It was the Return Of Home Run Field, and Brandon hit one out, his second of the year, and didn’t give any up. He gave up 10 hits – 9 singles, including 4 infield hits that weren’t fielded and 3 walks. – 3 ER over 6 IP.
Not bad.
Pedro Martinez was certainly not the old Pedro – gave up 5 hits, 3 solo homers and 2 walks – 3 ER. He’s a whole different pitcher – not much movement in the FB and the change ain’t what it used to be. He lasted 5 innings – 87 pitches.
Every hitter in the Stros lineup got a hit, even Quintero, except for Wiggy. Loretta’s pinch hit slam into the Crawford Boxes against Heilman was the difference maker.
I do, however, think that Cooper’s strategy of having one reliever pitch to one batter in the 7th – Byrdak, then Sampson, the Wright, was absolutely wasteful, and if Loretta hadn’t hit that slam and broken the tie in the bottom of the 8th, WHO was gonna pitch? Hawkins??? Plus, getting up and down tires out relievers just as much as pitching them an entire inning. He’s gonna use WHO tonight?
And tonight, it’s a marquee aces matchup – Roy vs Johan Santana.
Roy has done pretty well against the Mets: 5-4 in 11 GS over 71.1 IP – 74 h, 7 HR, 22 BB, 59 K: 3.52 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, .266 BAA.
He only managed 5 innings against Cincy last outing and hopefully, he’ll be stronger this time.
Johan is being labeled a disappointment for the Mets because his record is 9-7 0ver 22 GS and 147,1 IP – He does have 16 Qs and a 2.93 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. I guess people think that an ace should throw CG shutouts every start and the fact that ones team needs to manufacture like RUNS means nothing to too many people.
Anyway, he’s only thrown 5 innings vs the Astros (in 05) and he gave up 1 run.
Me, I’d love to se a pitchers’ duel in which the Astros win because The Jackal boots the winning run…
ADDENDUM:
For those of you just joining us (as the saying goes) I’ve talked about why I hate Carlos The Jackal every time we play the Mets. But to say it again, it’s like this: Me, I don’t begrudge the ballplayers one cent. The owners are billionaires making 30-50 mill a year from their teams and I believe that ballplayers who, after all, are the ones who do the entertaining, should get their fair share. I also think that any ballplayer who is a FA or has 10/5 rights, has the right to play anyplace he wishes for any team that wants him. Which means that if a player has a no-trade and he doesn’t WANT to be traded, that is his RIGHT – he EARNED it.
I don’t have anything against the many players who left the Astros, either through trade because they didn;t like it here (Mike Hampton) or when they were FA because they wanted to play somewhere else (Randy Johnson) and it isn’t always about being outbid or Drayton being cheap.
The reason Carlos The Jackal is the exception is because he LIED and said he wanted to stay in Houston when he really wanted to go to NY (he had signed a contract to write a book called “My First Year In Pinstripes” by the beginning of December, long before he signed with the Mets) and he dragged things out with his lies so darn long that by the time he FINALLY signed with the Mets, it was too late for the Astros to go out and get another big bat (and remember, this was right at the time that Drayton threw Gerry out and decided to be his own GM.) It screwed up the Astros not only that year, but for many years. Oh yeah – and I didn’t appreciate Carlos THEN lying after he signed his contract with the Mets about how Drayton wouldn’t give him this or than when in fact he didn’t tell Drayton anything until his Mets contract was already signed.
And no, I’m not saying Carlos is not responsible and Boras is because Carlos HIRED Boras – it’s like the old story about the frog and the scorpion – he knew who the scorpion was BEFORE he picked him up…
Tags: Houston Astros, New York Mets
Hope springs eternal.
Twas a beauty, that one Lance jacked over Beltran’s head.
Welcome back, Lance!
Stand Up and Cheer for your Houston Spoilers.
We may not be going to the postseason, bt evidently we’re taking teams down with us.
Its amazing that this team is 5-2 against good teams since the break, and 2-4 vs bad teams.
I really want the good Roy to show up today, and have a pitchers duel between the best two pitchers of the 21st century.
Coop really needs to trust the bullpen more. The reason Brocail was so crappy through July was because of Coop’s reliance upon him. The Astros have several good arms in the pen, and any one of them can be used in tough situations.
Wesley Wright, in particular, should be used more. The guy has shown he can perform beyond Lefty Specialist. And Chris Sampson should really be used in the long relief role. When one of the starters comes out of the game in the fifth inning, Coop needs to go to Sampson instead of burning every option he has in the bullpen.
Lisa,
Not saying Jackalito isn’t master of his domain. I too was snookered when he professed his true luv for the Astro faithful fans.
But, even accepting that he was merely a money-grubbing make-hay-while-the-sun-shines Boras hirer, might Boras have been merely doing his routine excellent job?
Boras is goood. He sizes up his individual clients and does what needs to be done with each one. In this case, he saw the public Beltran as an honest earnest affectionate puppy, and figured he could squeeze dozens of millions of more dollars from the Bronx Bombers by playing a timed love affair with the Astros, excited after his incredible performance in the post-season. (Although not counting on the fact that the Yankees wanted nothing to do with him, and he really only got 19 extra million from the Flushing Fat Cats. Not a terrible deal, though.)
Even this week, Manny Ram finally received the fruits of his timed pain-in-the-rumpus acting job no doubt scripted by Boras.
There are dozens of Boras clients we never hear about, because they play the scene straight. Whether it’s their idea or Boras’, we can’t know, but they mostly stay with him because he gets results. (Exception: A-Rod, but if you can get Madonna to do your publicity, who cares?)
My point is that many fans tired of the business headlines so rampant in baseball (and who don’t break it down by player like you admirably do), a situation created by the Ubiquitous Agent (symbolized by Boras) but do not wish to dump on players they idolize, viciously razz the obvious target (Beltran, Client of Boras), but their subconscious enemy is the Agent.
p.s. I immensely enjoyed last night’s game, even though Coop may have been burning out his relievers, while they each performed perfectly in their respective roles, and got out of a no-out bases-loaded jam. I was in absolute awe. In Radio Dave’s word’s, Cooper was “managing his fanny off,” especially when he sent Loretta up to pinch-hit, and not Newhan.
Coop played the cards he had been dealt, and won with a, uh, Grand Slam. (sorry for the too easy metaphor)
wags,
let’s put it like this – if i was a GOOD baseball player, i’d hire boras my own self, unless i did NOT want to go to the highest bidder, but to a particular team.
i have absolutely nothing against boras. i think he knows every penny a team makes through every single means and he KNOWS how much money the team has. which i think is what your agent NEEDS to know, befcause fact is that a player should get as much of that $$ as he can.
for every fan who complains about how much $$$ a ballplayer gets, i need that fan to explain to me why the owner should pocket that money instead of paying the player. why people don’t mind that the owner will just make more at the players’ expense i do NOT get. like they don;t make enuf already.
if the fan thinks that the owner would happily take less profit i got a bridge to sell them i surely do…
radio dave is a freaking moron. i absolutely HATE him and his idiot partner. they don’t know what “managing” even means. they have COMPLETELY ruined astros radio broadcasts for me. i would rather miss a game and then catch the replay than listen to those 2 clowns.
every manager looks like a GEENYUSS if what he does, no matter HOW stupid, works out. what if coop had sent ausmus up to pinch hit? and HE hit a granny?
burning relievers is not the best idea. unless it is the last game of the WS and you HAVE to do ANYTHING to win
Lisa–
I like you. Really, I enjoy your blog more than most. But if you were a baseball player with Boras for an agent, I’d hate your guts.
I’m glad the Astros have an “unofficial” policy of not dealing with Boras clients. I’m glad that Lohse had to wait until half way through ST to sign and had to settle for less than what Boras had wanted. I’m glad the Red Sox kicked Manny to the curb. I hate Beltran. I hate Mark Teixeira. I hate Pay-Rod. I hope Boras and his clients all starve to death.
mark,
why the hate for boras in particular? more than any other agent?
i would remind you that the clients PICK boras – they WANT him to do what he does.
but seriously, why him any more than, say, the hendricks brothers? or any other agent who tries to get the biggest/best deal for his client?
isn’t that what an agent is SUPPOSED to do?
would you get an agent who didn’t try to get you the absolute best deal possible?