Brandon Backe is HOT HOT HOTTTT!!!!!
Yes, he’s so FINE, but also
he just ROOLZ at the Box – LUUUUVVVVVS the hometown crowd – is 8-1 with 1 ND and a 2.85 regular season ERA. They had the roof open to start the game with the temperature well over 90, but Brandon was just PUMPED. In fact he had a hard time getting a lot of pitches over and gave up 9 hits and 2 walks with only 1 K, but managed to pitch out of trouble, except to give up a 2 run homer to Junior Griffey.
Brandon ALSO went 1 fer 3 at the plate, and because he was stealing a base when Willy Taveras bounced into what would have been a 6-4-3 DP with any leadfoot, distracted Lopez who wasn’t able to even throw out Taveras, who, by the way, leads the ML with 19 infield singles – reminds me of Alex Sanchez (without the roids) last year. Brandon then scored a run on Todd Self’s RBI single.
DUDE!!!
After a 1,2,3 6th, Brandon went Backe out to pitch the 7th – Cruz singled, then Freel singled up the middle, then Cruz was replaced by pinch runner Jason Romano – fool immediately picked off second by Ausmus, then Lopez grounded out, advancing Freel to second – 2 out.
Have I said yet that PHIL IS AN EFFING MORON????!!!!! (Well, I would use a LOT stronger negative language, but this is a nice clean blog…)
I know how to read stats. Sean Casey is batting 1.000 against Franco. There is NO law that says that a lefty pitcher MUST face a lefty batter, Casey was 1 fer 3 against Brandon, with no really good swings, and yet Phil pulls Brandon and replaces him with a guy who Casey has hit singles off every single time he has faced him this year. I looked it up. This year, Casey is hitting .347 against lefties (and .296 against righties), last year hit .306 against lefties, and in 03 hit .320 against lefties – in fact, for the past 3 years has hit lefties better than righties, so WHY in the name of God is that idiot Phil bringing in Franco? BTW, before tonight, Casey was 5 fer 11 against Franco with a walk for a real nice 1.227 OPS. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Naturally, Casey hits a RBI double and poor Brandon’s run scores. This is the third time this year that Franco has let Brandon’s inherited runner score. Of course, as usual, Franco’s runner doesn’t score because he gets Griffey out.
Dan Wheeler strikes out the side in the 8th and it’s
BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD with 3 Ks and a walk to slam the door.
Matt Belisle – Austin, Texas native pitched to Houston, Texas native Jason La Rue and Belisle no hit the Astros until Lance singled in the fourth. Man, I was SO afraid that not only would we get shut out again, but we would get no-hit. The Astros record is 23 shutouts in 1963 – STILL can’t find the NL or ML 162 game/year record.
Lance is beginning to swing the bat more like the usual LANCE. Biggio must still be hurting because he looks bad up there. Adam Everett hit his 5th HR into the Crawford Boxes. The Astros are at the bottom of every offensive stat in the NL. Sigh.
So we are now 19 – 32 and it’s 22 to go…
BUT
no fielding blunders and no baserunning screwups.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Tags: Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, MLB
With ya on the Franco issue, Lisa. I was confident that Griffey was gonna put the Reds on top but he just got under it.
Lidge was impressive, but we’ve come to expect that from him. The big news was the way Dan Wheeler threw the ball. He was totally unhittably filthy good tonight.
Q: Who was the invisible Sumo wrestler that Todd Self was carrying on his back out on the basepaths?
Don’t know if you have noticed yet, but they sent Zeke down and called Burke back up, with Garner saying he’ll play in the outfield. Means he’ll share time with either Self or Lane, I guess. Hopefully they sit Lane down for a couple of games, he’s slumping bad. Otherwise, Burke and Self will probably platoon in left.
They need to cut bait on Franco, he sucks.
Brandon Backe is awesome. He can throw the ball. He can hit the ball. He can run. Gar should consider playing him in RF between starts.
Hi Lisa- franco annoys the crap out of me and he doesn’t evenhave to throw a pitch, but whats more annoying is this by the book lefty vs lefty righty vs righty garbage.
I have always maintained it’s garbage and maybe once a long long time ago that principle may have worked one time out of ten. Good hitters can hit anyone, visa versa with pitchers, but I think my dogs could hit Franco with the bat in their mouths.
hi shari!!!
i don’t mind the lefty-lefty thing IF the hitter just basically can’t hit lefties or THAT lefty, (like barry and jesse orosco) but this was just unspeakably stupid.
annie -
the whole game is different when brandon plays. and i LOVE it. i always thought that a pitcher should be an athlete and brandon is awesome. i always loved livan hernandez, greg maddux and tom glavine for the same reason.
stroman-
i think self was mentally prepared to stop at third cuz mansolino almost always throws up the stop sign…
lisa
Johnny Franco needs to hang up his spikes by the end of the season – he’s not really an effective pitcher any longer – why do ya think the Mets cut ties with him? To encourage him to retire, that’s why.