Kaz Goes Back to Japan

I interrupted my perusal of grandbaby photos to do a quick check on the Astros hot stove. Not that much exciting news there, but I did notice a small news item that Kaz Matsui had given up on the MLB and returned to Japan. After being cut from the Astros, he ended up in the Rockies farm, never made it back to the bigs, and has now signed with the Rakuten Eagles.

No great loss there - I was never happy with him during his Astros tenure. He got off to a bad start after the Astros acquired him before the 2008 season, when he ended up on the DL following surgery that he would probably have preferred unmentioned. He hit .293 for the season, but only logged 96 games due to injuries.

If anything, the best thing about Kaz was the presence of his two aids (a trainer and a translator) who trotted around with him at Spring Training, dressed in matching red and black costumes. I know it's awful, but I couldn't help referring to them as Thing 1 and Thing 2.

So it's back to Japan for Kaz. I don't know what will happen to Thing 1 and Thing 2 - he won't need a translator back in the old country. As for me, I've moved on to my own version of Thing 1 and Thing 2.  

My New Favorite Team in Exile

I have a confession to make. The Astros have been surpassed in the competition for my affection. There's a new team that I've become a huge fan of. Like the Astros, they're an out of town team, so I'll be following them from Exile. You might call them the "Twins," but they're not in Minnesota. Like the Astros, the new team features cute young men who wear hats. But rRally, there's no competition. Astros? Astros who? I've moved on...

When you see a picture of the out-of-town team I've become a fanatical fan of, you'll understand. One glimpse of them sunbathing barechested will make you swoon. Forget about Hunter and Michael and CJ and JA and Wandy and Carlos and Brett... Welcome Oscar and Oren -- my precious twin grandsons.

You see my problem? It's pretty hard to get my mind off these young fellows! They are so seriously adorable that's it's hard to think about stuff like baseball -- in the off season! At 6 days of age Oren and Oscar have surpassed all those 20-somethings in Houston. Can you blame me for my switching teams?

Just to be clear, becoming a grandmother for the two most precious babies in the world isn't going to keep me from following the hot stove, or making plans for Spring Training. They just put things in perspective.  

CJ's a Winner in My Eyes

The MLB Rookie of the Year votes are in and no big surprise - Buster Posey added on to his team's World Series triumph by carrying home the NY ROTY award. The Braves' Jason Heyward came in second, with several other young players garnering fewer votes.

The Astros' team ROTY, of course, was Chris Johnson, who missed part of the season start due to injury and a detour through Round Rock, but came back in a big way in the second half.

Just in case anyone's wondering, how does CJ compare to the other position players who got ROTY votes this year, here's a comparison based on various hitting stats:

Pts  Name/Team    AB    BA  HR RBI SLG OBP  OPS
129 Posey/SF          406   .305  18    67  .505   .357   .862
107 Heyward/ATL 593   .277  18    72  .456   .393   .849
 18  Sanchez/FLA   572   .273  19    85  .448   .341   .788
  3   Walker/PIT      426   .296  12    66  .462   .349   .811
  3   Castro/CHC     463   .300    3    41  .408   .347   .755
  2   Davis/NYM     523   .264  19    71  .440   .351   .791
  1   Tabata/PITT    405   .299    4    35   .400  .346   .746  

  0   Johnson/HOU 341  .308   11   52   .481   .337  .818


Not at all shabby numbers for CJ -- one only wonders how he would have compared had he more at bats for the season, instead of doing time in Triple A. At any rate, it's certainly good enough to secure a spot a third base for next spring, saving the Astros the trouble of wasting their money chasing down another Pedro Feliz in the free agent market.  Just to keep you going until Spring Training starts, here are a few pictures of CJ from the 2010 season...

CJ batting at Spring Training:

CJ hits a 9th inning homer against the Nationals in September:

Making a play at third base in Spring Training:

Fielding third base against the Nats in September:

Back to back with Bogusevic against the Nats in September:

Three months till pitchers and catchers... and counting. Can't wait till Spring Training!

Bourn is Hot... but the Stove is Not

The World Series is over. Some team from the West Coast won, I hear. Meanwhile, there's supposed to be a lot of action going on in the free agent market, but the Astros don't seem to be in the running for any big names. All part of the rebuilding that started after the World Series - let's take a look at those kids, maybe fill a hole here and there. But don't hold your breath thinking that we're going to be signing away the big bucks this winter.

It's a new world for the Astros, a team which was one of the most geriatric in the league not long ago. Now our veterans are guys like Michael Bourn, who at 27 has just snagged his second Gold Glove. Given that there's not much news on Astros.com, I'll dedicate the rest of this blog to some of my pix of Bourn, taken at Spring Training and Astros @ Nats games here in Exile.

It's no wonder that Bourn has led the league in steals - he can really fly. Speaking of flying, this flying shortstop picture is one of my favorite Spring Training shots ever.

The stereotypical picture of Bourn on first base... don't blink - he'll be on second!

Bourn doesn't stop at second - here he is stealing third too.

Here's one that he didn't quite pull off - Bourn in a rundown...

Here's an early look at Bourn as an Astro - taken at Spring Training in 2008 after we got him in trade from the Phillies.

Speed accounts for lots of Bourn's singles on bunt and infield hits.

Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of the leaping and rolling catches that won Bourn his Golden Glove.

To end, here are Bourn and Pence celebrating a win over the Nationals in July 2008. I was able to get this great field-level angle due to fantastic birthday-present tickets from my son Josh, who came down from NY just for the day to take me to see the Astros.

Sadly, Bourn was injured when the Astros played the Nats here in Washington in September. I'm looking forward to seeing Bourn, Pence, and Wandy (our veterans!) and all the new guys in Spring Training - just a few months away!

There's Always Next Year (Reprise)

It's Halloween. It's my nephew Isaac's birthday. It's the week of the Hindu holiday Diwali. It's the last week of Daylight Savings. And, oh yeah, it's game 4 of the World Series...

When your team isn't in the playoffs and the teams that you've pretended to be cheering for have dropped out before the Main Event, it's hard to remember that the baseball season isn't over already. I watched a bit of the Phillies games (the ones where Oswalt pitched), and took a passing glance at how Berkman did in the Yankees games. But once it got down to that Other Texas Team and Barry Bonds' old team, I lost interest. I guess I have to admit that being an Astros fan isn't quite the same thing as being a baseball fan. I love the game, but I love it more when my guys are on the field. It's a bummer for the advertising community -- I'm probably more typical than not, and this year's World Series is going to be a washout for advertisers. (I checked that out with my in-law Bob, who writes for Advertising Age.)

I have a confession to make: Although I did tell my in-law Bob and Frank from the office that I was cheering for Philadelphia, because of Oswalt, I had mixed feelings about the Phillies losing the pennant race. Yeah, it would have been great to see Oswalt pitching in the World Series. But in my heart of hearts, did I really want to see him pitching there in some other team's jersey? I'm a bit ambivalent about this. Maybe there's a bit of justice in his helping his new team get soooooo close - and then losing. He should have stayed with us. You know, we're going all the way... next year. There's always next year.

I don't have any ambivalence at all about Berkman not making it to the World Series in his Yankee stripes. On principle I cheer against all New York teams, even though both of my sons, their wives, and their unborn children reside in Brooklyn. Berkman was our guy forever, like Bagwell, like Biggio -- and then he wasn't anymore. I've heard musings about his coming back to the Astros next year. Why do we want him back? Batting average under .250? Only 14 homers and 58 RBIs this season? Was his sub-par year an anomaly or is he over the hill. Didn't the Little Pumas disband? I'm not holding my breath waiting for his return. Don't get me wrong - I loved Berkman when he played for the Astros. He was always fun to photograph at Spring Training. But he went over to the dark side. Let's play the young guys. They weren't 100 percent in September. But you know, there's always next year. 

One piece of sad news for fans: Bagwell won't be returning as the pitching coach next year. I was looking forward to seeing him in an Astros uniform at Spring Training next March, but he's decided not to re-sign due to family reasons. Hard to blame him. He doesn't need the cash, and his daughters are still young. But it was always great to see him in the dugout during the games in the second half of this season. I may still get lucky and see him at Spring Training - he still works for the team and comes to Kissimmee for a week or two, hanging out at minor league practice, and sitting with the coaches during the Astros games.

The schedules for Spring Training and the regular season are out, and it's not good news for this Fan in Exile. I always plan my trip to Kissimmee to coincide with the week that has the most home games. The tentative schedule that has been posted is awful -- the home games are mostly on alternating days. If I go the first week, I can see 4 games. But I'd rather go later in the month, when the starting pitchers are throwing a bit longer. Hopefully, more games will get scheduled between now and January, when tickets go on sale. For the regular season, the Astros are coming to Washington again in September -- but it's a weekend series. Since I can't go to the Sabbath games, that means I'll only get to see them once in DC this year. I checked to see when the Astros will be playing the Mets, thinking that I could go up and see my soon-to-be-born grand babies and catch a ball game too -- and they're scheduled to be in NY on Passover. Yes, there's always next year -- but it looks like I'll be watching it all on mlb.tv.

Happy Halloween. Happy Birthday, Isaac! Diwali Mubarek to my Indian friends! Oh, is there a World Series game tonight?

There's always next year.

GAME 162: There's Always Next Year

GAME 162 - October 3: Astros 4, Cubs 0 [Happy Birthday Joel!]

The long cold baseball-less winter is imminent. Oh yeah, I know that the 2010 season isn't over. Some teams are going to the playoffs. I'll watch some of the playoff games, cheering for the Phillies, hoping that Roy Oswalt makes the most of his trade. Cheering against the Yankees just on principle, even if the Puma's playing for them. But for the Astros Fan in Exile, the season ended today, and it's a long gap before pitchers and catchers arrive in Kissimmee.

Figeroa pitched the season finale on 3 days rest, with another shutout performance to add to his win over the Reds' B team last week. He even got a hit -- it was about the worst excuse for a hit ever, barely made it out of the batter's box. But the catcher didn't play it fast enough, and give Figgy credit for hoofing it to first base. Meanwhile, the catcher unwisely tried to catch him for the third out, made an errant throw, and allowed a run to score. Made a nice case for himself for the rotation race next spring. The other Astros runs scored on a solo homer by El Caballo, and two RBI singles by Tommy Manzella.

The Astros scored their 4 runs early, so it was a relatively relaxing ballgame. No big heart-thumping moments, even considering that the two teams were in a battle for the honor of fourth place in the NL Central division. Happily the Astros secured that distinction, leaving the Cubbies down in fifth, only surpassed in awfulness by the truly terrible Pirates (105 losses!). Finishing the season 10 games under .500 was disappointing, but it was a net improvement from the hole the Astros dug for themselves in the first half, before we sold off our stars to contenders. On the other hand, it's also an improvement over 2009, so we're going in the right direction.

The Astros final game of the season was nowhere near as exciting as the Phillies/Braves game, which went down to the wire, with Billy Wagner striking out the side to save a 8-7 win for Atlanta. It was do or die for the Braves - they're still alive for the wild card spot. The Phillies, of course, already won their division. Meanwhile the Nats went to the 14th inning to win a meaningless duel against the Mets - the winning run was a bases loaded walk. The Rays (formerly satanic Devil Rays) are taking 12 innings to eke out a win over KC, cementing their lead over the Yankees in the AL East. But who cares? They're both going to the playoffs. Out on the west coast, Brad Ausmus is catching his last major league game in LA, before retiring and perhaps reinventing himself as a coach or manager. (Wouldn't it be cool to have Bagwell and Ausmus together again in Astros uniforms?) In a game that matters more, the Padres and Giants are duking it out to figure out who's going to the playoffs; the outcome feeds into some arcane three-way algorithm with the Braves. One of my Facebook friends mentioned something about football games today. Football? Are they allowed to play football on the last day of the baseball season?

So this concludes my regularly scheduled post to the Astros Fan in Exile blog. I managed to write up all the games of the year, despite the disappointing season outcome. I have a few months to think about whether to take this on again next year. What do you think? If you're out there reading this, leave a comment and let me know. Meanwhile, I'll post sporadically during the playoffs, and over the Hot Stove months, before Spring Training. Keep in touch. It's going to be lonely without my social media buds this winter!

GAMES 157-161: Blackout Blues

GAME 157 - September 28: Reds 3, Astros 2

GAME 158 - September 29: Astros 2, Reds 0

GAME 159 - September 30: Reds 9, Astros 1

GAME 160 - October 1: Cubs 2, Astros 0

GAME 161 - October 2: Cubs 8, Astros 3

I left the game on for a few minutes after the loss to the Reds on Tuesday night. That's uncharacteristic for me -- I usually kill the video within seconds of the last out of a loss. But I wanted to watch the jubilation of a team clinching a division title and ticket to the playoffs, the jumping and leaping, the division champs tee shirts, the drowning in champagne. Our guys stood around and watched as the Reds celebrated. Some of the sports writers, including Alyson Footer, commented on how it's hard to be the team that allows the other guys to clinch a playoff spot. They'd know -- they've seen the Astros do it before. But given how many young kids are on the Astros squad at this point, I'm glad that they had a chance to experience that firsthand. It's got to make them hungry for the experience. And as all losing teams (except possibly the Pirates) say: There's always next year. 

Having secured a division title for the Reds, the Astros went on to lose the series. Their only bright spot was Wednesday night's win, when Figeroa and the bullpen shut out a Reds team that lacked any regular starters. They'd all earned a night off. The low spot was Thursday night's bashing, in which Brett Myers couldn't make it out of the sixth inning. Mills let him go down 8 runs and then pulled him, breaking his perfect streak of 6+ inning starts. 

With the recent downturn in Astros performance, their hold on third place in the Central Division was lost, leaving them to duke it out with the Cubs for fourth place. Losing the first two games of the home series against the Cubbies didn't help -- they go into today's season finale tied. 

Of course, I didn't actually see much of the action after Tuesday night's gift to the Reds. In a year when the Astros are contenders, the arrival of the fall flurry of Jewish holidays is always a mixed joy. The holidays are (mostly) a wonderful time to enjoy family and friends, with several weeks of special meals and events. On the other hand, since we don't use computers, televisions, phones, or other paraphernalia of modern communications on the Sabbath and holidays, I miss all the ball games. Ever since we canceled our subscription to the Washington Post, I don't even find out the outcomes of games unless I go visit a neighbor with a newspaper. This year's Jewish calendar put the bulk of the holidays falling on Wednesday nights through Friday nights, leading right into the Sabbath -- three-day baseball blackouts for me, occurring three times in September. If the Astros had been in contention, I probably would have gone nuts. But given the situation, I've just caught up on Saturday nights after the Sabbath -- read up and watched highlights from the missing games, perused a few box scores, checked the status of injured players. Next year the holidays again fall on this three-day blackout schedule, but since it's a leap year they'll all be a month later. That means that if the Astros do make the playoffs, I'll end up missing most of the action. But I'm getting ahead of things here: First we need a winning season. 

We're going into today's season finale -- which I'll get to watch live -- with a 75-86 record. With the 2-8 results of our last 10 games, it was not the last-minute eking-out-a-winning-season result I'd giddily predicted a couple of weeks ago. Instead, it's probably a more realistic representation of where we are now. The great starting pitching has faltered, the kids (except for CJ) are playing like the minor leaguers that they recently were. Hard to say what will happen in the off season, or what the team will look like coming out of Spring Training. Well, there's always the year after next...

GAMES 154-156: We're Losers After All...

GAME 154 - September 24: Astros 10, Pirates 7
GAME 155 - September 25: Pirates 6, Astros 4
GAME 156 - September 26: Pirates 9, Astros 3

So with less than a week left in the season, it comes down to this: The Astros are losers. I hate to say it, but there it is. Eight games under .500 and just six games left to play -- there's just no way to flip that into a winning season. Truly, after losing series to both the Nationals and the Pirates in the past week, it's hard to feel like winners. But on the other hand, the Astros have had an overall winning record since they traded off Oswalt and Berkman and started playing the kids. They've gone from dead-last in the league earlier this season to third in the (admittedly weak) Central division. So that's a good sign for the future.

I was offline for the Sabbath, as usual, and then in NY Sunday for an occasion that's even better than a baseball game, if you can imagine such a thing. It was a one day trip to Brooklyn for a baby shower for my son and daughter in law, who are expecting twins this fall. First grandbabies! How cool is THAT!?  So, anyway, I missed out on live baseball for most of the Pirates series. I saw the end of the Saturday night loss, then watched parts of Friday night's win on the mlb.tv archive. I tracked yesterday's fiasco on my Blackberry off and on during the baby shower. And no, I didn't watch it when I got home from NY at 1 AM this morning! (Maybe if it had been a win...)

Netting out the lost series in Pittsburgh: Astros pitchers got roughed up.

Myers got in his 6 innings on Friday night, to keep his streak alive. If it hadn't been for the ongoing record -- and his solid pitching that backs it up -- Mills might have pulled him earlier. He gave up 6 runs (5 earned) on 6 hits, 4 walks, striking out just 1 batter. Despite the not-so-quality start, Myers eked out the win, due to some big offense by his teammates, including a 4-run sixth inning (just in time!) to put him ahead. Amazingly, the Astros scored their 10 runs without any homers -- just 2 doubles, 13 singles, 4 walks, and 2 Pirate booboos. Pence and Kepp each got 3 hits; Sanchez and Wallace each got a pair. The loss for the Pirates was their 100th of the season.

Saturday night, it was Bud Norris who got hit on -- he didn't make it out of the fifth inning, after giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks, striking out 6. After his previous 14 K performance against the Pirates last month, this was kind of a bummer game. The 3 errors committed by his teammates didn't help much either. Of the Astros 8 hits in this game, 4 were doubles; the others were all singles. CJ and Q accounted for half the hits, and 3 of the 4 RBIs. I got to see the end of this game live: Brian Bogusevic hit a RBI double in the ninth inning, to pull within 2 runs, but it was just too little, too late.

Sunday's game was a loss, but at least the starting pitching was good. J A Happ threw 6 innings, giving up 2 runs (both unearned in the sixth) on 4 hits, 2 walk, and 4 Ks. My daughter in law's father, who is a baseball fan from Philadelphia, told me yesterday that "Happ is the real deal." That was shortly after I reminded him that he owed me a big thank you for Oswalt. But all in all, I'm not complaining about our trades with the Phillies. They've got Oswalt and Lidge; we've got Bourn and Happ. And we have Myers too - another ex-Phillie.

After Happ was done, the bullpen made a mess of things. Melancon gave up a walk and single before a strikeout for the first out in the seventh; then Abad came in and allowed both of Melancon's runners to score, plus one of his own. Lopez faced one batter to end the inning. In the eighth inning, Paulino continued his shaky work since returning to the Astros -- this time he gave up 3 hits and a wild pitch in his third of an inning, leaving the bases loaded for Byrdak, who allowed them all to score. The Astros scored once in the first inning, which was good for a precarious one-run lead right up until the two unearned Pirate runs in the bottom of the sixth. Houston got another pair of runs on Pence's eighth-inning homer, his 25th of the season. That bumps up Pence's RBI count to 91 -- still a chance for him to break the century mark this season. Not bad for a guy who had a really crummy start to the season.

In other team news, Bourn is still benched with that oblique strain that's had him out for more than a week. The Astros have offered 2 year contracts to their coaching staff members, a real tribute to their great work with the youngsters in the second half of this season. A contract offer was extended to Bagwell as well, although he has not yet decided whether to take it or to go back to being a dad. I'm hoping to see him in an Astros uni come Spring Training. After a day off Monday, the Astros are headed for Cincinnati, where they are duty bound to beat the division leading Reds. If you're going to let the Pirates beat you, the least you can do is to sweep the Reds. (Sorry, Cousin Bill!)

GAMES 151-153: Swarm of Annoying Nats

GAME 151 - September 21: Nationals 8, Houston 4
GAME 152 - September 22: Nationals 4, Houston 3
GAME 153 - September 23: Nationals 7, Houston 2

I was having quite a good time at the Astros game on Tuesday night, right up until the bottom of the eighth inning when J A Happ's nice shutout start turned into a meltdown rout. The good news first: I got a chance to snap some photos of newly acquired players, who weren't in my collection from Spring Training. More good news: Happ threw 6 innings, giving up only 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 6. He didn't give up his first hit until the fifth inning (a fact pointed out in a blur of beer breath by the guy who sat next to us: "Didja know yer guy has a no hitter going?" Well, duh, not that I was going to mention it). Another good start for the Astros rotation -- happy tidings for those of us who are thinking ahead to next season.

Astros hitters, meanwhile, got off to a quick offensive start with a three-run first inning. Bourgeois, filling in for Bourn (still out with strained oblique), singled, stole second, and scored on Keppinger's single -- all in the first 5 pitches of the game. Michaels, starting in left, hit a 2-run homer to cap the inning. That was all the offense that the Astros were able to muster for a while, but with Happ's good work on the mound, it didn't seem to matter much.

Unfortunately, the bullpen wasn't able to keep up the good work, starting with Melancon (another newbie added to my Astros photo album), who gave up a run in the seventh. 

The real damage came in the eighth inning. It started out inauspiciously, with Brydak's leadoff 4 pitch walk to Adam Dunn. Paulino, back from his long stay on the DL, got two quick outs, before throwing the hung curveball that resulted in a game-tying homer to Pudge Rodriguez. I have to give credit to my host for this game, my friend Peter, who called that homer at the beginning of the inning. (Thanks for a fun evening, Peter -- but not for that called homer!) Here's Peter looking very pleased with himself:

I then predicted that the game would go on, tied, for 14 innings -- a claim that quickly turned out to be erroneous, as Paulino  allowed two more singles and a pair of walks. Here's Paulino talking about his woes with Castro and Manzella.

I groaned as I saw Lindstrom coming in from the bullpen, since he's been anything but lights out recently. Sure enough, he allowed 3 consecutive hits, to dump a couple of extra runs on Paulino's tab. Villar finally put an end to the two-out barrage, but not before the Nats had scored 7 -- payback apparently for last night's fifth inning. Here's Villar, one of our September gang:

 

Down 8-3, the Astros did not totally cave. CJ bravely homered to deep center field, but it was too little, too late, to save the game. Here's CJ's ninth inning home run swing:

In other bad news, Hunter Pence came up to bat (grounded out) in the first inning, then did not come out to the field for the bottom of the inning. Turned out that he was removed after experiencing discomfort in his right hip, but I didn't know the reason until I got home and read the results. That must have been very disappointing for some of his relatives, who I met in the subway, all wearing Pence shirts. I asked if they wanted to be my Fans of the Game, and here they are -- Brandi, Mike, Ben and Evelyn:

By the way, that's not a Nationals jersey Brandi's wearing -- it's a Pence National League All Star shirt. 

A couple more game photos to add to my collection of new Astros players - here's Brett Wallace playing first base, late in the game Tuesday night:

And here's Castro behind the plate:

I missed the last two games of the Nationals series, due to celebration of Sukkot. So I didn't see the close loss on Wednesday night, when Fulchino blew Wandy's 3-3 tie by giving up a homer in the bottom of the seventh. Or the not-so-close loss on Thursday night, when Figuero was tagged for 5 runs, including a pair of homers. I'm not going to write these up, since I didn't watch them -- coming up for air after the Sabbath ended, I was 4 games behind in baseball-watching. Unfortunately, with these 3 consecutive losses to the Nats, the Astros were back to 7 games under .500, with only 9 games left in the season. Not mathematically eliminated from the goal of finishing up with a winning record, but not looking good either.

As I write this up, I'm watching the Friday night game, which has a happier ending. I'll tell you about it in my next blog. 

GAME 150 - Astros Trounce Nats - And I Was THERE!

GAME 150 - September 20: Astros 8, Nationals 2

For someone who watches nearly every game of the season on the computer, it's a strange (and wonderful) experience to actually go to a real live ballgame. My friend Chuck invited me to go to see the first game in the Astros vs Nationals series. Not only did I have the great pleasure of watching a game with someone who loves baseball, I got to do so from great seats, third row field-level, right behind first base. Unfortunately for Chuck, who is a Nationals fan, his team lost, due to a particularly ugly series of events  in the fifth inning. Ugly for the Nats, beautiful for the Astros: Homers by Quintero and Blum, interspersed with a few hits, and spiced with a few Nationals' fielding errors. Here's Chuck (hoping to catch a flying tee shirt):

Bud Lite got roughed up a bit in the first inning, which cost 30 pitches and a pair of Nationals runs. But after that he settled in and lasted into the seventh inning. He gave up just those 2 first-inning runs on 6 hits, 4 walks, striking out 6.

When Norris left, his reliever Byrdak inherited a full house with slugger Adam Dunn coming to the plate. NO PROBLEM! Byrdak struck him out on 3 pitches. Sweet. (Sorry Chuck.)

Fulchino and Abad each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the Nats.

The Astros got their first run of the game in the third inning when Norris put down a beautiful squeeze bunt, scoring Bogusevic from third. After that, all the runs came in a seven-run fifth inning, when the Astros batted around. CJ led off with a double, then scored the tying run on Bogusevic's single, with a little help from Adam Dunn's throwing error. Quintero then homered to left to make it 4-2. Norris reached second base on a fielding error by the left fielder. Bourgeois struck out for the first out. Kepp singled, scoring Norris, with a little help from the Nats' third fielding error of the inning. Pence flied out for the second out.  El Caballo singled to keep the inning alive, so Blum could hit his 3-run homer to make it 8-2.

Here are a few more of my pix from the game. I posted a lot more of my photos of the game on the Astros Fans in Exile Facebook photo album. Here's Bagwell watching Brett Wallace during BP:

Here's a pickoff throw from Norris to El Caballo, who was playing first base in this game:

Here's Q behind the plate:

Here's CJ at the plate, with Bogusevic on deck:

More Bagwell (have I mentioned recently how great it is to see him in uni?!) - this one talking with some soldiers and their families before the game:

And, of course, no game would be complete without Fans of the Game. This is Joe, a huge Astros fan, even if he isn't wearing the full Astros fan costume:

And here are my Nats Fans of the Game (after my friend Chuck, of course), John and his daughter Meredith. (John and I met on the subway train to the stadium.)

Astros are now just 4 games under .500, right on target to finish off their WINNING season. Ever the optimist! I'll be back at the ballpark for Game 2. Look for me in the stands!!! I'm sure you'll be able to hear me cheering!

GAMES 147-149: Sorry Cousin Bill! We Beat Your Reds!

GAME 147 - September 17: Astros 5, Reds 3
GAME 148 - September 18: Reds 11, Astros 1
GAME 149 - September 19: Astros 4, Reds 3

When I dragged in from the synagogue at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, here's what I did: First I drank 3 glasses of water. Then I turned on the computer to watch the ballgame. It was only the beginning of the game - at that point the Astros were only losing 2-1. But it started to get uglier and uglier. The Reds mounted up runs, as Figueroa and then Villar struggled to get out of the fifth inning. I warmed up some leftover pizza, ate a bowl of ice cream, and struggled to stay involved. But I was really having a hard time staying awake after hours of fasting and standing in the synagogue (not to mention the week of decaffeinating myself in preparation!). So I did something really out of the ordinary: I turned off the computer and went to bed before the game ended. I would have been really sorry if the Astros had pulled of a miraculous come-from-behind. But they didn't.  By the time our newbie reliever, Enerio Del Rosario (traded from Reds), gave up the last 3 runs in the ninth, putting Cincinnati in double digits, I was fast asleep. Meanwhile Houston trudged along with just Lee's solo homer to show for the night. All in all, I didn't miss much in the way of fun.

That was the bad news for the weekend. The rest was all fun and games, as the Astros stayed on the course of winning 2/3 of their remaining games in order to complete the season with a winning record. That's my focus now. I'm betting on these guys not to be a bunch of LOSERS. They're going to dig this team out from the humongous hole that the original bunch dug in the first half of the season. Remember those guys? Matsui, Feliz, Berkman back when he couldn't hit anything? Oswalt? They're all gone now, and the Astros are playing our future hand - and winning! Man, I really can't wait for Spring Training!

As for this weekend's fun and games... Friday night the Astros got off to an early lead, scoring single runs in the first and second innings. CJ hit a RBI sac fly in the first, and Wandy doubled, then scored on Bourn's single in the second. Wandy kept the division-leading Reds scoreless until the sixth inning, then gave up 3 runs, to end his night behind 3-2. But Carlos Lee hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, getting Wandy off the hook for a loss. Then in the seventh, Kepp singled, Hernandez walked, Bourn bunt singled to load the bases with no outs, setting up Angel Sanchez to drive in the tie-breaking runs with a single. Lindstrom allowed a couple of base runners, but no runs, in the eighth, and Lyon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. Fulchino, who had pitched to only one batter to finish off the Reds in the seventh inning, was the pitcher of record when the Astros took the lead in the bottom of the inning, so he got the win. Lucky guy.

I went out in the garden Sunday morning and harvested a bunch of my chiles, which I turned into various sauces and potions while watching the ballgame in the afternoon.

That meant that I was pretty much tweet-less during the game, but I can assure you that I was cheering at the appropriate times in my kitchen. When CJ homered, I splashed habanero catsup all over the floor in my excitement. 

I have to admit (again) that I was pretty unenthusiastic when the Astros acquired Brett Myers this season, due to his well publicized troubles off the field. Frankly I have issues with guys who rough up women, even if the woman (his wife) doesn't press charges. But on the mound, I have to give Myers credit for about the most super-reliable pitching performances on any team this season. In today's game, he threw another seven innings, pushing his streak of 6+ inning starts to 31 -- that's every game he's pitched all season. His line today was just more of the same -- 7 shutout innings, on 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts. 

As it turned out, Myers' teammates gave him just enough run support to get the win: With a 0-0 score in the fifth inning, Michaels was hit by a pitch, then CJ doubled to put runners on the corners with no outs.  After Manzella grounded out, Quintero came though with a line-drive single to left field, allowing both Michaels and CJ to score. Q advanced to third on a throwing error, then scored on Myers' sac fly to give the Astros a 3-0 lead. CJ hit a solo homer in the seventh inning for a little extra insurance. As it turned out, that extra run was just what the Astros needed to get the win. Lindstrom (not exactly lights out since his return from the DL) gave up 3 runs on 3 hits in the top of the eighth, and suddenly the game was  a whole lot more interesting. ("Interesting" in the Chinese curse form of the term.) Lyon came into the ninth with a 4-3 lead, and promptly struck out the first two batters. Don't sigh in relief yet, though -- he then allowed a pair of singles, bringing Votto (with 3 hits in the game) to the plate. It was all just to work up the crowd, to give the finale a little extra spice -- Lyon got Votto to pop up harmlessly to end the game. 

Another series win, Astros Fans! Our guys are working to the plan. They're 5 games under .500. They now need to go 9-4 to avoid the tag of LOSING SEASON. It's not going to be easy, since all but the last 3 games will be on the road. That includes a 4-game series, starting tomorrow, here in the Washington area. I won't be tweeting during the Nats games -- Monday and Tuesday I'll be at the stadium, and Wednesday and Thursday I'll be in my sukkah celebrating the next batch of Jewish holidays. Look for me cheering in the stands tomorrow! I'm sure you'll be able to hear me! 

One last footnote: When is someone going to do something about bats that splinter, before someone gets stabbed to death on the field? In today's Cubs/Marlins game, outfielder Tyler Colvin was running from third base to home when the sharp end of a broken bat hit him in the chest, right below the collarbone. He staggered, then completed running to the plate, before being taken off to a hospital for xrays. He's apparently in stable condition, but what if the bat had hit him a few inches higher -- in the throat instead of his jersey-protected chest? One day someone's going to really get speared by a splintered bat. Apparently MLB is waiting for that to happen before taking any action constraining the construction and materials of big league bats. 

Okay, enough - look for me in the stands in the Astros broadcast of the game tomorrow. I'll be wearing one of my "FAN IN EXILE" custom Astros jerseys.

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