GAMES 99-101: What is it About Winsdays?

GAME 99 - July 26: Cubs 5, Astros 2
GAME 100 - July 27: Astros 6, Cubs 1
GAME 101 - July 28: Astros 8, Cubs 1

I'm writing up this series while watching this afternoon's game on the mlb.tv archive. It's the bottom of the first, and if I didn't already know the outcome, I'd make a couple of predictions:

1. Bud Norris is going to have a really bad day. After loading up the bases with no outs to start the game, he managed to wiggle out with only one unearned run. But it was a shaky start.

2. Carlos Lee is going to piss everybody off. Came up to bat in the bottom of the first with 2 runners in scoring position, and bounced to first to end the inning. So what else is new?

As it turned out, my predictions would prove to be totally off target, as Norris went on to throw 5 more innings without giving up another run, ending the day with 1 unearned run on 4 hits, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts. And El Caballo, after doing nothing at all to help 4 base runners in his first two at-bats, went on to hit a pair of 2-run homers, accounting for half of Houston's runs today. So go figure. Happily, baseball is full of surprises; otherwise, we could just run the stats and skip the games!

Like last night's game (more on that in a minute), all of the Astros' offensive fun came in late innings. I'm only in the second inning of the recorded game, so I haven't yet seen the Astros score 8 runs in the sixth through eighth innings. They waited so long that they just barely gave Norris the chance to get his first win since the middle of May. The Astros tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, when Puma walked  and Pence doubled to score him. Then came the first of Lee's homers, to put the Astros up by 2. In the seventh inning, Berkman doubled, and Lee scored them both with his second homer. In the eighth, the Astros put some icing on the cake, with 3 more runs. Bourgeois led off with a triple (he's really fast!), then scored on Sanchez' single. Berkman and Pence singled, scoring Sanchez. The fourth ball of CJ's walk was a wild pitch, allowing the Puma to score to make it 8-1.

So, while I'm still watching a pretty unexciting third inning, I know from the box score and Gameday pitch-by-pitch that great things are going to be happening about an hour from now. The Astros are going to look like the team we've wished they'd be: Berkman getting on base in all 5 plate appearances (single, double, 3 walks), Lee whacking 2 homers, Pence going 3 for 5, and Bud Lite throwing some sweet baseball. It all added up to yet another Wednesday win -- the 12th consecutive mid-week win for the Astros.

If I just had the past two games to go on, I'd think this team was headed for the pennant. Yesterday's game featured another yet another solid start by Brett Myers - probably his best of the year. I came into the season prepared to dislike Myers, who has some less than savory issues off the field, but it's hard to fault his performance on the mound. He might look like a billy goat in striped pajamas, but he can throw a baseball. Last night, it was a complete game, shutting out the Cubs for the first 8 innings.

It looked for the first six innings like Myers wasn't going to get any offense to help his cause, but in the seventh, Mills maneuvered the Astros into finally scoring a run. He got more than a little help from some really slopping pitching by Houstonian Andrew Cashner, who started the inning by hitting Quintero with a pitch. Mills replaced Q with the speedy Bourgeois, a move that paid off with stolen base. Myers put down a pretty two-strike bunt (while I was tweeting "SWING!") to move Bourgeois to third. The Cubs decided to go for a DP by walking Bourn, and pitching to Sanchez. But the crafty Mills put on the squeeze. Sanchez laid down a great bunt, Bourgeois scored from third, and both runners were safe. Astros lead 1-0!!! But then small ball turned into some pretty big ball. Pence singled, scoring Bourn, and advancing to second while Sanchez was thrown out at third. Lee walked. Kepp was hit by a pitch. And that brought up the Puma with two outs and the bases loaded.

Did I mention that Berkman has a miserable record against the Cubs' lefty starter Ted Lilly (no relation to me), and that he'd fizzled batting right-handed in his first two at bats? Well, by the seventh inning, Lilly was out, and the Puma was batting left handed when he hit that grand slam. SLAMMMMMMM!!!!

With a six run lead, Mills let Myers finish off his gorgeous start. The Cubs got their only run on a leadoff homer in the ninth. No problem -- Myers then went and struck out the next last three batters to end the game. Total line for the game: 9 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 1 walk, and 12 strikeouts. That performance was, by the way, just what Nationals fans were hoping to see last night, when Strasburg was due to pitch. For a few minutes, I even toyed with the idea of going to the game, instead of coming home to watch my guys. But Stras was a last-minute scratch, and the crowd at Nationals Ballpark booed the poor replacement, Miguel Batista. Bad fan form. Batista and the pen threw a shutout.

It's now in the fifth inning of the recorded game from this afternoon. Even though there hasn't been any Astros scoring, there's always something interesting going on in a ball game. Norris got spiked covering first base -- the culprit was the opposing pitcher, Randy Wells. In a tight game, anything goes. Norris stayed in the game. And Angel Sanchez ended the inning with an awesome fielding play at short. I love good defense.

Unfortunately, the games yesterday and today (great starting pitching, good relief, late-in-the-game offense, homers by Berkman and Lee!!!) weren't really as typical of the season as the first game of this series on Monday -- a 5-2 loss. In his second big league start, Wesley Wright lasted 5 innings (a tad more than last time), giving up 4 runs on 8 hits, a walk, and 4 strikeouts. Meanwhile, his teammates managed to abandon 12 runners, squandering any benefit they might have had from 11 hits, a walk, and an error.

Just got to the sixth inning of today's recorded game. The fun is going to start in a minute, when Pence doubles to score the Puma and tie it up, and then El Caballo's going to knock one into the Chick-fil-A fowl pole (free chicken sandwiches for everybody!)... I'm going to wrap this up now, since you already know how it turns out: Fun and games, homers, and another Winsday!