Hi all yall,
it’s Memorial Day weekend and the Gray family is on a 4 day vacation.
Let me take a minute or two
to give much respect to
the folks live and dead, who have served our country
so that the rest of us could lead what we all hope
is a better life
in a better world.
Amen.
Silence
Well, we all knew it couldn’t last forever – either Bud’s streak of superbity or the Astros streak of 38 straight games played with each starter throwing at least 6 innings.
Bud simply wasn’t throwing well – way too much stuff out of the zone, too few swings and misses, a pitch count of 83 after only 3 innings. I was actually surprised that Millsie-poo sent him back after he managed to get through the 4th giving up ONLY 2 runs – he didn’t look good even when he got guys out – had balls flying out to the warning track, to the gaps – and most of em got run down. A manager should freaking KNOW if his starter just hasn’t got it and pull him.
Here’s Bud: 1st inning, 26 pitches, 5 hitters, 2 singles, 1 K and 3 of those hitters had 3 ball counts (not the ump neither) men left on first and third. (Astros leave on on first after scoring a run)
2nd inning: 17 pitches, 4 hitters, 1 single, 1 K, two ball 3 counts, man left on first. (Astros leave bases loaded 1 out after walking in a run)
3rd inning: 21 pitches, 4 hitters, 1 walk, 1 RBI double, 1 3 ball count, 1 AB 4 fouloffs. (Astros leave men on first and second 2 outs)
Bud is up to 64 pitches already – and Billingsley isn’t far behind, neither
4th inning: 41 pitches (yeah, you got that right) here we go – single, long fly out at bullpen wall that JD Mart made a great catch on, double, visit from Broakie. Who must know that Bud looks lousy and isn’t getting a whole lot of pitches over and has a lot of em flattening out. OK, he manages to strike out the pitcher on 6 pitches. Very next hitter hits a nice slider that didn’t slide real too much for a RBI single up the middle. So Bud gets left in. Next hitter, 7 pitch walk with FIVE pickoff attempts. Oh there were a few fouloffs, but no called strikes or swing and miss. So Bud gets left in. 8 pitch walk to Bobby Abreu and yeah, Bud got screwed on that one when strike 3 was called ball 2. Bases loaded but Bud gets very lucky when Ethier gets just under a FB right down the freaking middle and he flies out to CF.
Now, with his pitch count at 115, can someone explain why it makes any sense to send out a guy whose pitches are either up or outside and can’t command ANYTHING, back out for ANOTHER inning?
Seems that the only times a starter gets pulled is if he gives up 8 or 10 runs in the first few innings – then, really, what’s the point? Trouble is that in modern bullpens, there’s so much emphasis placed on having relievers face only a few guys in a platoon matchup and a revolving reliever door, that IF your starter throws BP, who is gonna pitch at least 4 or 5 innings. ESPECIALLY when you’ve been having most of em warm up or come in every effing day?
sigh
And mucho respect for J Happ who pitched extremely well, was undone by Jason Maxwell’s letting a ball clank off his glove over the fence (at least it wasn’t off his head) for the go ahead run – yeah there were more runs, but it didn’t matter because the Astros just put their bats down after Jose Altuve led off the game with a triple and Jed Lowrie drove him in with a groundout. Took all the suspense out of the game seeing as how the next hit wasn’t hit until the 7th and Capuano was just simply ace.
Almost at .500 and now there is some mumbling about how maybe Crane/Luhnow aren’t gonna dump Wandy, Myers, Lyon and Caballo at the deadline – and I’m calling it mumbling because I can’t see them letting Lyon or Carlos Lee just go at the end of the year for nothing – neither one is gonna be a Type A and the compensation has plummeted anyway.
Double header tomorrow Memorial Day, which is how things should be.
Not that I’ll be watching live anyway because FSN broadcasts Rangers here, not Astros. Which, naturally, makes the Astros a lot more fans and more popular because all these non-existent Astros fans are besieging the cable company to broadcast the Astros too!!!
Norris and Mills ALMOST got into a shouting match about his start Saturday.
Bud WANTED to go back out, and Mills wanted to pull him. He lasted two batters in the 6th. befor he got two guys on the bases. Game over. Becky:)
I’m always irked to see Rangers games on FXSW instead of the Astros. At least with the 9 PM start time, I was able to get all three Astros games on FXSW.
There’s nothing compelling about the Rangers as far as I’m concerned except for their manager’s hyper jumping up and down as he did in the WS which made me wonder if he’d been snorting again.
I didn’t really expect the Astros to beat Capuano..he’d had the Astros’ number even in his Brewers days.
If they do ship Wandy and his hefty contract, I know I’ll miss him greatly. I’d followed him since he came up from Round Rock. – while it was an Astros affilated club.
Eric