GAMES 90-95: On to the Second Half,,,

GAME 90 - July 16: Astros 5, Pirates 2
GAME 91 - July 17: Pirates 12, Astros 6
GAME 92 - July 18: Pirates 9, Astros 0


GAME 93 - July 19: Astros 11, Cubs 5
GAME 94 - July 20: Cubs 14, Astros 7
GAME 95 - July 21: Astros 4, Cubs 3

The All Star Game has come and gone. The good news is that the National League won, for the first time in a century or so (they hadn't won in the 21st century)! The bad news is that it happened in a year that the Astros won't benefit from home field advantage in the World Series.

I'm dutifully reporting game scores in my blog, for the sake of completeness. But at this point the wins and losses are about as important as the games in Spring Training. It won't affect the outcome of the season - it's likely to be a gruesome record. Bad enough to give Houston a sweet pick in next year's draft, but unlikely to be bad enough to get the first pick. The Astros, with their 39-56 record (holding at 17 under .500), are still doing much better than Orioles (only 30 wins), and a bit better than the Mariners (sorry, Mom!), Pirates (sorry, Bob!), and DBacks (sorry, snakes and scorpions!).

We're really past the point of watching games for the effect on the record. At this point, it's more about the individual performances, the chance of something amazing happen every time someone yells "Play Ball," and the chance to see the youngsters. Take the game on Tuesday, in which the Astros blew away a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning, and lost 14-7. It was ugly, for sure, and starter Wesley Wright didn't make it out of the inning. He gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth, and you could sure see it coming, after an error put two Cubbies in scoring position with no outs. A hit batter. A walk. A homer (one of three by Aramis Ramirez). Before you know it, the game's tied up, and it was all downhill from there. Bummer? Not really, not totally.

Hey folks, that was little Wesley, the diminutive 25-year-old relief pitcher we got in a Rule 5 deal a few years ago, starting his first big league game. So he was gassed, big deal -- he's a kid trying out for a starter job. He pitched shutout baseball into the fourth, and all 5 of those runs in the fifth were unearned after Kepp's wild throwing error. Who cares if Lefty Wright wins the game (he didn't get the loss, Lyons did) -- in a crappy season like this, the Astros can afford to let a young player like Wright get a try out, experiment with minor league players, fiddle with lineups. It doesn't really matter. The best part of the game for the rest of the season isn't going to be watching El Caballo try to get his BA up to .250, or to wonder if and when the Wiz will get his wish. It's going to be getting to see a preview of future players, who -- just maybe -- will help to lead us to a very different kind of season in a few years. And, of course, seeing Jeff Bagwell in the dugout wearing #5 again.

So I'll try to focus my blog for the second half of the season on the young guys, whether they flame or fizzle. How bad can it be? What's the worst that can happen -- we get first draft pick next year?

Astros in Cincinnati this weekend. Sorry, Cousin Bill -- I'm still hoping we win.