Posts Tagged ‘Brewers’

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Wesley Has The Wrong Stuff And Brewers Pound Him

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Major league hitters do what is called “adjust.” Last week, Wesley Wright beat the Brewers by throwing high strikes. Oh – and by not throwing lots of pitches outside the strike zone.

Today, with Balking Bob behind HP, Wesley couldn’t get ANY borderline strikes – high, low, inside, outside – and he didn’t help himself by throwing even more pitches waaaayyy out of the zone. (Of course, Gallardo got ALL of the borderline pitches called as strikes. I absolutely HATE it when umps play favorites like this. You disbelieve me, got look at Chris Johnson’s AB in the 6th – he was called out on 3 pitches, ALL of which were called balls for Astros pitchers. I am awaiting our new robot strike calling overlords. Along with replay cameras – an umpire in the booth to immediately overrule any calls which are incorrect.)

Mills mercifully pulled him with 1 out in the second after Wesley had walked Prince and Braun on 8 straight pitches (like I said about NO borderline strikes), then an IF popup, then new CF Lorenzo Cain hit a bullet juuuuust over the 3B bag (too bad ol Balkin Bob wasn’t at third to eff THAT one up, too). Naturally, Figueroa let THAT run score, too. (If Melvin/Macha have any sense, they won’t reinstate Carlos Gomez in center after he gets off the DL – however, most Organizations have a problem if a rookie comes up and significantly outplays the veteran – see Edwin Maysonet…)

Was it just last month that the Astros had the best ERA in the majors? Flukes, you know.

At the end of top of the second, it was Astros 2, Crew 8.

Could someone PLEASE explain to me why, no matter the situation, Pedro Suckage Feliz is ALWAYS the first PH sent in. Is it Mills’ firm belief that the absolute worst hitter should ALWAYS pinch hit at the first opportunity? I don’t get it – not even COOPER was that crazy. Naturally, Feliz was sent up to hit with 2 on 1 out in the bottom of the second, and naturally, he grounded out weakly to third, as usual.

Astros completely threw in the towel after Chacin gave up a 3 run homer in the 4th to make it 11-4. Get this:

Brett Wallace got a single and scored in. But he also made a rookie mistake – batting in back of Clank, who was walked on 4 straight pitches, he swung at 3 straight pitches, ALL out of the zone. He’ll learn. He was punished by being pulled after the inning was over and Clank was installed at first. Yeah, that’ll REALLY learn him good. I understand pulling a guy for dogging it – but being overeager with the bat? He didn’t ignore a bunt sign or anything. Good grief.

After that, I was SOOO disgusted that I went out in the backyard with Husband to eat BBQ and didn’t even bother to turn up the sound.

I will tell you that Clank didn’t make an error. I will tell you that CJ turned a nice DP and didn’t miss any. I will tell you that Angel Sanchez fielded a ball, made a throw that pulled Wallace offn the bag and the “infield hit” scored a run. Also Chris Johnson reached base for the 21st consecutive time today – he went 1 fer 4 with a run scored and he’s still batting 7th – we wouldn’t want him – like, you know – driving in runs or anything.

You don’t wanna hear how many men got left on base.

And Jeff Fulchino needed only 20 pitches to pitch 2 innings – no hits, no walks, no HBP. Let’s hope his DL stint really DID do him some good. Byrdak pitched a scoreless with a walk and Lopez managed to escape a 2 hit inning without runs scoring.

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Posted in Brett Wallace, Chris Johnson, Jason Castro, Wesley Wright | 4 Comments »

8/7/10: Astros Outhit Brewers And Lose

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Randy Wolf is a lefty, so naturally, Brad Mills posted an all-righty lineup. He is seriously into platooning – not sure how Wallace or Bourn are going to learn to hit ML leftys if they are benched in favor of heavy hitters like Pedro Feliz.

Anyway, Bourgeois was playing center, and he’s a very good OF, but he is not Michael Bourn. So Rickie Weeks hits the 3rd pitch of the game, a FB right down the middle, off the top of the CF wall. Bourgeois jumps for it, misses, the ball caroms off and by the time he gets to it, Weeks has long since crossed home plate – and he didn’t even really turn on the jets until he was almost at second. Then Corey Hart hit the very next pitch to the gap in left for a double.

I thought – this is a BAD omen.

I was right.

And it wasn’t just plays not made or errors, but runners not driven in – the 6th and the 9th were the only 1,2,3 innings:

Pence and Clank left 1 on in the 1st, 2 on in the 3rd; CJ and Q left 1 on in the 2nd; in the 4th, Feliz left 1 on and Q and the pitcher left 2 on; in the 5th, Clank and Kepp stranded runners on first and third; in the 7th, Bourgeois singled with 1 out, then Mills had Sanchez use up a precious out by bunting him over – the guy is hitting 300 fer chrissakes!!! then Pence and Lee doubled and Kepp stranded Clank (Kepp did a lot of stranding today too); in the 8th, Blum pinch hit and grounded out, then CJ doubled off the top of the wall, then PH Castro struck out against a LOOGY, then pinch hitter Michaels grounded out.

Bagwell needs to work some kind of magic on Q – since the ASB, he’s 3 fer 27 with 3 singles and a walk.

And tomorrow, it’s the littlest lefty, Wesley Wright trying to beat ace Yovani Gallardo; we faced him on June 29 and somehow managed to get 4 runs off him, but he beat us anyway, as usual. Let’s hope that Wesley can keep up that lefty magic (and that Lindstrom doesn’t go out there and pitch BP again…)

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Posted in Astros baseball | No Comments »

Matt Lindstrom Gives Up 4 Runs And Blows Wandy’s W Against The Brewers

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Games like this are why I seriously want to kick all the media sorts who talk about pitchers who “know how to win.” Wandy didn’t win tonight – yeah, he didn’t lose, but besides giving up 1 earned and 1 unearned run, I seriously do not get how he was supposed to prevent Matt Lindstrom from being unable to get good pitches over the plate (meaning the kind that don’t get hit)  for 5 straight batters (and 4 runs.)

Yeah, I know – ALL starting pitchers BITGOD threw 150-200 pitches/game every 4 days, 300+ innings/year, every year, for 10-20 years and finished ALL their games because THEY didn’t have ANY weakass hitters in THEIR opposition. Noooooooooooooo.

sigh

Wandy wasn’t ace – had only one 1,2,3 inning and gave up at least 1 hit (no walks) in the others, but he didn’t walk anyone and he struck out 7. And he sure nuff did more than enough to win. Well, every pitcher has a bad time sometime, I guess, and as Lopez and Lyon had already been used, and no one had warmed up, there really was nothing that Mills could do except trot out there before Da Prince drove in the 2 winning runs and tell Lindstrom to not lose, but – shrug – what can you do.

Roy Oswalt, whose bullpen (not Lidge, though) blew his W last night, feels for Wandy.

I suppose you could blame the hitters for leaving 11 MOB and only going 3 fer 15 with RISP, but hey, not every game is gonna be a blowout.

sigh

Of course yall know that Delino DeShields Jr, the first round pick, has signed for 2.15 mill. He’s supposedly being moved from CF to 2B. I sort of have to laugh – Drayton supposedly had a screaming fit about signing bonuses (meaning he didn’t want to pay them if possible and certainly not over slot) after signing Chris Burke, who had a FAR better record and was a proven, polished college hitter, for about the same amount. Now, if we can sign Jacoby Jones (with some of that money saved from Berkman/Oswalt) I really will believe that Drayton’s era of cheapness has significantly diminished.

I also see that Jordan Lyles, the latest Organization pimp-ee, has been promoted from AA to AAA, but Douglas Arguello, who gives up fewer hits and runs over the same number of games and innings, is being left to rot. More important to keep Shane Loux and his 6.59 ERA and 1.58 WHIP and .329 BAA in the rotation.

I guess Arguello is in the hate pile along with Maysonet and Towles.

sigh

Tomorrow night, it’s a re-match of the ex-Phillies. Randy Wolf is licking his chops because the Astros are the one team he consistently shuts down.

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Posted in Matt Lindstrom, Wandy Rodriguez | 10 Comments »

Wesley Has The Wright Stuff For His First W As A Starter And Michaels Slams Home The Winning Runs

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

Wesley pitched 4 perfect innings to start off the game, then Braun broke up the nono with a clean single to start off the 5th. Didn’t bother Wes a bit, he just got the next hitters out 1,2,3.

He got the first out to start the 6th, then Randy Wolf doubled over the 1B bag (they didn’t show the replay because of Patti Smith yapping about the wives gala – the fans appeared to think it was foul, but youneverknow) and a fan grabbed the ball, or Wolf might could have ended up on 3rd. Weeks flew out, then Hart hit a Fb over the RF wall to give the Crew a 2 run lead. Wesley shrugged, went after da Prince and got him on a grounder up the middle which Keppinger got and threw to Wallace, only the 1B ump got the call wrong and called him safe.

Well, he walked Braun, then got McGehee to groundout.

Losing 2-0, he came out for the 7th, blew away Gomez and Weeks, then got Hart to pop out.

A GREAT performance. He had every pitch working really well – the FB was located well, the curve was curvin and the slider was slidin. 7 innings, 102 pitches, 70 strikes, 6 K, 1 BB, 4 H (shoulda been 3 H, as I said) and only went to a 3 ball count TWICE. Absolutely superlative. I hope to heck he isn’t replaced in the rotation by Moehler. I’m gonna hafta get a Wesley shirt to go along with my Wandy shirt the boy keeps this up.

Randy Wolf pitched really well, too. He gave up a triple to Keppinger (Edmonds can’t run or throw any more) in the first, then got Pence. He gave up a leadoff single to Sanchez in the 3rd, then Keppinger GIDP. He gave up a leadoff single to Bourn in the 6th, but Sanchez GIDP. He gave up a single to Clank in the 5th, then CJ lined out to McGehee, then

BRETT WALLACE GOT HIS FIRST ML HIT

with a single to left, but Quintero and Wesley both struck out.

Wolf was in line for a 2-0 win when Pence lined a shot off his right (glove) wrist and he had to come out immediately. Then disaster struck for the Crew – Kameron Loe and his 1.97 ERA trotted in, but Kam could NOT find the strike zone and threw 8 straight balls which were not even close (you know how they almost always give strike 1 on the 4th pitch) to load the bases.

Macha brought in  Braddock, the lefty (and a GOOD lefty) to face lefty Wallace, but Mills pulled him and sent in Jason Michaels, who sent a 2-0 pitch into the Crawford Boxes for a grand slam.

And that was the game.

Pence added another run in the 8th with a triple to the RF bullpen and trotted home when Weeks, the cutoff man, airmailed the throw to 3rd into the stands, so the umps waved Pence home.

Wilton Lopez pitched a 2 swinging K 8th and Lyon came on for the save in the 9th (Lindstrom not available – not sure why…)

And, sad to say, Chris Johnson’s 14 game hitting streak came to an end when Escobar made an absolutely incredible play on a ball in the 5.5 hole – DEEP in the hole and threw him out by 5 steps. He smashed a line drive which McGehee grabbed, then grounded out in the 8th. But he DID walk and score on the JMike granny.

We head off to Saint Looey to face Uncle and Jaime Garcia, who is being overlooked for Rookie Of The Year because of all the hoopla over Da Strasburg (and Big Hittahs Jason Heyward and Mike Stanton.) Ed Wade’s little “warrior” PetsyPoo, fresh off a contract extension (10.5 mill a year for 2 years and an option) has been designated The Ace. BAH – Like at age 29 he’s gonna keep pitching 1 run under his career ERA for the next 3 years.

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Posted in Jason Michaels, Wesley Wright | 13 Comments »

Wandy Pitches 8 Shutout Innings Against The Brewers For Win #9

Saturday, July 31st, 2010

I was writing headlines in my mind, like Wandy Pitches A 5 Hit Complete Game Shutout, when inexplicably, Mills pulled him after 105 pitches and a 6 pitch 8th inning. I hope Wandy told him he was tired because I have no idea why he couldn’t have finished up.

He started off a little shaky, had trouble finding the strike zone with the FB, gave up an IF single to Weeks leading off and then a single to left, but then got Da Prince to pop out to left on another 3 ball count, then got Ryan Braun to ground into a FC (unfortunately the ump was right) and suddenly, Wandy found that fastball and struck out McGehee on 3 pitches.

From there, he was off and running, and except for the 7th, when Braun hit a high inside FB down the LF line for a double and Escobar walked, he just cruised. He had 9 Ks, 2 looking, 7 swinging and the curve was curvin and the FB was hopping. He only gave up one well hit ball and that was to deep center by the Reliant Energy sign by the RF bullpen – naturally, Bourn ran it down. (Now that Berkman is gone, Bourn is doing all the ads on KTRH…)

I noticed that Wandy only threw 4 changeups the entire game – and 2 of em were hit for singles.

Jason Castro was called up on June 22 and caught Wandy’s game on the 24th and all of his games since then.

He threw 14 games to Quintero, went 3-10 with a 6.09 ERA over 75.1 IP (average 5.1 IP/GS)with 6 QS – 7 HR (0.8 HR/9), 95 H (11.3 H/9), 34 BB (4 BB/9), 52 K (6.2 K/9)

He has now thrown 7 starts with Castro: 47 IP (6.2 IP/GS) and is 6-1: 33 H (6.3 H/9), 4 HR (0.8/9), 10 BB (1.9 BB/9), 43 K (8.3 K/9).

That is a statistically significant, whopping difference (even if you omit the2 games he threw against the Rangers and Yankees).

Castro’s new at bat song should be (apologies to Justin Timberlake)\

I’m bringing Wandy back
Them other catchers don’t know how to act
I think it’s special what’s behind your back
So turn around and i’ll pick up the slack. 
Send em’ to the bench

And speaking of the bench,

I hear tell that Clank refused a trade to the Red Sox (again) and tonight, he was benched in favor of Jason Michaels.

heh

Brett Wallace made his debut tonight. He sure drew a crowd – I bet there were actually some 37K people in the stands (either that or it was the Bagwell bobbleheads or the post-game Faith and Family Night concert).

First AB he was visibly nervous, poor guy. Naturally, the HP ump wanted to humble him and called 2 borderline FB off the plate as strikes, so he swung wildly at Ball 1. Dude is the human rain delay up there – makes Nomar Garciaparra look speedy. He got 1 good swing on a long fly ball to center, but other than that, no. He did reach on error on a dribbler in front of the plate that Lucroy overthrew, and he struck out twice. I’m not surprised – he is replacing a franchise type player and he’s never had a ML AB before and there are really BIG expectations for the guy. Everyone else in the lineup had at least 1 hit and CJ went 3 fer 3 with a walk.

Dave Bush had one of those bad luck kind of days – the hits against him were either seeing eye singles in the 5.5 hole or those bloop hits over the heads of the infielders. Bourn smashed an opposite field double to the LF bullpen with CJ on second and Castro on first. For some reason, Clark held up the stop sign for Castro, even though he was on CJ’s heels and Braun had barely retrieved the ball (and he would have scored easily and given Michael another RBI).

It was actually a fun game to go to – the most people I’ve seen in the stands since Opening Day – and more enthusiastic, too. And Wandy was at his absolute best for everyone. I know Wade SHOULDA traded him, but I’m selfishly glad he didn’t.

And by the way – bad news – Ed Wade signed his ex-Phillie petsy-poo to a multi-year deal – gee, what a surprise that Fast Eddie is in LUUUVVVV with the guy he drafted and isn’t able to see that this is a year that is out of line with the guy’s career stats. I hate Ed Wade and hope that Drayton sells this team and the new owner’s first act is to get rid of Tal, Ed and trade Petsy Poo.

sigh

Wesley Wright (fast becoming my second favorite Astro) starts against ex-Phillie Randy Wolf, who beat the Astros soundly his last time…

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Posted in Brett Wallace, Jason Castro, Wandy Rodriguez | 8 Comments »

J Happ-y To Get Run Support To Shutout The Brewers

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Roy Oswalt pitched his first game tonight as a Phillie, gave up 5 runs, had crappy defense, got 1 run of support – must have felt right at home.

Meanwhile, J Happ threw 6 innings of 2 hit, a 2 base ROE by Clank, 4 walk ball. He doesn’t have really great stuff – a FB 89-93 MPH, a curve he seldom threw, and a changeup. It’s funny because Manny Parra has better stuff, including an unhittable changeup, but he just can’t seem to throw his great stuff consistently, don’t ask me why. Must drive Brewers fans crazy.

Tonight, no Roy, no Pence, no Berkman, no problem.

Happ just might could have been a lil nervous when he went out there – gave up a leadoff double to Weeks, then a walk to Hart. But he pulled himself together and got Braun swinging, got Prince to popup to left and McGehee to groundout to third. He started off the second inning with 2 swinging Ks, a 3-2 walk and a groundout to Pedro Feliz, playing 1B while Lance, still in uniform, took a (supposedly) planned day off.

Happ threw 43 pitches through the first 2 innings, half balls, and I had one of those uh-oh feelings, because Parra had had wicked stuff in the 1st, but in the 2nd,  he threw a FB right down the middle on a 3-2 count to Michaels, playing RF, who sent it into the middle window in left field. And with a 1 run lead, Happ never looked back.

 And once CJ hit a 3 run opposite field homer (on another one of those 2-0 right down the middle FB), he just put pedal to the metal and cruised through the next 2 innings. Mills pulled Happ after 6 innings, 98 pitches. As the guy came back from 2 months on the DL with elbow soreness only a few weeks ago, no reason to stretch him out.

Bourn went ofer – shoulda had an infield single, but Phil Cuzzi, the 1B ump got the call wrong. Then again, Michael should have run through the bag instead of sliding head first. He made a WebGem catch on Prince’s looping hit to shallow center in the 8th and basically made every tough catch look easy – just as usual. Now that his batting average is too low for Astros fans, I’m starting to hear the same sort of thing I heard about Everett – and how saving hits and runs isn’t important. Unless you are Clank and giving them up, of course…

Sanchez went ofer, but made all the plays, which were all pretty routine.

Keppinger, batting 3rd, had 2 walks and a homer off the fowl pole (chicken sandwiches all around!!!) and made all the plays.

Clank, batting 4th, was ofer (Parra saved his very best stuff for Clank), had a GIDP, and muffed a fly ball to left – near the bullpen, he tried to make a hot dog catch, turned at the wrong minute and the ball clanked off his glove. So much for Bagwell teaching him how to hit.

Jason Michaels hit 5th, went 1 fer 3 with a walk, scored 2 runs, hit the go ahead homer and made all the plays.

Feliz hit a single!!!! for his first hit in like weeks and scored when CJ hit one out. He didn’t mess up any plays at first.

CJ, as usual, hit 7th – don’t ask me to explain this because I can’t and his hitting streak is now 13 games. He’s starting to hit for power now, as he did in the minors, and so be it and shall it remain. Now, if he can just get the glove work under control. He bobbled an easy GIDP ball, but got the out at first, but fortunately, no one scored.

Quintero went ofer, and his trouble framing pitches got 5 strikes called balls, including one strikeout that went as a walk.

News – apparently Lance was packing his things and saying good-bye to everyone, so it loks as if the Yankees trade is a go. I have heard different accounts of which players we are receiving, so I am going to wait until it is official before discussing them. Last player we got from the Yankees was LaTroy Hawkins, which worked out pretty well for us.

Will be interesting to see if they call Brett Wallace right up and play him. We’ll see if he can hit outside of the top hitters parks in the PCL.

Next 2 days, it will be the attack of the little leftys, Wandy and Wesley. Let’s hope we can get Wesley his first W on Sunday and Wandy a nice W tomorrow.

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Posted in Chris Johnson, J.A. Happ, Jason Michaels | 6 Comments »

Wandy Squeezes Out A Win Over The Brewers

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

Wandy looked like his old self this afternoon fer SHER!!! He threw 7 innings, 98 pitches, got better as the game went on, had 3 doubles, 4 singles, no walks, 1 IBB and 6 K.

Why did he look so good? Answer – in my not so umble opinion, it was because he went back to his old FB/curve combo and threw only 3 changeups. The curve was its old nasty self. Wandy threw 62 strikes and of those, 11 were swing and miss and 8 of those were on curves. Other important thing – he went to 3 ball counts only three times AND he only threw more than 5 pitches to any hitter once.

Tell you the truth, I was pretty surprised that he was pulled after the 7th, but it gave Jason Bourgeois a chance to PH and he walked after going 0-2. He is teh KEWL.

And Wandy also drove in the go-ahead run with a squeeze. Ah LUUUUVVVS the squeeze – and it was Blum on 3rd, too. Blum was within 20′ of home by the time Wandy actually hit the ball. This was especially kewl because Wandy had left 2 on in the 2nd and bases loaded in the 4th – and he is STILL hitting over his weight.

Besides the squeeze, Wandy had a great play with the glove. With a McGehee on second, Lucroy hit a comebacker to the mound. Wandy looked McGehee back, faked a throw to first, then whirled and fired to Blum at 3rd to get McGehee. Actually, JD and Brownie thought that he was actually safe. Amazing, because these are the kinds of calls that usually go AGAINST the Astros.

Best news though – CJ was back in the lineup – went 4 fer 4 with a 2 out RBI double that put the nail in the coffin. He handled his 4 chances at 3rd flawlessly including a great diving stop and tag the runner out. I don’t know what else the guy has to do to keep from getting benched again. This was his second 4 fer 4 game with at least a couple of RBIs in a WEEK and only Michael Bourn has had a 4 fer 4 game this year. But I guess that Fast Eddie has told Mills to give Feliz more PT, don’t ask me why.

Berkman hit an opposite field double for a RBI and walked twice. In fact, Astros hitters got SEVEN walks in this game. CJ and Castro have been a good influence here – Bourn and Berkman have been the only serious walkers. Bourn did in fact walk today, but couldn’t steal because there was someone in front of him. Castro also walked, but like Bourn, went ofer. He threw out 1 of 2 runners, too.

Blum had a very good day at the plate with 2 walks, 2 hits and 3 runs scored – he scored a run on a WP in the second. In fact, he and CJ were the only Astros to not leave men on base. Pence and Clank were both ofer 5.

And we’re off to San Diego to get stomped by the Padres again. Moehler faces Jon Garland, who beat the Astros in May by throwing 7 innings of 2 hit no run ball – another one of Paulino’s hard luck losses because he gave up 2 runs over 7 IP. Hopefully, CJ will be in the lineup again and will kick ASS.

Hey, you know the Phillies have lost their 3B to injury – maybe they’d like Feliz back. I wish…

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Posted in Chris Johnson, Geoff Blum, Wandy Rodriguez | 10 Comments »

Texican Yovanni Gallardo Hits A Homer And Beats Astros

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

I missed the first 1 1/2 innings on TV and was listening to the Brewers broadcasters on XM. Interesting that they were really contemptuous of Berkman taking a called strike right down the middle on a 3-2 count AND of Castro’s sombrero last night as well as his taking the first 2 strikes today.

Me, I don’t have a problem with it. Especially if he doesn’t have any problem hitting with 2 strikes. And last night, he got called out on pitches which were NOT in the zone and which HIS pitcher didn’t get called for strikes. And tonight, the HP ump had a strike zone (if you can call it that) that was most assuredly NOT the rule book strike zone – had Erig Gregg outside pitches and the area at the bottom of the zone was, uh, inconsistant - and it wasn’t unreasonable for the catcher to take a good look at what was and was not being called a strike – at least most of the time. AND to try to get the pitcher to throw as many pitches as possible to get into the soft underbelly of the bullpen…

I walked in and turned on the game just in time to see Jim Edmonds hit a ball into deep CF and Michael Bourn make one of those running over the shoulder catches the HotDog always used to use against us. hehhehheh

And then I looked and saw Pedro Freaking Feliz back at 3rd. Don’t know what CJ did, but looks as if he’s on the Luke Scott poopoo list and I hope that the guy can get traded and get a real chance, just as Luke did. Yeah, I know he’s on the worst team in the AL, but at least he’s playing in the majors and posting good numbers every year, instead of rotting at AAA or the Astros bench.

And unfortunately, Feliz hits a solo homer and a single, so it looks as if CJ’s butt will be collecting splinters.

sigh

GAWD I am so tired of this team’s grotesque luuuuvvv affair with washed up vets and disdain of any young player who is not one of their pimpees. For example, you read/hear endless ooooohs and ahhhhhhhhhs about Jordan Lyles. But do you ever hear/read ONE word about Danny Arguello, also in AA, who is greatly outpitching Lyles? Heck, no. And can anyone tell me why Sergio Perez, who was pitching lights out in 4 starts, was suddenly removed from the rotation and given 2 innings to throw every 6-8 days instead? Besides the fact that he was drafted in the Purpura regime and Gawd Forbid that anyone of HIS picks should succeed???!!! (Same thing with CJ)

Where was I?

Oh yeah. The Crew scored 7 runs on 3 solo homers, a 2 run homer, a double, walk and a 2 RBI single before the relievers came in in the 7th and slammed the door with 2 good innings of 1,2,3 out. I gots to give props to The Prince, who hit one of those homers on an inside FB which was chest high and yeah, I know it was juuuuust inside the foul line, but it was still impressive. And Gallardo hit a FB that was waist high right down the middle to the upper facade in left center like 450′ – he hits like Owings. (All yall know he’s a Texan, right? And that he tried out in one of those open tryouts for the Rangers and they told him to take his ball and go home. Bad decision…)

Meanwhile, Michael Bourn (yes, him again) broke up the shutout by singling home Castro, who doubled and Navarro, who walked. Then Lance singled Michael home. And Michael, by the way, had 2 singles, a walk, 2 SB, scored 2 and drove in 2. Which I hope means that his slump is OVAH.

And speaking of Lance, he hit 2 singles and also hit a double to the base of the CF wall – the hardest hit ball I’ve seen from him in a LONG time – which drove in Bourn to close the gap to 2 runs in the 9th.

Clank had a single in the 5th and a walk in the 9th, but Pence, who had a BAD night with the bat, left bases loaded in the 5th and the tying runs on in the 9th. Ah well, baseball is a game of failure, and Pence excelled in that tonight…

Navarro did his usual excellent job with the glove, but he didn’t hit. Not entirely his fault tonight, because hitting anything whatsoever when pitches 5″ outside are being called strikes is tough. Here and all yall were complaining about Manzella’s bat…

Tomorrow, it’s Wandy vs David Bush. I hope good Wandy shows up. Bush has had very good success against the Astros – he’s 6-1 over 12 GS with a 3.25 ERA and a .211 BAA.

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Posted in Jason Castro, Michael Bourn | 6 Comments »

Michael Bourn’s First 4 Hit Game of 2010 Backs Gustavo Chacin’s First Win

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Yeah, I know I’m leading off (hahahaha) with Michael Bourn for the 3rd straight entry, but I LUUUUVVV the guy. Sue me.

Anyway, he went 4 fer 6 with THREE HITS and an UPPER DECK HOMER offn A LEFTY!!!!! Well, actually, 3 hits off 2 leftys. He got picked off in the first, but reached base because the Crew screwed up the rundown and the pitcher dropped the ball. He also had a K in which he called time but the ump didn’t give it and he asn’t prepared for the pitch. He flew out with a man on first. And he stole a base and scored a run. Actually, 2 runs. And he drove in 2, too. It was a crucial hit because there were 2 out, men on second and third and the Stros were down 3 runs – so Michael really started the comeback – seeing as how the Stros were ofer 8 with RISP to that time.

And it was a great night for Hunter Pence, too. He went 3 fer 5 with a ROE, drove in the 2 tying runs after Bourn singled in the first run and Kepp walked. And he scored 2!!!

Berkman had the night off – Feliz played first (I held my breath) but he didn’t screw up with the glove. He GIDP, went 3 fer 5 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. I just hope that Fast Eddie doesn’t use this as an excuse to bench CJ.

And speaking of CJ, he left 2 on with 2 out in the first, hit the ball to the warning track in deep center, Kd, walked, reached on E5 (a little ironic, dontcha think) then scored.

Castro had the sombrero – he went to 3-2 twice, and both times the ump called him out on pitches which were out of the zone. The third staring K, the pitch actually WAS in the zone. He also walked, scored and FO. No PB/WP today.

Clank had a good/bad day. Good was him driving in 2 in the 8th to give 2 insurance runs. Bad was him hitting a ball to left down the LF line and him jogging into first instead of running to second. Evan Longoria would have the highest blood pressure EVAH he had to deal with REAL dogging it – he think Upton is bad.

Pinch hitters: Michaels K, Blum GO (and went ofer 3 after he replaced Navarro), Wandy, YES, Wandy GO and Jason Bourgeois had a RBI single (tres KEWL).

Pitching:

Bud Norris is a real fighter, tell you that. He started the game striking out Weeks, then gave up a single to Hart – had a bad throw to first which allowed Hart to go to second, gave up another single which scored Hart, then Kd the other 2.

Second inning – started off with a single, a FO to deep CF (ah LUUUUVVVV Michael) a K, a RBI double to the PITCHER down the LF line (not a CJ error) then 2 more singles, then a blessed FO to end the inning. Crew 4, Stros zippo. He had poor command, started every hitter but 1 with a ball, had 2-0 counts on 4/7.

Husband wants to watch something else. He gets snarled at, stays to argue and watches Michael hit an UPPER DECK homer. He sighs, and sits down. I tell him it’s an omen. Kepp singles, Pence hits into a 8-6 FC (freaking Edmonds is playing center – hot dog lets the ball drop so as he can get an extra kewl putout) Clank singles him to 3rd, then he scores on a WP.

3rd inning: Bud throws a FB right down the middle and Braun hits it out. You can’t throw Braun a FB down the middle, ESPECIALLY first pitch. Good grief. Then he gives up a single and HotDog is up. But he hits into a 1-6-3!!!!! and Lucroy GO.

He gives up only a walk in the 4th, and a single in the 5th, but then Castro throws him out stealing. Norris reminds me of Brandon Backe, who often got better as the game went on. The boy has GOT to work on control and he has GOT to develop a 3rd pitch because he ain’t gonna last on just FB and sliders.

Chacin came in and threw an 8 pitch 6th – and got the W. Not sure why he didn’t go out for the 7th, but I guess the Rule is gonna be 1 pitcher, 1 inning. Unless it is mopup.

Lopez came out to start the 7th, got a GO, then gave up 2 straight singles (guess he’s tired) and then Byrdak came in a got Prince out. Out came Lyon (OMG not the 8th???!!!!!) and got Braun to K. He pitched the 8th too (imagine that???!!!) and got 3 straight Ks. First time I think he’s done that this year.

Fulchino came in to mopup the 9th – got a lineout, a single and 2 swinging Ks on 15 pitches to get his ERA back under 7.

Tomorrow, we face Yovanni Gallardo who has positively STOMPED on the Astros – I was shocked to see that he has actually somehow lost 2 games in the past. But he has a 2.30 ERA/1.15 WHIP/.222 BAA. vs the Astros. Which are just about his numbers for this year, too. Dude has exactly one loss since he got his butt handed to him at St. Louis on April 10 – and that was to the Rangers. I’m not expecting miracles tomorrow…

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Posted in Bud Norris, Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn | 3 Comments »

Lindstrom Blows Save, Gives Up The Game Losing Walk Off Walk

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

sigh

I don’t know what to say. Dave Bush is no longer a good pitcher and should lose ballgames by a good 5-6 runs. The Astros SHOULD have beaten him but good. Absolutely NO excuse for only scoring 2 unearned runs on o0nly 3 walks and 4 hits over 5 innings. NO excuse.

Of course, the lineup included stalwarts Cory Sullivan and Kevin Cash – when on WHEN – or at least HOW could Astros fans even begin to convince the Organization to dump Sullivan and call up Bourgeois? I mean, what more can the guy POSSIBLY do in AAA – batting .350 with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 4 homers and 14 SB over 41 games???!!! I don’t have any problem giving Clank a day off, even after a good day at the plate and on the bases, but replacing him with Cory Sullivan is NOT a win/win. And Bourn went ofer, even though he did walk and steal a base and get stranded.

But actually, I place the blame SQUARELY on Berkman and Blum as both left SIX guys on base, doing basically nothing and yeah, I know Berkman walked once and Blum drove in 2.

Fact is that the score SHOULD have been so lopsided that Lindstrom, who needed work, should have cruised through the 9th with a 5 runs lead. And of course, he wasn’t helped by the fact that Kevin Cash couldn’t get up in time to catch a high one that even Towles woulda caught so that the runner advanced to third. Castro is just a singles hitter, but even HE is supposed to be able to catch wayward balls and block well. (Of course, you KNOW he’ll be up after the Super 2 deadline and won’t have to worry about being sent back down no matter WHAT he does/doesn’t do – unlike, say, poor Navarro…) Anyhow, he shouldn’t have thrown a 2-1 FB to Gomez, who was sitting on it – and Blum wasn’t able to field it – and there was the blown save after 22 straight saves.

He just didn’t have it tonight. And really, there was no one to send in for the 10th, seeing as how Fulchino and Sampson are suddenly having trouble with finding the strike zone/keeping pitches out of the MIDDLE of the strike zone, really, and Lyons and Lopez had already been used.

sigh

Really, I don’t know what to say any more.

We’re off to Cincy, and hopefully hitting at his favorite ballpark will get Lance really going. Everytime I think he’s got it together, he absolutely is lousy the next day.

And by the way, I hear tell that bout every team not named the Royals or Pirates or Marlins are MUCHO interested in Roy – Fast Eddie is a sittin back, watchin the offers pour in. I just hope he is a little better at making a good trade than he was with either Schilling or Rolen, but I’m not holding my breath…

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Posted in Matt Lindstrom | 12 Comments »

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