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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GAMES 144-146: Beating the Brewers

GAME 144 - September 13: Astros 4, Brewers 2
GAME 145 - September 14: Astros 3, Brewers 2

GAME 146 - September 15: Astros 8, Brewers 6

One thing for sure -- the new baby Astros are a scrappy bunch. They may not always win, but they keep things close. The Brewers series featured three more very close games, along with a couple more examples of terrific pitching.

On Monday, Brett Myers (yawn) threw another 7 innings, giving up only a single run on 6 hits, striking out 10 Brewer batters. The single run was the result of a fourth inning solo homer by Corey Hart; other than that, Myers had the Brew Crew stymied. Myers was just back with the Astros after a short vacation in Florida, where his wife was giving birth to their son. After a first-inning run, the Astros failed to score again until the bottom of the seventh, when they put another 3 runs on the board, just in time to give Myers a chance for the win. The offensive star for Houston was Keppinger -- he went 2 for 2 with a double and a single, 3 walks, a run and an RBI. Matt Lindstrom entered the game in the ninth inning, with no outs, a runner on second base, and a two-run lead to protect. he got 3 quick outs for the save.

Tuesday's game started with a bit of a scare: But Norris was hit hard on the shin by a first-pitch come-backer, but he managed to make the play for the out. He was limping a bit afterwards, but managed to hang in for 7 1/3 innings, giving up just a single run (solo homer in the first inning) on 3 hits and 5 walks, striking out 7. Fulchino and Byrdak each contributed an out to finish the eighth. Lyon gave up a leadoff solo homer in the ninth, just to make things interesting, before retiring the next 3 batters to get the save. The Astros only run scorer in the game was Chris Johnson, who came up to bat with 2 runners on and two outs, and hit a LOOOONG homer to center field. CJ also hit a double later in the game. Kepp had another good game, with a double and a single.

Wednesday's afternoon game was a bit of a heart-breaker. After all the recent close-game wins, the Astros were starting to look kind of invincible. Then J.A. Happ broke the string of great pitching starts, giving up 3 in the first inning and another 2 runs in the fifth to put the Astros behind 5-0. Happ didn't make it out of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the inning, though, his teammates came through big-time, scoring 6 runs to take the lead. No single heroes, or perhaps I should say all the heroes were singles  -- El Caballo singled, CJ singled, Wallace reached on an error (Lee scored), Sanchez singled (CJ scored), Castro walked to load the bases, Bogusevic singled (Wallace/Sanchez scored), Bourn grounded into a fielders choice (Bogusevic out), Bourn stole second, Kepp singled (Castro scored), Pence singled (Bourn scored). Then having batted around, El Caballo grounded into a double play to end the fun. After such a singular (!) effort to take the lead, it would have been nice to preserve it. Mills used a boatload of relievers after Happ (Villar, Paulino, Byrdak, Melancon, Abad) to get through to the ninth inning with the lead. But Lyon blew the save in the ninth, allowing the Brewers to tie it up. Then Lindstrom gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in the tenth inning to lose the game.

Even with the disappointing ending, it added up to another series win for the new baby Astros, who have a 9-5 record in the first half of September. The Astros are only 6 games under .500 with 16 games still to play. That means that a winning record for this season is still a finite possibility. Given where we came from the first half of the season, that's pretty amazing! But it won't be easy: The Astros will be facing the division leading Reds over the weekend. Don't look for me on Twitter during the first  games, which will be played on Yom Kippur. But I'll be back on Sunday for the series closer.

Can you sing "Okalahoma"?  Well, learn the words -- that's where our triple A team is likely to be next year. Now that Round Rock is turning into a Rangers franchise, the Astros need a new home for their top minor league team, and it looks like it will be Oklahoma City. Not sure whether the players will enjoy it there more than Round Rock (just a conversation away from way-cool Austin). But who cares -- play ball! O-K-L-A-H-O-M-AAA Oklahoma OK!

GAMES 139-143: Too Many Games to Watch - Even for Me!

GAME 139 - September 9: Astros 4, Cubs 0 (Happy Birthday, Marissa and Ariella!)
GAME 140 - September 10: Astros 4, Dodgers 3
GAME 141 - September 11: Dodgers 4, Astros 2 [11 innings]
GAME 142 - September 12: Dodgers 6, Astros 3
GAME 143 - September 13: Astros 7, Dodgers 3

Sunday Morning: When I turned on my computer after the Sabbath ended, I realized that catching up on the three days of games I'd missed during the Rosh Hashanah/Sabbath combo would be an impossible task. So I watched the end of last night's game live, and then just browsed the boxes and writeups of the others. Maybe I'll try to catch a few innings of the other games before this afternoon's finale against the Dodgers. Can't miss that - Brad Ausmus will be the starting catcher for LA. I read online that Ausmus would be interested in a future role with the Astros, the team that he played most of his long career with. Now wouldn't that be an interesting combo -- Ausmus and Bagwell in the dugout together, managing and coaching the team. Maybe start by brining in Ausmus as the pitching coach, and then move him up to manager? Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself - for today, at least, he's playing for the enemy.

The Astros did very well on Rosh Hashanah. Wednesday night they shut out the Cubs 4-0 to win the series in Chicago, behind the incredibly consistent Brett Myers. Retiring the first 14 batters he faced, Myers took a perfect game into the fifth inning, then went on to complete 7 innings -- his 29th consecutive 6+ inning start. Abad, Lindstrom, Brydak, and Lopez combined to finish off the other two innings for the win. On the offense, Pence hit another homer (#23), and CJ, Kepp, and Q each got a pair of hits and an RBI.

Second night of Rosh Hashanah, the Astros went back home to start a 4-game series against the Dodgers. The player of the game, for good and bad, was Chris Johnson. CJ started out the game by making a fielding error, setting the stage for a 2-run homer that put the Astros behind. He struck out in 3 of his 4 at bats. All in all, it would have been a night to forget. But in the sixth inning, with Pence and Lee on base, CJ smoked a fast ball 417 feet, over the railroad tracks in left field, to give the Astros a 3-2 lead. Meanwhile, after that first inning homer, Bud Lite didn't give the Dodgers much to play with and finished up with 6 innings of 3 hit ball, striking out 7. Chacin loaded up the bases in the seventh inning on a single and a pair of walks, but Melancon finished off the inning with no damage to the Astros slim lead. Melancon then threw a scoreless eighth, and Lyon got the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Friday night, while we had a nice Sabbath dinner with the Fainchteins, the Astros were dueling with the Dodgers for 11 innings of a low-scoring game. Houston's starter Happ had a tough battle in his 5 innings, giving up 7 hits, but only a single run. Mills then used 8 Astros pitchers over the next 6 innings. With the score still tied 2-2, September callup Fernando Abad gave up a 2-run homer in the 11th inning. With 2 outs and a runner on first, Mills brought in Henry Villar for his big league debut. He prompt made a fielding error to put a second runner on, but then struck out the next batter to end the threat. On the little offense that Houston mustered, Bourn went 3 for 5, with his pair of RBI singles accounting for all of the Astros' runs. The Astros had the perfect opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the tenth, when Bourn hit a one out triple. But ex-Astro closer Octavio Dotel got back-to-back swinging Ks against Kepp and Pence to prolong the agony. I can only imagine the collective groan of the 31,000 fans. More than 30K fans showing up for a team so far down in the standings? Shows you what an infusion of youth and winning will do -- even if it's too little, too late for the season.

I tuned into Saturday night's game after the Sabbath ended, just after the Dodgers had scored 3 in the fourth inning with a homer and three singles. That was pretty much all that LA could do against Wandy, who settled down and stayed in for 7 innings, giving up just those 3 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 10 strikeouts. Meanwhile, his teammates scored one run for him in the fourth, when Bourn tripled, and then scored on Keppinger's single. Then they got two more runs in the fifth, starting with Brett Wallace's leadoff homer (#2), then a pair of singles, a sac bunt by Wandy, and Bourn's ground out RBI. That tied it up 3-3, but the Astros didn't manage to score again on Wandy's watch, leaving him with a No-D for his trouble. Given how much work the bullpen had in Saturday night's game, Mills went for his closer in the ninth, even though the score was tied. But this wasn't Lyon's night, starting with a 3-2 walk to kick off the inning. Then a bunt was misplayed by Wallace (scored as a single) put a second runner on. Another sac bunt... and this time it was Lyon who misplayed it with a wild throw, scoring the tie-breaking run, and an extra one for good measure -- a 2 run error, leaving a runner on third with no outs. That was it for Lyon. Brydak gave up a fly ball to right, which bounced off Pence's glove. By the time Bourn fielded it, it was a called a double, not an error on Pence. But even if Pence had caught it, the runner on third would have scored. That run was just gravy anyway, as the Astros didn't put up a fight in the bottom of the ninth.

What do these 4 games have in common? Same answer as most of my other blogs in the last month or two -- solid starting pitching that has allowed the team to get into late innings either leading or tied. That doesn't necessarily lead to starting pitchers with a pile of wins, with so many games either won or lost after the starters were done. But it does mean that going forward into a better-luck next year, the Astros have some nice talent to choose from.

I need to put in a few hours of work this morning, so I can free up in time for the first pitch at 2 this afternoon... More later!

Sunday @ 5:30: For about an inning, it looked like Houston might have one of those wild runaway train extravaganzas, with double digit runs, and all kinds of fun. The Astros batted around in the first inning, with Hunter Pence's 2 run homer in a starring role. Four runs scored, and we're already thinking "blowout." However, as I tweeted to whoever might be following:

  "Dodgers on their 2nd pitcher in the 2nd inning. But don't get too smug Astros Fans! We've lost one of these 4 run first inning games before"

I wasn't actually predicting that they'd go off and try to DO that. Just about then, I noticed that Roy O was about to pitch the ninth inning of a 3-0 game against the *(^&*% Mets (my least favorite team). So I decided that with that nice 4-run lead, Nelson Figueroa could just hold the fort while I watched the Wiz secure a complete-game shutout. Oswalt did great, got the win, putting the Phillies in sole ownership of the NL East (at least until the Braves play tonight). It's just what Oswalt wanted - to play for a contender, to make a difference. He's been pitching great, has made a difference for the Phillies -- more power to him. I'll cheer for him, as long as he's not playing the Astros. That game over, I returned to the Astros game, and find that the 4-game lead is now evaporated, and that it's now a tie. Geez! I take my eyes off them for a lousy half inning, and look what happens!

So, not a blowout, not a walk in the park, not a slam-bam done-deal. Instead it looks like it's going to be  another close game, tie game, wait-until-the-last-minute game. Figueroa didn't make it out of the fifth inning, leaving the game with two outs and two on, no chance to win it, but still a chance to lose. These days, a rarity - not a quality start. Chacin came in, walked the next batter to load the bases, and then got that third out to end the threat. For his one-third inning bit of work, Chacin ended up being the pitcher of record when the Astros put a pair of runs on the board with a trio of doubles (Wallace, Castro, Blum) in the bottom of the inning. Carlos Lee, who had passed up a chance or two for real heroics earlier in the game, hit a solo homer in the eighth inning to give the Astros a nice calm 3 run lead. Brydak, Fulchino, Abad, Lindstrom, and Lyon combined for the other 4 innings, shutting down the Dodgers on just 2 hits.

So the Astros tied the series with a comfortable win. I was thinking that, if it really did turn into a blowout, they could afford the luxury of pulling a Mike Hampton deal on Ausmus -- throwing him a nice fat fastball over the plate and letting him take his chances. Sure enough, Ausmus came up in the ninth inning, but it wasn't good buddy Hampton on the plate. Ausmus grounded out to Lyon to finish off his 0 for 4 day. He got a nice standing O from the Astros fans after his last Houston at-bat before retirement. Of course, many of us are hoping to see him back again soon, and not wearing a blue jersey next time.

With 19 games to go, the Astros are just 7 games under .500. They're not going anywhere near the playoffs, of course, but there's still a chance to finish the season in the win column. It would take a heroic run, but hey -- there's always something to hope for. Other things to hope for: Hunter Pence is at 84 RBI - can he reach 100? Carlos Lee too (he's at 83)? Let's also hope that Brett Myers throws a complete game tomorrow. The Dodgers series really wore out our bullpen! And while we're at it - peace in the Middle East? Okay, I'm being greedy. Bring on the Brewers!

GAMES 137-138: Happy New Year!

GAME 137 - September 6: Cubs 5, Astros 4
GAME 138 - September 7: Astros 7, Cubs 3

I'm going to have to write this blog up quickly, then get back to cooking for Rosh Hashanah. I won't be able to record the tie-breaker game for this Chicago series -- or even see the outcome -- until Saturday night after the double-header holiday/Sabbath combo ends.

I came home from work late tonight, turned on the computer, and logged into mlb.tv just in time to see Brett Wallace hit his first major league home run. Anyone who hears me rant and rave on Twitter will know that I've been predicting this milestone event in just about every game since Wallace started. So finally tonight I was right. Other features of this crazy win included:

* Michael Bourn going 1-2-3 (single, double, triple), with 2 runs, 3 RBI, and of course a stolen base.

* National League Player of the Week Hunter Pence hitting an RBI double.

* Nelson Figueroa getting another win, pitching 5 innings, giving up 3 runs.

* Then, Byrdak, Melancon, and Abad preserving his win with 4 totally lights-out innings.

Nice game. Luckily I keep my iMac on my kitchen counter, so I could watch while chopping onions, making soup, sauteeing veggies, making spicy tomato sauce, roasting beets, and a bunch of other stuff that will result in my Rosh Hashana guests actually getting a meal tomorrow evening.

Yesterday afternoon's game started out fun, with a 4-run second inning. I was hoping that was a sign of a blow out, but unfortunately, the run-scoring stopped there for the Astros. Meanwhile, the Cubs just kept creeping up on Wandy, tying it up in the fifth, and then getting the go-ahead run off of Lopez in the eighth. I think the turning point of the game for me was when Bourn doubled, and then Kepp was sent out to sac bunt in the fourth inning. Reminded me of the WAY-TOO-MANY wasted outs sacrificed under the previous management last year. Bourn was eventually tagged out at home, and spiked in the face for his troubles. The high point of the game was CJ's homer in the second inning. The low point was Brian Bogusevic's first big-league start, with a bunch of his Chicago buddies in the stands -- he had a pair of strikeouts, and hit into two double plays. Better luck next time, kid.

So don't look for any blog updates from me until Sunday, when I'll have 4 games to catch up on, not mentioning the one to be played that day. I'll be busy celebrating Rosh Hashana with family and friends. Happy New Year! Let's hope that this time next year, we'll look back on a wonderful year of health, happiness, prosperity -- and that the Astros will be on their way to the playoffs!

GAMES 134-136: A Cure for Snake Bite

GAME 134 - September 3: Dbacks 4, Astros 3
GAME 135 - September 4: Astros 6, Dbacks 5
GAME 136 - September 5: Astros 3, Dbacks 2

Another winning series for the Astros. It's always fun to win, even when you're not going to the playoffs. Even when the team you beat is in last place. The Snakes are not having a good year. If it weren't for Pittsburgh (already eliminated!), the Diamondbacks would be the worst team in the league. Astros fans can sympathize with that situation, having been there not long ago. But since we sold off our big stars and started playing the kids, we're having some fun. Hey - the Astros are only 8 games under .500 now. They could still finish with a winning season. That's my new ever-optimistic prediction.

Despite the Diamondback's lowly rank in the standings, they did come into this series having won 6 of their previous 7 games. So it wasn't a breeze, as you can see from the scores above. All three games were won or lost by a single run. Both of the Astros wins ended with the tying Diamondback run in scoring position.


Brett Myers is really getting to be a bore. He's so predictable this year. In Friday night's opener, he did what he always does: Pitched another 6 innings, his 28th consecutive 6+ inning start. With his ERA hovering around 3 and the consistency of his performances, he's become quite a reliable inning eater. All this good throwing isn't necessarily resulting in a big win record though, he's only 10-7, with Friday night's no decision illustrating why. His team mates got plenty of hits (11), but only plated single runs in 3 innings. Myers, who hit a double, was one of the runners who scored. The game went into the bottom of the 8th inning tied, before Wilton Lopez gave up an RBI sac fly for the winning Snake bite.

Norris did not have a quality start on Saturday night, but he was really only an unfortunate pitch away from one. With the game out West, when I tuned in at the end of the Sabbath, it was still in the first inning and the Astros had a quick 1-0 lead. The Dbacks tied it up in the bottom of the inning, and added another in the second. Things stayed tight at 2-1 until the fifth. Then, with 2 outs in the bottom of the inning, Bud Lite gave up a 3-run homer to give the Snakes a 5-1 lead. But this isn't your old roll-over-and-die Astros team from the past -- this is the new don't-cry-come-from-behind team! The Astros got one run back in the sixth (still leaving Bud holding the bag for a loss), and then knocked in four more in the eighth to take -- and keep -- the lead. The hero of the game was Carlos Lee, who has suddenly surged in RBIs into the respectable range, with 34 RBIs in the past 34 games. He may even hit 100 this year, go figure! (A comeback from El Cabernet would be a good thing, since we're stuck with him for 2 more years.)

Astros.com ran a headline for Sunday's game that said "Astros take lead early, never look back." Hah! I bet they were looking back over their shoulders the whole came, watching the Diamondbacks creeping up on them! Before the game, I was tweeting about how fun it would be if something special happened today -- a no-hitter, a blowout. Then when Pence hit a 3-run homer before the Astros had even logged their first out of the game, I was pretty hopeful for a massive pile of runs. That was not to be -- the Astros did put runners on base (including Sanchez on third, twice), but never scored again. Meanwhile, Happ allowed solo homers in the 3rd and 4th innings to make it a really close game. Happ kept the Diamondbacks quiet for the rest of his 7 innings, and the Lindstrom-Lyon duo took it from there.

Special mention for these games goes to Angel Sanchez, who got two singles Friday, a single and a triple on Saturday, and another triple on Sunday. Pence has been hitting well (and with power), including his 22nd homer on Sunday -- his BA is now over .290.

GAMES 131-133: It's Not in the Cards... for St Louis

GAME 131 - August 30: Astros 3, Cardinals 0
GAME 132 - August 31: Astros 3, Cardinals 0  (Happy Birthday Josh!)

GAME 133 - September 30: Astros , Cardinals 

September!!! It's still almost 100 outside, but the calendar says it's September. Fall's just around the corner. Baseball season's coming to a close -- for the Astros at least. Things have been quite entertaining recently, but that hole they dug at the beginning of the season will mean that our guys will be relaxing at home come October.

So now that we're playing the kids, the Astros have started to win. And not just against loser teams, either. First they swept the Phillies. Now the Cardinals. Two teams that now find themselves in second place in their divisions. The Astros may not be going to the playoffs but they are still a team that counts -- as a spoiler for those teams with aspirations of post-season fun and games. Baseball games, that is.

Who knows -- we may still end up with a winning season! We're just 9 games under .500, with 29 games still to go. And we were 8-2 in our last 10 games. Do the math. It's possible. (Note that we are not yet mathematically eliminated, but I'm not making any claims in that department. I'm not looking to be a total fool!)

So we swept the Cardinals this week, leaving them 8 games behind the Reds going into this weekend's series between the two teams. We won against St Louis the same way we've been winning against other teams -- with terrific starting pitching. This time it was the triumphant trio of Happ, Wandy, and Figeuroa who got the honors. Happ threw a complete game shutout on Monday night, giving up only 2 hits. It was a great comeback for him, after his previous embarrassing start against the Cardinals -- his only poor performance since joining the Astros. This time he was lights out. Vindication!

Wandy showed up Tuesday night, and nearly duplicated the performance, with 7 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits. It was a pretty stunning show against the formidable Chris Carpenter, who lost the duel on one 3-run inning. This continues a fantastic run for him in the second half -- his ERA is just 1.65 in his past 13 starts, with a 8-2 record.

Wednesday afternoon, Figueroa was quite a bit less dominating, but earned the win anyway. After allowing 2 runs in the first inning, he kept the Cards scoreless for another 4 innings, despite a couple of bases-loaded situations. The bullpen kept things going, and a big 3 run homer by Pence in the fifth made Figgy a winner.

The starting pitching has been outstanding, and the bullpen's no slouch either. The Astros hitters haven't exactly been tearing the cover off the ball -- the team is still in last or next to last place in nearly every offensive stat category. But there have been some players who've been hitting well. Pence is hitting hard, and has raised his batting average to .288 with 21 homers. Considering where he came from at the start of the season, that means some serious over .300 time since then. Even El Caballo is coming along, with a big string of August RBIs. More like the guy he better be to earn his massive paycheck over the next two years!

Now that it's September, there are some new faces in the clubhouse.  But I'll have to talk about that next time. Gotta light for Shabbat!!!