Archive for May, 2009

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5/19/09: Weee’re Off To Play The Brewers

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Brew Crew comes into town having won 20 of their last 25 games. Remember all the hoo hah with the 2000/2001 Mariners, how people crowed that they were better teams, not in SPITE of having lost Griffey, then Alex Rodriguez, but BECASUE of it?

good grief

Well, your friendly neighborhood Brewers are seriously out-performing expectations, seeing as how CC Sabathia has run for the money (not that I blame him one bit, unlike the sportswriters, who, I’m SURE would turn down money like that for almost ANY reason) and Ben Sheets, who was not re-signed because he’s injured. But Jeff Suppan, who is supposed to be washed up, is apparently not, Yovani Gallardo is pitching like a super ace, Manny Parra is pulling it together, Braden Looper, let go by the Cards, is doing fine, and Dave Bush is pitching like it’s 2004.

Rickie Weeks, their second baseman who had looked as if he had finally gotten himself together, injured his wrist again and is out for the year, but Craig Counsell, Astro killer, will be taking his place and Mat Gamel, all bat and usual lousy field, is now the 3rd baseman.

Nice to have a minor league supply line, hunh, Drayton???!!!

ESPECIALLY if you are willing to actually USE it, hunh, Coop???!!!

Anyway, tonight it’s Mike Hampton, who gave up 5 runs last time and got the W because the other guys were so much worse, whose ERA is 5.34 and Whip is 1.54 after 7 GS/37.2 IP (and folks were complaining about Backe last year??? Interesting that I sure as heck am not hearing screaming like that over Hampton, who, at this point in the season, has pitched 6 fewer innings than Backe had at this date last year and who had an ERA that was lower by 1.4.)

We get to face Dave Bush, who, for some reason, has always pitched very well against the Astros. He’s 5-1 in 10 GS and 2 in relief over 69.1 IP (and this is almost 7 innings/GS, meaning, as usual, that the Astros don’t make him work) with 69 H, 7 HR, 7 (!!!!!) walks, 52 K – 3.50 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, .267 BAA.

In case anyone wasn’t noticing, Bush pitched very well last year, giving up only 44 walks and 152 hits over 185 IP.

Lance is 11/32 with 3 doubles and no homers

Miggy is 6/20 with a double and a walk

Clank is 4/18 with 2 HR

Blum is 5/11 with a HR

Hitter Pence is 5/11 with a HR

Matsui is 1/5 and Bourn is 2/5 and Keppinger is 3/12 with 2 walks.

The Astros are definitely the Underdog tonight.

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Posted in Mike Hampton | No Comments »

5/18/09: Thoughts On Berkman, Bourn And The Wand-Master

Monday, May 18th, 2009

From Fantasy Baseball Hotstove, check out my answers to a few questions: click here.

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Posted in Berkman, Michael Bourn, Wandy Rodriguez | No Comments »

5/17/09: Brian Moehler Beats C*bs And Pudge Hits #300

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

Baseball got preempted today for various family stuff (Rockets game on at same time and Husband and Brother want to watch the last game of the seeason so I give in) and so I had to watch the re-run.

Of note – Ivan Rodriguez hit his 300th home run, the go-ahead run in the Astros win today.

Lance Berkman is starting to heat up. Here he is at Wrigley, where he historically doesn’t hit well, and he went 2 fer 3 with 2 walks.

Chris Sampson got his first career save, and it was a 1.2 inning save, too. He did give up his first homer this year though, to Sori, naturally.

Another fun Cooper question – Astros are clinging to a slim lead, 4-3. It’s the top of the 6th, 2 outs, men on first and second. You have to send up a pinch hitter to face a righty pitcher who has thrown 108 pitches, 19 already this inning, is clearly tiring as he walked the last batter on 5 pitches. Do you send in a lefty – either Erstad batting .167 or Jason Smith, 0 fer 24? Do you send in a righty – either Jason Michaels, batting .212 or Keppinger, batting .323? (Or Hampton/Ortiz, both hitting over .300? Hey, the Reds use Micah Owings as a PH, why not use Hampton or Ortiz as they are clearly better than anyone else on the bench?)

Answer, Jason Smith. Explanation?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, Jose Ortiz reports that the players are again starting to complain about Cooper to the media. Not real too surprised. Wonder how long Drayton plans to keep him there to please Selig…

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Posted in Berkman, Brian Moehler, Ivan Rodriguez | 5 Comments »

5/16/09: Cecil Cooper Mismanages Astros To Loss

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

Let me first be very clear here – it CERTAINLY wasn’t all Cooper’s fault. It wasn’t his fault that both Miggy and Carlos hit into double plays, it wasn’t his fault that both Lance and Pence lost Sori’s popup in the sun, leading to a 3 run 6th and it certainly was not his fault that with the game on the line, 2 outs, game tied, bases loaded, that Lance did not come through. And it is only partly his fault that the Astros bench are teh sukc – check it out: his Proven Veterans are “hitting” .167 (Erstad) and .214 (Michaels) and remember that he is the one who wanted Jason Smith (0 fer 23) and Quintero (.133) and he is reluctant to use Keppinger (.327.)

OK.

Now, every time I start pointing out that Cooper is not a good manager (and I am not even talking about his relations with the players themselves) I hear all these people who tell me that since the Astros had such a great run in July and August of last year, that Coop should have the credit. Like it was his idea to get Randy Wolf, who pitched far better than he was expected to, to it was because of him that Carlos was hitting out of his mind until he broke his finger, or like it was because of him that Wiggy went on the biggest hitting tear of his life, or that Fast Eddie went out and got Hawkins, who moved into the setup role and pitched 22 scoreless innings in a row.

I want to use this here particular game to point out his failings, and these are repeated failings, game to game.

1 – Roy is pitching in the 6th, and Roy struck out the side in the 5th. He’s starting the inning at 84 pitches, and has walked none and struck out 6. Not really vintage ROY, but certainly better than he had been pitching so far. Sori gets on because neither Lance nor Pence can manage to get to his popup. Theriot, batting .300, bunts Sori over. He goes to a 3-2 count on lefty Fukudome, who flies out to deep center. Then Derrek Lee, whose bat has strongly resembled Lance’s this year, takes Roy to yet another 3-2 count, actually 6 pitches because of fouls, before singling to left, and Sori scores. He’s at 100 pitches. He’s not locating the fastball well, he’s not using the curve and when you give up hits to a guy who can’t hit the Mendoza line who fouls off pitches, it is time to come out and sit down.

ESPECIALLY because you have Micah Hoffpauir, a power hitting lefty coming up. This year, he’s tearing up rightys, hitting .298/.346/.509/.878 (and he was no slouch last year, neither, hitting .355/.420/.532/.943)  AND he’s hit .348/.426/.500/.926 at Wrigley.

So why not send in Arias, even though he’s a righty, because he gets a lot of strikeouts and that is what you need right about now.

Answer – because Roy is the veteran???

What a steaming load. You pull a pitcher when he is ineffective, ESPECIALLY when the other pitcher is nails and you can’t afford to give up so much as one more run.

But no.

And Roy is down 3-0.

2 – Lousy handling of bullpen:

case 1 – not double switching with Alberto Arias. Therefore, he can’t pitch more than 1 inning. The guy has spent most of his life, and indeed, this year in AAA as a starter and he is most certainly capable of throwing more than 1 inning, especially if he is effective and you need to keep the game close. You sure as heck can’t use Fulchino or Ortiz, who are mopup guys, you are (hopefully) going to use Sampson in higher leverage situations, and both Wesley Wright and Byrdak have been, um, shaky lately, to say the least. There is no reason to not substitute Keppinger for Blum, and yes, I know you lose on defense. But when you have only 3 effective pitchers in the bullpen, you HAVE to be proactive.

case 2 – sending in Wesley Wright to face leftys in the 8th. For whatever reason, mechanics or any other reason, Wesley has been significantly ineffective against leftys this year – they are 9 fer 20 with 4 walks – and an OPSA over 1. Yes, you have to pick SOMEone after stupidly not doubleswitching for Arias, but, wouldn’t someone who can actually shut guys down make more sense? Like, say, Sampson?

3 – Lousy handling of pinch hitters:

And yes, I know that Erstad has turned into Orlando Palmeiro.

It’s the 9th inning. You’ve just tied the score at 4, there are men on first and second, no outs. Is this or is this not the exact time you want someone to bunt the runners over for Matsui? Or do you want to send up a guy who is has a .538 OPS against rightys this year, and is overall 2 fer 14 with 2 walks and a double and no RBIs as a PH who has no idea how to bunt, seeing as how he hasn’t done it in over 4 years?

No, I wouldn’t trust Jason Freaking Smith to tie his shoes without tripping. But you have Keppinger, who sure as heck can lay down a bunt, seeing as how you didn’t have the sense to double switch with him earlier in the game,  AND you have Ortiz and Hampton, who can both CERTAINLY lay down a bunt, or even HIT.

4 – and in the bottom of the 9th, La Troy walks the leadoff man, who is sac bunted over. You have Sori coming up, 1 out, first open.

Even my 5 year old son KNOWS you walk Sori and pitch to The Riot to try for the DP. Cmon, this is absolutely basic. It’s not like Sori is a lifelong Mendoza hitter.

And stuff like this is why the Astros don’t win unless the other pitcher is simply terrible, our pitcher outpitches him and Coop doesn’t have to actually, you know, have any in-game strategy.

And Coop liking all the juicy veteran presence, you KNOW we won’t cut bait on any of the suckulesence and try some of the guys at AAA like Gall or Yordany Ramirez or Maysonet.

It isn’t too tough to beat teams that seriously suck like the hopeless Pads or Rox. But when we run into a decent team with a decent pitcher, we’re sunk.

And tomorrow, it’s Moehler vs Rich Harden, who beat us last time out.

So far, Harden has started 7 games over 37.2 innings – 33 H, 7 HR, 18 BB, 46 K – 4.64 ERA/1.34 WHIP/.234 BAA.

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Posted in Alberto Arias, Cecil Cooper, Roy Oswalt | No Comments »

5/14/09: Michael Is Bourn Again And Wandy Ks A Career High 11 To Win #4

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Seems to me if I remember rightly (and I do, of course) a WHOLE lot of people at the beginning of the year were ready to flush Michael Bourn down the toilet because he had a very lousy rookie (full time player) year. It sure nuff is true that if he wasn’t Ed Wade’s pet and if he hadn’t been traded for Brad Lidge, who didn’t blow one single game last year for the World Champion Phillies, he most likely would have gotten the JR Towles banishment treatment and would never have had another chance (makes me wonder how JR would have done if Ed Wade had told Coop that Towles was his man and WAS gonna play and Coop best adjust his attitude…)

But sometimes, you’re good and sometimes you’re lucky and sometimes you’re good n lucky and seems as if that’s Michael right there. He’s improved in every facet of his game from baserunning to fielding to taking walks, to hitting to all fields as well as learning that all-important sac-bunt. Over 128 PA, he’s only struck out 23 times and he’s walked 13 times. He’s hitting .317/.382/.439/.821 and has 10 RBIs. True, he’s no Jim Edmonds 2004 with the bat, but he’s sure nuff getting on base very well and actually, really, the only weak part of his game is the strength of his arm, but at least he’s very good at hitting the cutoff man.

Today, he made 5 excellent plays, 2 in the last inning, went 4 fer 5 with a double, didn’t strand anyone, stole home in a very kewl double steal with Clank (more on him later) going to second, and he stole third and scored 2 of the 5 Astros runs today to back Wandy in yet another Quality Start.

And as for Wandy, the Magic Wandy was awesome yet again.

(And who here does not know that I’ve been a serious Wandy fan for 4 years, now? And who thought he would be ace of this staff? Seeing as how many thought he was barely good enough to be a #5 and should be traded for some crap…)

He struck out 11 (a career high), walked none, gave up 5 hits (should have been 4) and 3 runs (should have been 1.) He pitched 7 innings, 113 pitches, 77 strikes and 8 of his 11 Ks were swinging – and in the 5th inning, Wandy struck out the side on swinging strikes. That curve was absolutely lethal.

He ran into trouble in the 4th because first, Berkman didn’t catch the ball on a simple 1-3 and the runner went all the way to third. Next, Todd Helton was credited with a double on a ball that was CLEARLY foul. Wandy wasn’t the happiest, but he struck out the next batter, but then gave up an RBI double and an RBI single. If the first 2 batters hadn’t reached on Berkman then umpire error, he would have given up maybe only 1 run. That is, if Clank had thrown home instead of to second. But on the other hand, his arm is not really any stronger than Bourn’s these days, so maybe not. But in spite of his steal of second (the defense was busy with Tejada’s K and Bourn coming home) he has slowed up considerably this year, to my eyes, not that he was real too particular fast before. And, by the way, he WAS definitely out at home in the third – ran too slowly on Pence’s triple and had a terrible slide and actually missed the plate. At least he remembered to slide this time – gotta give him that.

I was glad to see Coop use Sampson for setup instead of wasting time with anyone else with only a 2 run lead.

And speaking of runs, Geary went on the DL – says his arm is hurting, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it really was, seeing as how he hasn’t been able to pitch for spit since ST ended.

Fulchino is back up. Now Ortiz won’t feel so all alone in the mopup spot. Which reminds me – I read that Fastr Eddie went down to Corpus to watch Backe pitch. He only threw 77 pitches, gave up 4 runs over 6 IP. Best I know, Paulino will start on Sunday vs the Cubs and I have this feeling it is his poopoo or get offn the potty time. He can’t throw pitches down the middle and he’ll HAVE to keep the ball down a LOT better than he has his last couple of times.

It’s Wrigley Time (and Lance has never hit well thre, so will be interesting to see what happens. Wonder if Coop will move him down in the lineup.) Fortunately for us, Zambrano is out and so are Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa is now with the Indians.

Tomorrow, it’s Brian Moehler vs Randy Wells, RHP, age 26, who has all of 10.1 IP in the majors over the past 3 years. Last week, he had his first ML start, vs the Brewers and pitched 5 scoreless innings of 5 hit, 2 walk ball. Seems it is guys like him who just kill the Astros – no book on the guy yet.

Saturday, it’s Roy vs Sean Marshall, LHP. Vs the Astros, Sean is 1-4 in 5 GS and 1 in relief with a 3.77 ERA/1.53 WHIP/.283 BAA over 28.2 IP – 30 H, 4 HR, 14 BB, 14 K, 15 R, 12 ER.

Will Roy EVER pitch a real ROY game this year? Like the one he threw last Sept 1 at Wrigley, giving up 3 hits, no runs over 8.1 shutout innings, causing more than a few Cubs to ask me – like WHO was that guy wearing Roy’s uni?

The time is now.

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Posted in Astros baseball, Michael Bourn, Wandy Rodriguez | 2 Comments »

5/14/09: In Which Lance Berkman Remembers How To Hit

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

The Astros record for hits/9 inning game is 25, and they came up 1 short last night, probably because of the insertion of Jason Smith into the game. I mean, he faced Glendon Rusch and he STILL couldn’t get a hit.

Anyway, Lance reached base all 5 times last night – 4 singles and a walk. Hopefully, it wasn’t just because he was facing Jason Marquis on one of his really bad days as well as Glendon Rusch. We’ll see this afternoon.

Mike Hampton won giving up 7 hits (1 HR) 2 walks and 5 ER over 6 IP. Pitcher wins are all about the run support, baby.

I am, however, seriously worried about Geoff Geary. Sent in to mopup with a 9 run lead, he gave up, over 0.2 IP, 2 walks, 3 hits (one of them another granny to Chris Ianetta, the catcher who was hitting like .215 before the Astros came to town). Maybe the boy needs to go on the DL because when you are pitching worse than Russ Ortiz, you have a SERIOUS problem. La Troy Hawkins, who should have been able to nap through this thing, had to come in and get the last out. And mind, they got these 5 runs AFTER the Rox took out their 3 best hitters.

sigh

This afternoon, it’s Wandy vs Jason Hummel.

Wandy has had all KINDS of adventures at Coors, from throwing 7 innings with 2 hits and 1 ER to a Geoff Geary mess. Let’s hope the change works because who knows if the curve will work Up There.

Astros will face righty Jason Hammel for the first time. He’s been a swingman for the Rays as well as the Rox and this year has thrown 20 innings, giving up 28 H, 4 HR, 8 BB and 12 K for a 5.40 ERA/1.80 WHIP/.333 BAA.

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Posted in Berkman, Geoff Geary, Mike Hampton | 3 Comments »

5/11/09: Felipe Paulino Certainly Does Not Out Pitch Russ Ortiz

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Sorry this is a little late, but somehow, the one I did last night vanished into internet neverland.

Let’s sum up the game like this – Paulino throws a FB and a slider. He might could use Coors as an excuse for the slider not sliding, but he got exactly ZERO excuse for not locating the FB, which was mid-thigh, mid-plate waaaaay too many times.

He lasted 4 innings + 4 batters, ending at 96 pitches, 55 strikes. 7 hits, 2 HR (and one of the long FB outs was darn near a homer, too), 4 BB, 2 K.

Sure he got Francoed by Byrdak giving up the grannie and allowing all 3 of his runners to score; however, in the first, Tulo would have scored on Hawpe’s double even if Miggy hadn’t made the throwing error that allowed him to go to second. But, shrug, that was the least of his problems.

Let’s check and see -

23 batters faced first pitch: 10 balls; 8 strike; 5 foul/hit

3:2 counts – 7

I see exactly 2 pitches (according to Gameday) which were borderline pitches which were called strikes for Jiminez and balls for Paulino (and both times they resulted in a batter reaching base.)

Most of the pitches Paulino threw were up in the strike zone and in Colorado, that pretty much means they are going to be deep fly balls or they are gonna leave the park.

Not good. Wonder how much rope Paulino will get before either Ortiz or Backe will replace him in the rotation. He reminds me of Ezequiel Astacio back in 05. The Organization had a THING for him and used him way after it was obvious that all he had going for him was velocity.

Russ Ortiz, in mopup, threw 3 innings, giving up 4 hits, one ROE, no walks, 4 K, 1 HR and 3 runs, only 1 earned.

The hitters didn’t do real too much – 8 singles, no walks, 1 SB, no runs, no GIDP, 4 K. We didn’t get shut out because Pudge singled home a run in the 7th. Michael Bourn stole a base, but no one got him home.

The much luuuuvvvved Jason Smith (by Cooper) went ofer 2, extending his streak of suckage to 0fer 23.

Towles was, of course, sent down for Quintero, who extended HIS hitless streak to 9. He also has no walks, 3 K, no RBI and 2.89 pitches/PA. Towles, on the other hand, is 2 fer 11 with a ROE and an RBI AND 4.69 P/PA – dude believes in making the pitchers work, a skill essentially unknown on the Astros. Unless Q breaks his leg, no chance Towles will be given ANY sort of chance, no matter how well he does in AAA.

Tonight, it’s Mike Hampton vs Jason Marquis. Will be interesting to see how Mr. 8 years 108 mill who loved the Denver public schools, although he never sent his kids to them, and bombed spectacularly in his 2 years there does. He sure nuff can hit, and he did hit 7 homers at Coors.

Jason Marquis, of course, we know all too well from his years with the Cards and Cubs. He’s holding his own at Coors, so far, with a 3.92 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .238 BAA over 41.1 IP/6 GS with 12 BB, 38 H, 5 HR, 19 K. You never know what you are going to get with this guy – if he has his sinker working, he’s not gonna give up much.

Vs the Astros, he’s 9-6 in 21 GS and 5 in relief with a 5.12 ERA/1.66 WHIP and a .299 BAA.

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Posted in Felipe Paulino, Russ Ortiz | 4 Comments »

Roy Oswalt FINALLY Gets His First W of 2009 Thanks To Los Tres Sluggers Grande

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Sorry if this isn’t gonna be as complete as usual. I am a tired grrrrl. Yes, it was a nice Mother’s Day. I “got” to sleep in (ahem) while pretending not hear whispering/giggling/arguing. And sure enough, in come the kids with what is left of the fresh squeezed juice Husband made (my favorite – blends orange/tangelo/lime/grapefruit) to the with my “present” which is, of course, Astros tickets to the RF bleachers (first time we have sat there) and a Brad Ausmus Astros t-shirt.

Oh boy!!!

And Husband has also given me a present, an “autographed” picture of Bradley Awesomeness wearing just a surfboard, saying “dearest Lisa, to the hottest, smartest, bestest grrrrl EVAH from your BIGgest fan.”

Husband thinks he’s funny. But I love him anyway, especially seeing as how he’s missing the Rocket’s game.

So after I fix a huge GIANT breakfast, stuffing each kid so full he/she can’t fit even ONE more mouthful (which will keep them from trying not to whine for stuff for like 15 minutes after we get to the Park) we head downtown. Even at noon, there is plenty of street parking (free) and there isn’t a huge crowd, so the wait in line for pics isn’t too bad and there is almost nobody in the designated drivers’ free soda line (the absolute BEST giveaway evah as we get tickets for 5 bucks and sodas are $4.50 – and yes, the scalpers are scalping tickets for 5 bucks these days. The RF bleacher seats aren’t that cheap, but Brother has a few friends…)

We wander around the stadium, see what’s new – kids are NOT gonna sit still for an hour – while brother watches them in the Squeeze Play for a bit. Lots of females, and, in fact, I think that today, there are more females than males at the game. More than a few groups of females, multigenerational. More than a few mothers with their daughters in their Little League unis. SO kewl. Still a LOT of Brad Ausmus jerseys – all worn by females. Imagine that. A few years back I remember that we sat with a grandmother/mother/daughter who had been coming to games since the old Buffs Stadium days, and were Cards fans before that.

The stadium is maybe half full and the roof has been shut long enough for it to be nice and cool – no complaints from Husband or Brother (then again, we are not sitting up by the roof.) and we watch like 10 Astros throw out the “first pitch” to their mothers. A 10 year old girl sings the Anthem a few keys too high for her, but does an otherwise nice job.

No Lance, whose wrist is hurting (I am hoping that it is the truth and it explains why he looked so awful at the plate) and no Blum. Keppinger is starting vs a righty (shock!!!)

This Mother’s Day, almost all the guys are using pink bats – only Carlos and Roy have decided not to. So different from the first year, in which only Ausmus, Berkman and Biggio went pink (that I remember – wish I had written down the names of the guys who did. I do remember Bradley Awesomeness going like 4 fer 5 with that pink bat. Same with Berkman…) On the Padres, Gerut and Hundley are the only ones not using pink bats. Hopefully next year, there won’t be ANY holdouts. Hate to think that those guys are anti-mothers/pro breast cancer… (yes, sarcam)

1st inning – Roy throws a first pitch strike!!! and gets 1,2,3 on 14 pitches. The Padres pitcher, Josh Geer, a righty, is tall and very skinny, looks like a stork, poor boy, and throws a 85-87 MPH fastball (wow and I thought only leftys and Greg Maddux could get away with that.) But he doesn’t spot it well and Kaz leads off with a single to left. Bourn and Pence groundout, then Carlos singles Kaz home. Miggy then hits a long homer off a hanging slider off the LF facade to the right of the CBoxes (you see, Pujols is not the only one who can hit hanging sliders.) Geer gives up another single, then a walk, but gets lucky when Keppinger grounds out to end the inning.

2nd inning – Cotton Candy guy comes around with Pink In The Park “special” bags and he says something like – you kids wanna buy some for your mommy and I say – VERY fast – no thanks, I have diabetes – even louder than they are trying to ask for some. I glare at them as Little Boy asks – you got diabetes? while the man is turning around, so I miss Headley fouling off a bunch of pitches before singling to center. Hairston is kind enough to GIDP, then Kouzmanoff GO. Roy is doing OK – don’t see any curves – 93-94 MOH FB, a few sliders, a few pitches called changeups (which look more like non-sliding sliders to me, but hey, the view from back here is very different from what I’m used to.)

And then Roy is up. Burkie-poo is playing short today. And he’s nervous, I think, in front of his old team and when Roy hits a nice easy grounder right to him, he airmails it into the stands and the ump sends Roy to second. Kaz FO and Bourn barely misses beating out a grounder, then Pence walks, and then Carlos walks. NOT intentionally. Roy hasn’t had to run, just walk and now he’s standing on third. Miggy hits a single to left and Roy trots home with Pence like 2 steps (barely) behind him. With 2 out, Gritmeister grounds out.

3rd inning – Roy walks Hundley on 4 straight pitches, goes to a 3-2 on Burkie-poo, who flies out to Bourn, gets the pitcher (who is not bunting, for some reason) to pop out and Gerut to flyout. Geer gives up a single to Pudge, gets Keppinger to GIDP and then Gerut, who is not happy to realize that a 420′ fly ball to dead center is just another ho hum fly ball out in this here park.

4th inning – Roy gets 2 quick strikes on The Pest, then plunks him (on the arm? in the side?) and he looks to be in some pain – Roy comes down off the mound to check on The Pest, who is with the trainer for 5 minutes, but then trots down to first. I guess it shook Roy up a bit – it CERTAINLY wasn’t intentional, and he gives up a long FB to Adrian Gonzalez, then a homer to Headley (to the RF bullpen, no cheapo) and a double to Hairston to left. I hear some young guy complaining to his mother – why doesn’t he ever TRY to run. I had to laugh – these days, I don’t think he CAN run any faster until he loses some of that lard. Somehow, Roy settles himself and then gets 2 straight Ks.

I notice that he has thrown only 2 curveballs so far. Maybe his finger hurts too much.

Anyway, Geer comes back, immediately hits Kaz on the foot (DEFINITELY not intentional) then Bourn singles. Geer is pulled and Perdomo, one of many pitchers on the Padres roster I never heard of, is in to relieve. He gets a fer sure GIDP ball from Pence, but Burkie-poo tries a backhand glove and the ball escapes into center and 2 runs score. Poor ol Burkie-poo. Carlos then hits a double to the LF corner and Pence scores. Miggy singles to right and Carlos decides to chug home and does the Jeremy Giambi and is tagged out while he tries to cross standing up – would have easily avoided the tag if he had gone inside and slid. Good thing it didn’t end up mattering. Gritmeister lines out, then Pudge hits a ball 410′ on to the Hill, where Hairston is not used to going – and, by the way, any good CF would have gotten there, as I’ve seen Edmonds, Beltran and Cameron make that catch. But it falls for a triple, Miggy scores and it is Astros 9 – Padres 2. Keppinger grounds out.

5th – Roy gets 1,2,3 easily. Perdomo is back, gives up a single to Roy, a FC to Kaz, a groundout to Bourn, a walk to Pence and a LONG flyout to Carlos.

Which reminds me – I saw something new this game: Hunter Pence did not swing at ANY of the first pitches at ANY AB. I have not ever seen a game in which he did that. He also went to THREE 3-2 counts and I have never seen him do that either. He no longer swings at sliders outside in the dirt and he can’t routinely be gotten out that way. Even on 0-2 with runners on.

6th – Brother takes the boys to the bathroom and they come back with popcorn. For me, they explain. By the way, can they have some?  Brother is oblivious to evil glare from Baby Sister and Husband says – pass some over here, willya? Roy gives up a single, then a homer just over the 404′ sign to Adrian Gonzalez and then Ks Headley on 3 pitches, all swinging. First time all night. Hairston has a long flyout to center. Giles has a pinch hit single (he has always hit the heck out of Roy), Hundley walks, then with Burkie-poo up, Pudge has a passed ball, but then with a 3-2 count, he pops up and Miggy gets it almost to the stands.

Roy managed to hang in there for 6 innings – 6 hits (2 HR) 2 walks and 4 K over 103 pitches. The FB was OK, the slider wasn’t bad, the change seldom worked and the curve wasn’t used. He’s lucky he was facing a team with even worse pitching than ours, or he’d have gotten tagged with another loss.

What else? The game dragged. Roy, unlike his usual self, did not work quickly and by the middle of the 6th, 2 hours had passed and the kids were starting to get restless, not that I blame them. So Husband and Brother ”volunteered” to take them home (and watch the rest of the Rockets’ game – even though they weren’t dumb enough to say so but I can read male minds) and bribed them with the promise of food. Which worked. So Lil Miss and I stuck it out for the next hour.

Byrdak came on to pitch the 7th and gave up an upper deck homer to Gerut (who, by the way, is HOT), a 4 pitch walk to Luis Rodriguez, then a fer SHER GIDP ball to Adrian Gonzalez, but Kaz screwed it up and both runners were safe. Poor Byrdak. So Coop went straight to Alberto Arias, who got Headly to line into a 1-3 DP.

Arias is looking mighty good as a reliever, he surely is. A HECK of a lot bettern anyone not named Hawkins or Sampson and Coop might could remember that. But of course, Coop forgot to double switch and so Arias was out. Sampson pitched 2 innings, giving up 2 hits and a walk and getting 2 GIDP.

The Astros, by the way, have turned more DP than any other team in the majors.

What else?

Pudge reached base every PA – a walk, 2 singles, a triple and a homer.

Every single man in the starting lineup had at least 1 hit.

Carlos and Miggy knocked in 4 runs each. Kaz and Bourn each stole a base and scored later in the inning. Pence went to THREE 3-2 counts and walked twice. In the same GAME. He actually has 16 walks in 6 weeks – unbelieveable.

Astros are off today and face the Rockies tomorrow.

Paulino has been put back in the rotation and Russ Ortiz has been made the mopup guy. And 0-21 Jason Smith has been re-signed after being DFAd. No one other team was dumb enough to sign him. We just can’t go around having someone on the team who can actually hit the ball or field worth a darn, like Maysonet.

I would guess that if Paulino can’t cut it in the rotation that Backe will be backe and most likely, Ortiz will be gone. But when it comes to Coop, youneverknow.

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Posted in Astros baseball, Carlos Lee, Chris Burke, Ivan Rodriguez, Roy Oswalt, Tejada | 2 Comments »

5/10/09: Moehler Pitches Great And Gets A ND Because Cooper Can’t Manage A Bullpen

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Well, it was Husband’s Birthday Night Out and he said NO BASEBALL FOR ONCE!!! and what can I say – one night a year isn’t gonna kill me.

But a certain person like forgot to start recording the ball game until the 5th inning, so we will have to go with my Mama’s observations (along with Gameday.) Lance is still out. With a “sore wrist.”

1st inning – Moehler has a nice crisp FB and a biting slider and gets 1,2,3 on 12 pitches. Correia returns the compliment.

2nd inning – Moehler is dealing and Bourn makes a very nice catch on a sinking liner. Miggy singles, but Blum (who, in May, is now 2 fer 26 with 4 walks) and Gritmeister groundout.

3rd inning – Hundley and Luis Rodriguez both single to lead off, then Corriea sac-bunts, but them Giles lines out to Miggy (nice leaping catch) and The Pest pops out. Towles has a 10 pitch AB before popping out, Moehler Ks and Kaz flies out. Towles sure does work pitchers, gotta say that for him.

4th – Moehler is sharp – gets an easy 1,2,3 out. Correia walks Bourn, who is then thrown out stealing. Mama reports that Hundley, for the second night in a row, showed a very strong and accurate arm. Pence Ks, and then Carlos hits a double to the LF bullpen, and chugging at full steam, he looks like Bengie Molina, and barely makes it in ahead of the tag. Miggy walks (and you KNOW those were wide pitches if HE walks) and then Blum pops up. Blum sure as heck looks as if he needs some rest. Coop just might could consider playing Keppinger a little more, even if he does (HORRORS!!!) face a righty.

5th – both pitchers get quick, easy 1,2,3 outs. Moehler is at 56 pitches, Correia at 76. Moehler, by the way, ends the inning with an AB – and he pops out to left. And also by the way – Mama noticed that Headley, the LF, calls off the CF on every fly ball hit to left center.

6th – Moehler throws 6 straight FB to the pitcher, who hits the last one all the way to the LF bullpen – the first hard hit ball off Moehler. Giles groundsout and Correia goes to third. Then The Pest is up and of course, you KNOW it would be him to single in the first run. Hairston then singles. Adrian Gonzalez then does Moehler a huge favor and hits an outside FB right back for a nice 1-6-3 (VERY nice, quick turn.) Then the Astros get even with Correia for drawing blood. Kaz Ks on 3 straight pitches, but then Michael turns on an inside FB and sends it to left, then Pence walks. Carlos is up, smells RBIs and sure nuff, singles Michael home with Hunter going to third. Then Miggy hits a sac-fly and the Astros lead, 2-1. Blum gets out, of course.

7th – Moehler goes back out. No one up in the bullpen. Good. He gives up a leadoff walk, but then gets 2 flyouts and a swinging K.

what a job, 91 pitches, 58 strikes, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 ER.

Padres pull Correia, who has done a darn good job, and send in a new pitcher, Gergerson and a new SS, Chris Burke. Yep, Burkie-poo has latched on with a new team. Hope he does well, only not against us. It is TOUGH to come back from shoulder injuries, even if the fans don’t think it should be.

So Gritmeister doubles, JR sac-bunts him to third. Jason Michaels comes on to pinch hit and kind of dribbles the ball towards first. Both pitcher and catcher run for the ball, but Grit stays at third, in spite of the fact that no one is covering home. Fortunately, the next pitch is wild and Grit scrambles home with what will eventually be the winning run, as Kaz again Ks.

8th – yes I know that Moehler was only at 91 pitches, but he looked tired and I don’t find fault with Coop for pulling him.

BUT

I sure as HECK find fault with Coop for sending Geoff Geary in to pitch with only a 2 run lead. What on EARTH could have led him to do something THAT stupid? Geary has been, at best, shaky this year. He had a choice of Sampson and Arias, but nooooooo. So naturally, Burkie-poo immediately hits a nice clean double to left. Then Brian Giles, who has looked like a shadow of his former self (just like Berkman) hits a ball juuuuuust barely to the right of the LF foul pole. Which should tell you something about how Geary’s pitches are NOT moving. He does groundout 4-3, but the The Pest is up, and naturally, he singles in his second RBI of the day.

Good-bye Geary, hello Alberto Arias. Who Ks Hairston on 4 filthy sliders.

So then, what the effing eff, there is Coop, pulling him out. WHY??? WHY pull a reliever who got it goin ON?

For a lefty-lefty thingy? Wesley isn’t getting leftys out worth spit this year, they are 9 fer 15 with 3 walks. It’s the rightys he’s getting out. Sure Gonzalez hits rightys bettern leftys – but it makes a lot more sense to leave in a reliever with filthy stuff that is working than to put in a shaky reliever just because he’s a lefty.

And sure enough, he singles.

Wesley is, um, Gon.

So THEN Coop sends in Hawkins. I don’t understand the incredible reluctance of managers to send in “closers” in to shut down rallies in the 8th, especially with the meat of the lineup up. One of the things I liked about Garner when he first took over the Astros was that he wasn’t afraid to do that. It’s not as if this particular bullpen is strong and you have a dominant 7th, 8th, 9th inning guys. Hawkins has always had trouble closing in the past, but he’s fer SHER a better option than Wesley Wright at this point, seeing as how Coop couldn’t bear to leave in an effective reliever to finish the job.

And sure enough, he blows this save as Headley doubles in 2 runs.

Goodbye W for Moehler. This is why I can’t really bring myself to pay real too much attention to pitcher wins/losses. You throw 7 innings of 1 run ball, you pitched great. (You could, of course, be like Zack Greinke, who threw a CG giving up only 1 run and losing to a guy who also pitched a CG and gave up NO runs. Can’t remember the last game played where BOTH pitchers pitched CG.)

But fortunately for Coop, he’s off the hook because the Padres middle relief is as bad as ours and Gregerson walked Bourn, threws 2 balls to Pence. And was then pulled. In comes Cla Meredith, who shut the Astros DOWN in the 8th last night. But tonight, he walks Pence. And there are 2 on and it’s Carlos who is up and he sure nuff smells them RBIs and after Meredith throws a WP, advancing both runners, he again laces a single to right, tying the game. GThen Miggy comes up and grounds out to second and Pence scores the go ahead run. Then they IBB Blum, who isn’t even getting good swings, I guess to go for the DP. Erstad grounds out to second and Towles pops out far down the RF foul line – almost fell in for a hit.

9th – Hawkins is back. He gets Jody Gerut (now there is one HOT guy) to flyout to the warning track where Michael the sponge soaks it up. Burkie-poo fouls off a bunch of pitches, then doubles to left – exact same spot as last time. Giles flies out and it’s The Pest, but this time, he pops up. If he had driven in ANOTHER run, I would have been forced to hate him. Just not as much as Coop.

Man am I tired. time to sneak back to bed so the kids can “wake me up” and “surprise” me with Mother’s Day present. Gee, wonder what they are gonna “give” me…

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Posted in Brian Moehler, Michael Bourn | 6 Comments »

5/9/09: Wandy’s Filthy Curve Shuts Out The Padres

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

The bullpen desperately needed respite from the gang of 5 innings-ers and boy did the Wand Master come through.

Husband informed me that he WAS gonna watch some basketball game tonight so I said FINE!!! and said I was gonna go for GRRRLS Night Out with me and Mama and Lil Miss to see Wandy and he said – hunh, um, wha or something like that. So I figured he and brothers could just watch basketball with the boys, but Lil Miss said something to the boys like – me and Gran and Auntie goin somewheres and yew cain’t gooooooooo. Ha ha ha HA HAH!!!

So this bein Wandy’s night on, boys figured right quick where we were going and naturally, they wanted to gooooooo. I told them they would “get” to stay home with their Daddy and Uncles and watch hoops, but noooooooo. Lil Miss, that child she NEEDS to learn there are ways and ways of taunting your fellow males, and her way gets her more trouble than need be.

So naturally, when Husband and Brothers get home, I am bout on my way out the door with Lil Miss and after taking one look at 3 sullen boys, Brother pulls out 30 bucks and tells me to take them with me. Course, tickets are only 5 bucks, but this will get us some water (4.50 each. Really. Which will help shut them up, seeing as how they KNOW they are NOT getting any food/cotton candy/soda.

So off we go and street parking is available, even at 6:30 and we have no trouble getting a couple of tickets from the desperate scalpers and in we go. Ushers aren’t overly watchful about tickets when they aren’t in the expensive sections, so we joined Mama and Susanna and figured we’d shift seats a bit if anyone came by, which they didn’t. Was a little bigger crowd than yesterday, Mama says – probably about 24K, compared to yesterday’s 21K (and yes, I noticed they aren’t doing the Guess The Attendance quiz at the end of the 8th any more.)

Lance wasn’t in the lineup tonight, not that I blame him (or Coop.) Number 1 Son was surprised – asked – where’s Lance? I told him that he and his bats were tired and needed a nap. Kids, of course, think that nap is a dirty word and no matter HOW many times I tell them that when you are a grownup, you LIKE to have a nap every now and then, they just don’t believe me. They will, all right.

And first thing you know, up comes David Eckstein to lead off. I hear, from a few rows back, some woman saying – Oh NOOOO, it’s the Pest (guess I’m not the only one who calls him that.) And sure enough, just like he always does, he takes the first pitch, strike one, then a ball, then hits a fastball to center. Brian Giles, who also has hit Wandy well in the past, flies out to center. Then Scott Hairston (remind me again why Arizona, who is supposed to be so stattily advanced, got rid of Hairston, let alone Carlos Quentin. But I digress) hit a hard grounder to third, which Blum let bounce off his glove and go into left, which neither he nor Miggy nor Carlos made more than a gentle run for and there we are, men on second and third, 1 out. And Blum didn’t even get an error on that play, which he SHOULD have and the hit is charged to Wandy.

Lil Miss asks me why it isn’t an error. I tell her it is because the scorer expected that an ordinary 3rd baseman could have made that play and Blum isn’t up to ordinary. She said – I don’t get it. And I said – neither did he. Then Adrian Gonzalez barely hit a fastball and it dribbled between the mound and third. Wandy, quick as a cat raced for it, and so Pest couldn’t move off third, then Blum scooped it up and threw Gonzalez out at first.

Two out. Then Chase Headley hits a fastball to deep deep left center, to the base of Tal’s Hill and Michael Bourn, who took off at the crack of the bat, raced over and got it. The previously dead quiet fans got up and screamed our appreciation at the tops of our lungs for a GOOD 2 minutes straight. (Screamed our appreciation when he came up to bat in the bottom of the inning, too.)

Saved Wandy, whose command and curve wasn’t there. Saved the ball game (compare this to the balls Jason Michaels didn’t get near last night which ended up costing us a couple of runs.)

Wandy was still a bit shaky to start the second – got Kouzmanoff to fly out to left center, a nice running catch, but nowheres near as spectacular as the previous out. Then Hundley hit a ball straight to Tejada, who bobbled it. Somehow, THAT got scored a “hit” when it was a no argument about it error. WASSUP with the scorer tonight? Then Luis Rodriguez hit a double into the corner and here we are again, men on second and third, 1 out. Wandy needs 6 pitches to K the pitcher, Chad Gaudin, who has been in the AL for the past 6 years. Curve still isn’t working. And That Dratted Pest is up, takes the first pitch, as usual, and Wandy goes to 3-0. But then he throws a FB for a strike, then a chance for a strike. then Pest fouls off a FB, then hits the next one for a 6-3.

Inning over. Wandy is at 45 pitches and it looks as if the bullpen is gonna have to work after all.

But no.

Wandy suddenly got the grip he wanted on his curve because starting in the third, he threw it AND the change for strikes AND located the FB. 11 pitches and 1,2,3 out.

In the bottom of the third, Kaz singled, Bourn walked and Pence struck out to end the inning.

And in the 4th, Wandy was bout unhittable. The guys were waving at everything and missing. And missing badly. He threw 14 pitches, 11 strikes, and 7 of those were swinging (one foul tipped.) In the bottom of the inning, Carlos hit a double over the head of the first baseman and it went to the base of the stands just after the Astros dugout and caromed back to the field and Carlos had already turned to second. He did his best to turn on the afterburners, but they are clogged with lard and only a bad throw saved him from getting thrown out at second.

Kids thought that was funny. And of course, this was right after the cotton candy man had come and gone and there being just me and Mama, they knew better than to whine, although they were still thinkin bout it. So I pointed to Carlos and told them – THAT is what happens when you eat that junk. They ignored it, of course.

Wandy needed only 11 pitches for 3 outs in the 5th and I saw something I hadn’t seen for maybe 5 years – The Pest swung at the first pitch (and popped it up.) Here and I thought he didn’t ever swing at first pitches. Guess the AL did Bad Things to him last year.

In the bottom of the 5th, with 1 out and men on second and third, Pence, hitting third in place of Lance, laced a sharp single just out of reach of the first baseman and both Pudge and Kaz came around to score. Carlos then singled, but Miggy flew out (too bad he used up all those hits in a losing cause yesterday, because he didn’t have any today and we could have used them.)

But it didn’t matter because Wandy was DEALING and he slammed the door shut over the next 3 innings, giving up only a single up the middle. Curve was NASTY and the change was fooling em.

I was DELIGHTED that Coop seemed to have learned his lesson and he didn’t pull Wandy after the 7th, even though he had to hit. Wandy clearly had excellent stuff and there was NO reason to pull him, even at 102 pitches. He finished the 8th with no trouble – 3 easy popouts to right and center and ended the night at 116 pitches. The fastball, according to the stadium radar gun, was between 91-93 (no I am not kidding) and in fact, they flashed that he got The Pest out in the 8th on a 95 MPH pitch. I didn’t know the boy could throw that hard.

He was simply STUPENDOUS. TREMENDOUS. The pitcher I thought I saw back in 05.

La Troy came in and got the meat of the order 1,2,3 for his 4th save.

A real NL game tonight – super pitching, low scoring, no homers.

Wandy threw 8 innings, 5 hits (really it should have been 3 hits), no walks, 7 K.

He is now 3rd in the NL in ERA (1.80), 10th in K (37), 6th in WHIP (1.04), 7th in BA (.199), 3rd in IP (45) and 6 of his 7 games are QS.

Wonder how long I’m gonna be the only Astros fan with a Wandy t-shirt, seeing as how he is now the ace of the staff?

Anyway, it was a great game to take the kids to and they (mostly) behaved themselves. Lil Miss has learned to use a scorebook and she had a great time sitting next to my Mama and keeping score. After the game was over, they had this Wii “battle of the bands” thing and one of the groups had this 7 or 8 year old kid playing the guitar and doing his best Angus Young and the crowd (what was left of us) absolutely LOVED it. That kid is a natural.

Then we had fireworks – a beautiful night with a full moon. Kids loved it (and so did I, country music and all.)

When we got home, basketball game was still goin on, Rockets were losing, males in a bad mood, growling, so I got kids cleaned and into bed all by my own self. Husband he best have something GOOD planned for Mother’s Day, you know what I’m talkin about.

Tomorrow is Brian Moehler vs Kevin Correia (ex Giants swingman.)

Correia this year has started 5 games over 24.1 innings, 27 H, 2 HR, 16 BB, 21 K – 5.92 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, .297 BAA. Our Ex-Giant version of Russ Ortiz…

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Posted in Wandy Rodriguez | 1 Comment »

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