Pence had led off with a double to the LF corner. Then Clank hit a long fly ball to deep center and Pence advanced to third. Kepp walked. Then Michaels hit a groundball to the third baseman. Pence, who I guess had forgotten the number of outs, had taken off at the crack of the bat and was hung up between 3rd and home and caught in a rundown and tagged out with Keppinger advancing to third and Michaels to second. But CJ let em down.

I was wondering if Maholm was tiring a bit, although he was only at 82 pitches – his stuff didn’t seem as sharp to me as it did the previous innings. But out he went and gave up a single to Quintero then a sac-bunt to Bud. Naturally, the PH was Pedro EFF Feliz, who struck out on a 3-2 count. At this point, I thought fer SHER the manager would come and get his pitcher, seeing as how anyone who can’t throw strikes to Feliz is either tired or has no business pitching in the majors. But he kept him in and Maholm promptly coughed up an RBI single to RF and took second when the RF foolishly threw home trying to get PR Bourgeois, who was about 20′ from home when he threw.

Tie game.

Does the Pirates manager come and get his pitcher? Nope. He leaves him in to face Pence, who has already hit a homer and a double off Maholm. And sure enough, Pence hits an RBI double to put the Astros ahead.

I can’t believe it. Last night, he pulls an effective pitcher, who just gave up a bloop hit and will be facing Pedro Cooked Feliz. Tonight, he DOESN’T pull an obviously tired pitcher in time to face a hitter who is obviously seeing the ball well.

shrug

It was to the Astros’ benefit, but I sure nuff wouldn’t be real too happy if I was a Pirates fan. Of course, if I was a Pirates fan, I would have been unhappy since the day they ran Barry Lamar off in 92, but I digress…

Anyway, Clank really worked the count off Resop, the reliever, and hit a dying quail to shallow center where McCutchen made an incredible diving catch to rob Carlos of a sure RBI.

Lopez came in and worked a scoreless 8th – and Angel Sanchez made an excellent grab of a screaming liner off Walker. Lyon came in for the save and then HE grabbed a comebacker in mid-air. He gave up a single, then got a K and a goundout.

So Bud owes Hitter Pence a nice steak tonight for that very well deserved win. And Maholm owes HIS manager a kick in the butt for not knowing when to pull him and taking the L for a very very well pitched game.

This afternoon, JA Happ takes on righty Jeff Karstens. I’m sure we’ll see Brett Wallace in the lineup, seeing as how he doesn’t hit rightys as well as leftys.

And it’s the last day of the $9.00 field box seats promotion. I was very surprised to see that the staneds weren’t completely packed as they were LAST night, but tomorrow is bring the kidssss day as they get to have fun doing non-baseball stuff in Union Station and they get a backpack and they get to run around the bases. Sometimes I wonder if any of the kids who go to the ballpark actually watch any, you know, like BASEBALL. And Sundays are also much better because it is just organ music except for the commercials in between innings. I must be getting old or something because even I think the sound level is much too high (for the commercials, I mean.)

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Posted in Bud Norris, Hunter Pence | 4 Comments »

8/9/10: Braves Can’t Field, So Astros Win

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Free tickets for the game, and yes, I AM a sucker, but I want to watch the rookies, so I took Lil Miss and DaBull on down. I haven’t succeeded in turning my sons into baseball fans any better than my Mama did my brothers, so I have decided there is some kind of something wrong with their Y chromosome as us grrrrls are perfectly normal. I had significantly more trouble finding a parking place than I did a few weeks back, so I knew that it was gonna be an unusually well attended game for a Monday night.

Sure enough, the Box was packed with Braves fans – it’s absolutely amazing how the number of fans from the opposing teams show up in proportion to the team’s W/L record – well, except for Cubs fans, of course, but even their numbers are significantly down this year.

Lefty Mike Minor, the opposing pitcher, was the Braves 09 1st round pick – and was called up a few days ago to replace the injured Kris Medlin. For once, a team didn’t keep a superbly performing young player down to screw him out of a year of FA. I know that rooks usually KILL the Astros, so I was a bit apprehensive before the game.

Bourn hit Minor’s second pitch for a base hit (sigh of relief – we won’t get nohit) and stole second on the second pitch. Unfortunately, neither Kepp nor Pence drove him with long fly balls and he was left on 3rd. (It was the story of his night – he hit an IF single later and was stranded on second.)

Bud looked very good in the 1st – gave up a single to Chipper, but needed only 11 pitches to get out of the inning. In the second, he had a bit of his usual trouble finding the strike zone (and then throwing a gimmee strike which gets pounced on), but Astros fielding, in spite of some trouble saved him.

It was 2 out, Rick Ankiel on first (and Rick Ankiel runs like Pence) and Gonzalez hit a bullet down the LF line into the corner. Ankiel is off like a shot and Clank lumbers over to the corner. He picks up the ball, gets it in to Sanchez, the cutoff man, who picks up the throw on the SECOND bounce. Sanchez then STUPIDLY (rookie mistake) fires it home, where no fielder who ever lived had a snowflake’s chance in heck of getting Ankiel out – I’m not even sure that ANY OF who ever lived could have gotten Ankiel out. Castro, a smart fielder, didn’t waste one second trying to tag a guy who had already scored, but threw the ball to Keppinger at second because Gonzalez was midway between second and third. But Keppinger botched the rundown and his throw to CJ was so offline that Gonzalez easily slid into third.

That was TWO serious fielding screwups on one hit. But fortunately, the Braves rookie 21 year old pitcher (who was probably a leeeeeeetle nervous) made a baserunning mistake – he hit the ball into shallow center where Hunter Pence scooped it up, fired to first and Minor, who had slowed up nearing the bag, was out. Now it is true that Wallace was standing on the OF side of the bag, but he wasn’t BLOCKING it, but Minor needed to run through that bag, even tag it on the outside corner and he didn’t, so he was out and the run didn’t score, which was a VERY lucky break.

In the 3rd, Bud was pitching fine, made 1 mistake, a FB RIGHT down the middle, which Heyward sent straight into the RF bullpen. I will say, however, that it is amazing how many FB in the dead center of the strike zone do NOT get hit out. And are even swung on and missed. Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting the hitter’s timing, said Warren Spahn.

So it was Braves 2, Astros nada – and by the bottom of the 4th, after Bud threw a 10 pitch 1,2,3 out at the top, I was getting worried about us getting shutout. But Minor was going through the lineup for the second time and he was facing ML hitters.  Kepp led off with a solid double to right, then Pence GO to short. Then, Minor got unlucky – he got Clank to pop up a pitch, BUT unfortunately for him (and fortunately for us) he had slow, lumbering Glaus on 1B and the ball wasn’t hit high enough to hang very long and it landed on the RF line about 60′ behind 1B and bounced into the stands for a GR double. Could, say, Baggy back in his prime have gotten that? I would say so – and it just might could have been a Web Gem.

Then it is CJ up – and in his first AB, minor had struck him out, but had shown him all 3 pitches, the FB, curve and change. So this time, CJ gave him a 9 pitch battle, fouling off 4 pitches before managing to get wood on the last changeup – and this one popped up a bit, but fell for a bloop hit in front of a diving Jason Heyward and Clank scored. Tie game on 2 lousy popups.

Then Brett Wallace comes up and drives in CJ on a double to the RF corner, which Heyward has a tough time retrieving.

HEY MILLSY, WALLACE SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO HIT LEFTYS!!! SO PLEASE STOP BENCHING HIM WHEN WE FACE LEFTYS!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Castro, who wore the sombrero tonight, started off with 2 strikes, both high and outside (not sure why the ump called those 2 as strikes, seeing as how he was pretty good about not calling other pitches out of the zone as strikes) and he swung through the 3rd pitch.

So it was Stros 3, Braves 2.

Bud, as we know, has had a tough time holding leads, but he got 3 up 3 down in the 5th in spite of walking the pitcher!!!! on 4 straight pitches because he got a FO and a GIDP. Ufortunately, he did cough it up in the 6th – gave up a double to Chipper just inside the LF line, then threw a meaty slider down the middle (this is usually a bad idea) and McCann deposited it in the RF bullpen. Bud is a FB pitcher, and this stuff IS gonna happen IF he throws it down the middle just a lil too often.

And it’s Braves 4, Stros 3

But The Astros get lucky in the bottom of the inning. Pence walks, then steals second, then goes to 3rd when Clank GO. Then it’s CJ again, but he grounds out to short. Pence has already started for home and SHOULD have been dead meat, but Agon bobbles the ball, Pence is safe, CJ is safe. Tie game. (Remember, by the way, that AGon is the one who booted an EASY GIDP ball in the famous Bartman game and it was THAT play, not poor Bartman, who cost the C*bs the pennant, but I digress…) Minor must be ready to SCREAM. He’s had 4 runs score and only 2 well hit hits in 2 separate innings.

Fielding really IS something a pitcher needs, no matter HOW much he “knows how to win…”

I could see the steam coming from Minor’s ears and he pitched with cold fury, striking out both Wallace and Castro swinging. The guy pitched a VERY good 6 innings and had nothing to show for his trouble.

And Bud went back out to start the 7th. He’s getting better at pitching deeper into games. He got Alex Gonzalez to GO to CJ (who, in case anyone hasn’t noticed, is fielding MUCH better over the past 2 weeks), then got Ex-Stro Brooks Conrad (a switch hitting utility IF) to popup a 3-2 pitch to the foul railing at 3rd, where CJ managed to reach over and grab the ball in spite of fand grabbing for it. (As I said, he’s doing MUCH better these days.) Then Omar Infante hit a ball through the 5.5 hole and with lefty Heyward up, Mills decided to have Byrdak face him.

So all in all, Bud had a decent night – 3 well hit doubles, 2 homers, only 1 walk – 6.2 IP, 4 ER (see homers.)

And then, the Braves fielders REALLY imploded.

Kyle Farnsworth came in to relieve. He’s been in the AL for a long time now, and his last time at the Box wasn’t good (blew game 5 in 05 by giving up a homer to Slugger Brad Ausmus to tie the game, which the Braves had been winning by 5 runs. But I digress…)

Clutch God Blum came in to pinch hit and singled, then Bourgeois pinch-ran, then Bourn grounded him to 2nd. Sanchez walked. Kepp singled home Bourgy and it was men at first and second. With Pence up, and Cox trying for the GIDP, Sanchez and Kepp advanced on a WP (McCann didn’t block well), so they then IBB Pence hoping Clank would GIDP – a good bet.

In comes Moylan, the GB specialist, but Clank beats him with a blooper to shallow right and the Stros lead 5-4. Bases still loaded. Then stuff happened. Remember fielding?

CJ hits a clean single through the 5.5 hole and it goes into left. Hinske, the LF gets the ball, STUPIDLY doesn’t throw to the cutoff man, but throws home, STUPIDLY trying to get Pence, who runs FAST. McCann grabs the ball, throws to 3rd, trying to get Clank, who was like 2 steps from the bag ALREADY, and throws it into the LF corner where Hinske has to run it down and by the time he gets near the ball, CJ has already scored on his little league homer.

In comes a lefty and Brett Wallace smashes a hard single. Gee, looks like he can hit leftys, hunh? But Castro and Bourgy strand him, but it doesn’t matter because it’s 10-4 and Lyon and Lindstrom manage to hold it.

I like it when bad breaks go the Astros way.

And tonight, it’s J Happ, who is going to try to not look Happ-less again.

By the way, Wesley got sent down, no surprise. Figueroa is going to take his spot in the rotation. Lyles is NOT ready.

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Posted in Brett Wallace, Bud Norris, Chris Johnson | 5 Comments »

Chris Johnson Hits A Little League Homer And Brett Wallace Hits Leftys Just Fine

Monday, August 9th, 2010

And Braves lose to Astros on 3 errors. Kyle Farnsworth doesn’t do real too good in this here stadium (remember the infamous 18 inning game in the 05 playoffs?)

More in the morning…

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Posted in Brett Wallace, Bud Norris, Chris Johnson | 3 Comments »

Cardinals Are Touched By An Angel (Sanchez) Who Tells Norris – For all You Do, Bud, This One’s For You

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Either this is one of those small sample size things, or Jeff Bagwell has electrified these hitters.

It was 110 degrees down on the field and the hitters were HOT.

Didn’t start off that way – Garcia had a lethal sinker that first inning; Bourgeois, getting a start in center against the lefty, went to 3-2, then popped out, then Sanchez and Pence struck out swinging. I thought uh-oh. And even though Bud looked good, he gave up a homer to Colby Rasmus on a 3-2 FB down and in and I was afraid we were gonna lose like 1-0, seeing as how Bud had given up only 1 run over 4 games in St. Looie.

But even though Jaime is from Mission (Texas, for all yall from somewheres else), he looked as if he had a lil trouble with the heat. In the second inning, he gave up consecutive singles to Carlos (no Clank tonight – I SWEAR he has turned into Carlos Hustle – hahaha) and Keppinger, then Pedro Feliz, getting a start at 1B, hit what SHOULD have been a GIDP ball , but Aaron Miles, playing 3rd, screwed it up and everyone was safe. Then CJ hit a sac-fly to deep center to tie the game.

For whatever reason, Garcia just couldn’t get his sinker to sink. Castro hit into a FC as Carlos scored. Then Bud Norris hit an RBI single. Then Bourgeois hit a RBI double to left center. Then Sanchez hit a 2 RBI double to center, Pence grounded out and the Astros led 5-1. Bud Norris, full of confidence, went out and got 1,2,3 out on 12 pitches.

Carlos Lee again led off the 3rd and he singled again. Keppinger hit into what SHOULD have been a 5-4-3, but Miles again screwed it up, so he only got Kepp. Feliz singled and Carlos SERIOUSLY hustled around 3rd and beat the throw – yes, Yadi dropped the ball, but the ump signaled safe BEFORE it was obvious that the ball was dropped (replay showed Carlos got his hand in there.) Garcia pulled himself together, got CJ on 2 nasty curves and a wicked slider.

Bud trotted back out and got 1,2,3 out on 11 pitches.

Garcia continued to keep the ball down and out, but Bud ran into a little trouble in the 4th. Rasmus singled, Uncle singled, then Holliday flew out to left center and Bougy made a VERY nice running catch. Allen Craig, a new guy called up to play right (platooning with Jon Jay, now that Ludwick is gone) singled Rasmus home, then Skip Schumaker sincled to right and Uncle ran thru the stop sign at 3rd to score – Pence’s throw was waaaaayyy offline. Arnesberg trotted out, chatted with Bud, who then got Yadi to groundout to CJ for a nice GIDP (it wasn’t Yadi’s night) and I must say that CJ made an EXCELLENT play on that ball -  and made very good plays on a couple others. Hopefully, the errors will dissipate as he gets more comfortable and is no longer nervous that he’ll be benched if he goes ofer.

Both pitchers had quick 1,2,3 5th inning.

Then Garcia, at 91 pitches, lost steam. He gave up a single to CJ, then Duncan trotted out. Castro fouled off a couple, took 2 balls, then lined a single to opposite field. Goodbye Jaime, who has given up SIX runs, 2 earned (the guy came into the game with a 2.33 ERA) and left 2 on base.

In trots Mitchell Boggs, RHP and his 3.23 ERA. Bud sac-bunts Castro to second, then Boggs walks Bougy on 4 straight pitches, then Our Friend da Angel hits a bases clearing standup triple to the RF gap – one of those balls that rolls slowly to the wall after it falls. Pence hits a sac-fly to deep right in foul territory, then Carlos hits a ball to deep right center which Craig, the RF, bobbles a bit – and Carlos, RUNNING FULL OUT (and NO I am NOT kidding) chugs around second and heads full steam into third (and NO I am NOT kidding) and beats the throw and tag, but is called out. It was absolutely incredible. I haven’t seen him play like this since we were on a winning streak back in August of 08. I don’t know what on earth has gotten into him, but I’m just sorry it didn’t happen a lil earlier.

So the Astros are up 10-3. Bud comes back out, gets Rasmus to fly out, then gets Uncle to ground out to 3rd – another REALLY good stop and throw by CJ. Then Holliday hits a hanging slider into the RF bullpen, Craig singles to center – Bougy traps the ball and unsuccessfully tries to sell it. Schumaker draws a 3-1 walk. Bud looks tired and hot and out trots Arnesberg. Yadi is up and hits the ball to shallow right and Pence makes a fabulous diving catch, just like last night, to end the inning.

Astros 10 – Cards 4

Boggs goes back out to start the inning and promptly walks Kepp, then gives up a single to Feliz (who went 3 fer 6 on the night with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored) and then TLR goes out to the mound and tells him – THROW STRIKES!!!. So he does and Chris Johnson promptly swats the first pitch into right center for a 2 RBI double and Boggs is done.

In comes lefty Dennys Reyes (250 lbs? surrrrrrre, if you just counting the top half) and Castro lines a single to center. Lefty Brett Wallace is sent up to pinch hit and HE hits a RBI single to right. Bougy GIDP, then Sanchez knocks in his 6th run with a single before Pence grounds out. At this point, Pence is the only guy in the lineup who hasn’t gotten a hit, although he DID drive in a run.

Byrdak comes in in the bottom of the 7th and gives up a single to Ryan, but gets the other 3 outs without giving up any runs. Best part was watching Reyes bat – he hadn’t had an AB for 5 years and he managed to have an 8 pitch AB.

So Reyes comes back out to start the 8th and gives up a 4 pitch walk to Carlos (guess he was all tired out from swinging a bat) then a single to pinch hitter Jason Michaels. So out comes TLR, out goes Reyes and in comes Mike McDougal, who didn’t have what you might could call a real too particularly good night last night.

Pedro Feliz hits an RBI single, then Blum, newly arrived from the DL (Anderson Hernandez got DFA’d instead of Feliz, too bad) pinch hit for CJ and hit an RBI single, then Castro walked. Byrdak, in his first AB since last year (he went ofer 3) struck out, then Bourgeois drew a 4 pitch walk. Bases loaded. Da Angel up, needing a homer for the cycle, and a granny would give him the Astros team record of 10 RBI for a 9 inning game (you know that JR Towles currently holds the record of 8 – against the Cards, interestingly enough) but he struck out looking.

Too bad.

Then Pence FINALLY got a hit, an RBI single – and only Blum trotted home – can’t be rude, you know, leading by 14 runs and Carlos grounded out to end the inning.

Fulchino came in to pitch the bottom of the 8th, his first inning since he came off the DL (Abad was sent down to AAA) and gave up a single to Uncle, then a groundout from Holliday (Bougy, now at second, made a nice play) then he walked Craig on 4 pitches, then got his control in hand and struck out Schu and LaRue.

TLR had bout run out of pitchers, so Aaron Miles, all 5′8″ of him, trotted in to relieve. He threw 70 MPH pitches, gave up a single to Blum, and got Michaels, Feliz and Castro to pop up. Who needs Da Mariano?

Chacin came in to mopup in the 9th, gave up 2 singles but no runs.

Unbelieveable.

Like I said, either we are doing better with young guys who can, you know, like, HIT, or Da Baggy has had some kind of magic effect on everyone. And anyone who can get Carlos Lee to try to stretch a double into a triple is my kind of guy.

Se the Astros have now won 6 straight games at Busch, for like the first time EVAH.

And we go for the sweep tomorrow against ace Chris Carpenter, who is more than relieved that his nemesis Berkman is no longer with the team. The Cards face  JA Happ.

Youneverknow. Whoda thought we’d score 28 runs against the Cards over TWO games?

And I guess Tommy Manzella is headed back to AAA for rehab – 3 weeks worth. Wonder if he’ll ever get his job back. Wonder if the Red Sox wonder if Angel Sanchez switched bodies with the ghost of Nomar 1999 or something…

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Posted in Angel Sanchez, Bud Norris, Carlos Lee, Chris Johnson | 21 Comments »

Norris Loses It In The 4th, Berkman Never Finds It And Astros Lose To Reds

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Bud Norris was absolutely unhittable NAILS the first 3 innings – 32 pitches, 5 K, 1 double barely down the RF line. Every FB was perfectly placed, sliders were sliding, even an occasional changeup was changing.

Then it happened. 4th inning, he gives up an IF single to 3rd, Chris Johnson makes a bad throw instead of just holding onto the ball, runner on second. No big deal, he did fine with the runner on second LAST inning, right?

nope.

Next hitter, 3 straight balls, then a strike, then a strike called a ball (yeah, the zone was tight).

Next hitter, 2 borderline pitches, both balls, then another ball, then a strike, then another ball.

bases loaded, Arnesberg runs out.

Next hitter, 3 balls, sac-fly to left, runners advance to second and third on Clank, who can’t throw from the LF bullpen, naturally.

Next hitter, ball, strike, foul, HBP

Bases loaded again.

1st pitch (thank you, hitter) 6-2 FC, no run scores

Next hitter, 7 pitch 3-2 AB with single to shallow left, 2 runs score, because Clank casually lobs it into 3rd. Clank never cares if runs score or runners advance. Well, I shouldn’t say that. Every now and then he actually TRIES to catch a runner and every now and then, he actually, stunningly succeeds. It is hard for me to believe that he started his professional career as a SS, seeing as how much he hates to actually, you know, like, move.

Pitcher pops out.

33 pitches, 3 runs. Mostly walks, the only solidly hit ball was the sac-fly. It’s all about the strike zone problem.

Norris hands a slider in the 5th and Joey Votto (whose production is topping even Uncle this year) hits it out. Other than that, a nice, smooth inning. 6th inning, GO, another walk, GIDP. Dude seems to have these Big Innings in which he loses command every single game. NO idea why, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with how many pitches thrown, how many innings thrown, where he is in the lineup. Ah well, good thing this is a learning year in which he actually gets a chance to work things out seeing as how even Drayton has GOT to admit we ain’t gonna be no champeenzzz!!!

Bourn, of course, was seated against a lefty and Bourgeois got the start, and went ofer. But Berkman and Clank were the goats tonight – Berkman struck out with men on and GIDP with RISP. Clank hit a single and left 4 men on. REALLY sorry performances, to be nice about it.

Pence had a great night – went 4 fer 5 and yeah, he did flyout to end the game with 2 on, but Clank did the same right before him.

And, to my shock, Mills brought in Michaels to PH instead of Feliz, with man on 3rd in the 6th, 2 out.

I should also note that CJ did make up for his error by driving in Pence with a high popup to shallow right – GREAT, gutsy baserunning by Pence.

Angel Hernandez had his first PH – went ofer, and new pitcher Figueroa let his inherited runner score – not that it matters because Byrdak had already lost the game. But it is not like we just got 2 great pickups.

Tonight, Roy goes for his pimped win – to tie Niekro for the Astros franchise wins!!!!! OK. Then Drayton can trade him. I hear tell from all over that Fast Eddie and Drayton are being extraordinarily difficult to deal with – media are complaining that Roy wants his option picked up – although Roy is very straightforward in saying that he will work with any team about the $$$ to restructure a contract. The media always thinks that any player should just eat poopoo when traded, that no-trade guys should always have to agree to be traded “for the good of the team” and are selfish if they don’t want to give up their bargained for rights.

The fans always think that the other team should give up its best your players/prospects in huge quantities ( like the Teixiera trade between Atlanta and Texas) and ignore minor nagging things like money.

sigh

I also doubt that Drayton is going to get really serious about trying to trade any tradeable players we DO have, such as Myers, Lindstrom and Lyon. Not sure who he thinks is gonna take Clank in the offseason. Not sure who is gonna take Berkman THIS trade deadline (and Lance is now saying that he is gonna try to play next year – he KNOWS that he ain’t getting no 15 mill option picked up) and I don’t see Bagwell making this miraculous difference in the hitting of either Clank or Lance with his magic “leadership” maddd skillllzzzzz.

I am gonna mention, once more, that Douglas Arguello is still outpitching the Hyped Jordan Lyles down at Corpus, but you think he’s gonna get a sniff?

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Posted in Bud Norris, Roy Oswalt | 3 Comments »

Pirates Pound Astros Because The Only Houston Pitcher Who Does Not Sukc Is Wilton Lopez

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

Bud Norris looked lousy. To be nice about it. Yes, Chris Johnson didn’t get the second out because of a throwing error in the first, but was Bud who gave up a single and a double before getting what would have been the 3rd out. He couldn’t hold a lead either time one was handed to him and gave up 7 runs, 4 earned (and why isn’t it only 1 UER?!!!!) in 4.2 innings. He gave up 4 doubles – the deep in the gap kind and 5 singles with 3 walks and 1 ROE. It was a sorryass performance.

Sampson let his runner score.

Chacin gave up 2 runs – 1 unearned on a Clank error – did his usual let any ball hit to left go for a double then throw it into second crap, only this time, he made such a bad throw that the runner went to 3rd. I know, he hits for power, so all this horrible fielding doesn’t matter, right? BAH!!!

Casey Daigle, a great AAA pitcher, gave up 3 runs on 5 hits.

sigh

Keppinger and Clank went ofer – and Clank GIDP in the second with bases loaded was, uh, well, Clank. Berkman had 3 walks and actually scored on 1 of them. Pence did well. CJ reached on HBP, scored, then drove in 2 runs with a double in the gap. Michael Bourn drove in 2 with a double to left.

sigh

You notice that we are giving Pedro Feliz the Cory Sullivan treatment as a PH – he is going up first. Why isn’t Jason Michaels or Jason Bourgeois up there with the game on the line in the earlier innings?

sigh

Moehler is on the DL with a groin pull (remember he left his last start) and Paulino had a serious pain in his right shoulder which is going to require an MRI to see what is wrong, so he ain’t cominb back yet. Naturally this means that Wesley Wright is gonna take his start tomorrow. It makes sense because Wesley is already on the 40 man, is already getting paid a ML salary and why give anyone else a chance? I don’t mean the heavily pimped Jordan Lyles, who must stay in the minors until at least next June to delay his arb clock as much as possible. I mean DOuglas Arguello, who the Organization is, for some reason, not interested in. He has better numbers than Lyles in every category you can think of, except runs – he has a LOT of UER – crappy fielding down there.

And we already KNOW that Daigle is teh sukc but try somebody else? Oh, we can’t do that.

All I can say is this – I’ve looked at AA and AAA and there is absolutely nothing to write home about. Shuck is hitting 290, but has no power and doesn’t walk.

Drayton best start getting serious about trading off the few players we have who have any value, such as Roy and Myers (who has a mutual option for next year – you think he’s gonna take peanuts again?) and Pence (I hate to see it, but he is still young, good, and wanted by more than a few teams and would actually have a chance of getting someone good back) because I sure don’t see anything good on the horizon for next year and I don’t want more patchwork with the Pedro Felizes and Sanchez and Geoff Blums.

I know that the Magic Presence of Bagwell is supposed to Turn Things Around, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

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Posted in Bud Norris | 5 Comments »

Bud Norris Loses To Cards In The First Inning

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Bud Norris actually pitched pretty decently after having a few difficulties in the 1st inning. As usual, his problem was going to too many 3 ball counts, but he only walked 1. He gave up back to back doubles in the first to Colby Rasmus and Pujols for the first run, and really, that was all the Cards needed as Wainwright, as usual, made the Astros look like a AAA team.

Bud had MUCH better control over the FB than he did before he went on the DL – maybe Burt Hooton straightened him out when he was at AAA for rehab.

I know everyone is gonna go crazy over him throwing a FB down the exact middle of the plate to Matt Holliday with 2 on, amd yeah, that was like, dumb, but the game was long gone by then and Wainwright was at 86 pitches and it’s not like the Astros were gonna knock him out of the game or anything.

What was really hilarious was Mills sending up Casey Daigle with 2 out in the 9th to replace Chacin to face Pujols.

cmon

We’re losing 6-0. What is the point of sending up a AAA pitcher to face PUJOLS? So naturally, Uncle, who isn’t having exactly his best year, pounces all OVAH a hanging slider and goes Lidge on it.

sigh

Hopefully, the guys will pound Jeff Suppan tonight. Suppan was released from the Brewers for extreme suckage, which had extended into its 4th year, and he was picked up by the Cards and given CPR by Dave Duncan. There appears to be a heartbeat on the machine, but it might could be some kind of error – unless, that is, facing an Astros lineup tonight actually acts like a livesaving drug.

If CJ doesn’t get a hit tonight after going ofer 16, he might could find his butt on the bench and Pedro Suckage back in the lineup.

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Posted in Bud Norris | No Comments »

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