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Florida 10, Houston 6
Quote of the Day: "I have never went through this before." (Oswalt, on his 3rd bad start)Oswalt is concerned. He and Cooper say he's healthy, not injured as the (other) bloggers suspect. They say he's throwing good stuff, that maybe he's tipping his pitches. Is he injured? In declin
e? Tipping pitches?
Whatever it is, Houston's one "sure thing" pitcher is getting clobbered this year. His third start - and third loss - of the season was the worst so far. Oswalt only lasted 4 innings, giving up 8 runs on 9 hits, include 4 home runs - a personal record.
The Astros scored 3 in the first inning - enough runs in previous years to practically give the game to Oswalt. He gave up a triple in the first inning, but the runner was stranded, and he pitched a 1-2-3 second. In the third inning, he allowed a lead-off single, but quickly retired the next two batters. It was all downhill from there, he gave up 5 runs on a pair of singles and a pair of home runs. A couple more home runs in the fourth inning, and Cooper called it a night.
I didn't see this game, as it was on the Sabbath. (See entry for April 5 for more on that.) I'm not planning on watching it, despite some good things: Berkman and Blum's home runs, Moehler and Brocail combining for 3 scoreless innings. Too much not to like, especially Villareal giving up a pair of homers in the 9th.
Of all the upside-down aspects of this season so far, Oswalt's performance has got to be the most worrisome. The fielding has been excellent. The team batting sucks - but I just cannot believe that this lineup won't come around after an anemic start. The relief pitching hasn't been a total mess - although it's scary that Valverde hasn't pitched a scoreless inning yet. But if Oswalt doesn't win games, that's really scary. After 12 games, the Astros starters have a total win record of ZERO.
Items of Note in this Game: Cooper used Towles with Oswalt, instead of Ausmus. And he moved Pence from 2nd to 7th in the lineup, in an effort to take some of the pressure off of him. Pence was 1 for 3 with a single and a walk; he didn't strike out in this game.
Old Friends: Some of the players that the Astros got rid of are doing well with their new teams. Lidge has 2 saves and an ERA of 0.00 for the Phillies. And Luke Scott, now in Baltimore, is leading the American League in batting with a .433 BA, .714 SLG, and 1.229 OPS. In less happy news, Adam Everett is only batting .095 for Minneapolis, and has 2 errors in 7 games. Chris Burke is only batting .167 out in Arizona. Meanwhile, Morgan Ensberg made the Yankees team out of Spring Training, but is not seeing much playing time - he's batting .375 in the 3 games he's appeared in.
St Louis 6, Houston 4
Words for the Day: Predictable. Certain to occur; destined or inevitable.
Before the game, every time I read that Chris Sampson was going to pitch, despite being sick with the flu all week, I kept wondering why anyone would think that this would be a good idea. It just seemed pretty obvious that he wasn't exactly going to shine. It could have been worse: He didn't barf on the mound. He made it, gasping, through 4 innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, a walk and a strikeout. Moehler, Borkowski, and Villareal each gave up a run, to make 6 for the Cards.
Meanwhile, in keeping with 2008 tradition, the Astros paced themselves to stay just a run or two behind them. With a win-loss record of 3-7, the majority of losses (and wins for that matter) are 1 or 2 run deals. While I always find something to like (in this game it was another terrific fielding play by Tejada), I have to admit that it's getting just a teensy bit tedious.
Actually, the Astros' play kind of reminds me of the 2005 World Series - and the first month of the 2005 season too. Which should be a reminder that all is not lost, and they have not yet been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. But in the meantime, I'd bet that the Astros are very glad to have a day off on Thursday - and so am I.
Astros Team Stats for the Season So Far
Batting Average: .221 (29th of 30 in the Major Leagues)
On Base Percent: .275 (29th)
Slugging: .402 (14th)Batting Average (Opponents against): .299 (29th)
Home Runs: 11 (7th)
Doubles: 21 (1st)
Stolen Bases: 10 (1st)
Stolen Bases Allowed (by opponent): 1 (best)
Strikeouts: 60 (10th)
On Base Percent: .275 (29th)
Double Plays (fielded): 11 (tied for 1st)
Errors: 2 (tied for 2nd best)
ERA: .455 (22nd)
HBP (Astros pitchers): 0 (tied for best)
Wild Pitches: 0 (tied for best)
Hits Given up by Astros Pitchers: 101 (most)
What story do these numbers tell? Pitching isn't too hot - the pitchers are giving up a lot of hits, which accounts for the large number of losses. But the Astros fielding has been quite good, and has saved a number of runs from scoring, which accounts for the close games. Meanwhile, a lineup that was anticipated to be one of the best has been pretty sucky. The team batting average and on base percent are nearly the worst in baseball. But they do have power hitters; when the Astros manage to hit, they are getting lots of extra base hits. And when they get on base, they are running. But then they leave those runners stranded - I couldn't find the team RISP number, but it has to be among the worst.
Oswalt is pitching Friday. Matsui is coming back on Sunday. Let's see how things shape up over the weekend...
St Louis 5, Houston 3
Words for the Day: Groundhog Day. The movie, not the holiday.As exciting as last night's walk-off home run was, you know what I really wanted to see tonight? A big blow out, with double-digit runs, some of which were not scored on solo homers. Lots of base-running and fist-pumping, fun without nail-biting, and a line of grinning Astros high-fiving each other at the end. And being the ever-optimistic Fan in Exile, I would write it up afterwards as the game that would spark the offensive juggernaut that drove the Astros to their second pennant.
Unfortunately I'll have to wait. Tonight's game was just more of the same. A not-too-bad start by Chacon (although a little heavy on the walks), with flawless performances by two of the three relievers. Unfortunately the other relief pitcher gave up the Card runs that won the game. Meanwhile, the offensive juggernaut has yet to materialize. The Astros continue to leave runners stranded in scoring position - partly because they wait to get anyone on base until there are two outs in the inning. Tonight they left the bases loaded in the 2nd, left Pence stranded on third in the 7th, and Blum on second in the 8th. (Perhaps some juggling of the lineup is in order?)
The Astros scored all of their runs in the 3rd inning. Berkman started the fun with a two-out double. Lee walked, and Tejada knocked them both in with a double. He advanced to third on the attempt to make a play at home, and then scored on a wild pitch. At that point it looked like the Astros were going to do some damage, but POOF! That was it for scoring.
Meanwhile, the Cards just nibbled away until they overtook the Astros. Chacon had some problems in the early innings - he walked three batters in the second, before allowing the first Cardinal run on a sacrifice. After that he settled down, and lasted 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, 4 BBs, and 2 Ks. Both Wright and Villareal pitched perfect relief innings in the 7th and 9th. In between Geary gave up a pair of runs on a 2-out double, earning the loss.
All in all, not an impossible situation for a win - with even a hint of the run support that is expected from this lineup. Still waiting. The person who must be the most frustrated is Pence, who struck out twice tonight (after 3 K's yesterday!). He whacked the ball hard for a triple in the 7th - maybe that will be the turnaround to get him out of his batting lull.
Nice defensive play tonight, by Towles and Loretta: With Cards on the corners, and the runner going from first, Towles threw to second. Loretta immediately shot the ball back to home to catch the runner who was dashing in. Towles tagged him to end the inning.
So, if I can put in my order for tomorrow night, I'd like a big helping of hits and no stranded RISPs. And as long as I'm asking, a great start for Sampson. And, if it's not too greedy to ask, let it be the start of a nice long winning streak.
Houston 5, St Louis 3
Word for the Day: Vindication. The act of defending against criticism or censure. With Miguel Tejada's acquisition by the Astros just one day ahead of his outing in the Mitchell Report, one had to wonder about how he'd be received by the Houston fans. I'm sure that there are many fans who are ready to boo Tejada - and to boo Ed Wade for tra
ding so many players to get him. But they weren't booing tonight when Tejada hit a walk-off 2-run homer to give the Astros a big fat W in their home season opener. Tejada practically frolicked on his way around the bases, before arriving at home plate for the Ritual Brainbashing by the rest of the team. It was Miggy's second hit of the night, and second home run in two days.
Meanwhile, he was in good company, in the slugging department - all of the Astros runs were scored on home runs. Berkman and Lee hit back-to-back homers in the 7th to break the 0-0 tie, then Towles led off the 8th with one more to make it 3-0. That should have been plenty for Valverde to work with in the top of the 9th for the save, but Big Papa hasn't exactly been lights out this season. He promptly gave back the whole shebang - 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 BBs. Happily, Tejada poked the ball over the right field wall to win it - for Valverde.
Argh. The assignment of wins to pitchers is one of those things in the baseball scoring rules that sometimes leads to really bizarre outcomes. Valverde came in to save the game and instead gave back all of the runs. But because the Astros came back to win it before there was an opportunity for anyone else to pitch, he was the pitcher of record at the end. So the Astros pitchers have a very odd win record this year. No starting pitcher has a win. Valverde, with a 12+ ERA, has 2 wins, and Wright has one - based on a game in which he faced only one batter.
The guy who got cheated in this game was Wandy Rodriguez. This may have been his best start ever - he pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings, only giving up 3 hit, walking none, and striking out 6. He had five 1-2-3 innings!
Another fine performance in this game by Ed Wade's other big acquisition, Michael Bourn. He hit two singles - and both times ended up on second with successful steals. That makes a league-leading 6 steals for him in the first 8 games of the season.
Health Update: Wiggington is still day to day. Berkman is back on the field. And Matsui is on his way to Corpus for rehab - and could be back with the big league team as early as Sunday. In other news, Lidge is back from his injury and logged his first save of the season for the Phillies tonight.
Fashion Statement: The photos on this blog are obviously not taken at this game. (Like most of my photos, they are from Spring Training). This was not a red-shirt day; it was the first home pinstripe game of the season. But speaking of my photos, I have updated the Astros Fan in Exile website with Photo Albums from Spring Training. Click here to take a look. Can you identify all the Astros players?
Chicago 3, Houston 2
Word for the Day: Deja Vu. See Game 5.The pitching was excellent. The offense was positively 2005-ish.
Despite the Astros' very frustrating loss on Sunday, not to mention the dismal 2-5 record for their opening road trip, I'm starting to feel more and more optimistic about this season. Everyone knows that teams win on pitching and defense, not hitting. This team is supposed to have weak starting pitching (except for Oswalt), so-so defense, and big bats. That adds up to a losing season. Or does it?
So far we have the losing part mastered - but not on that recipe. Everything is upside down. What have we seen so far? Puny run production. A lot of batting averages in the 1s and 2s. Some awesome fielding. Off-kilter pitching from the CYA candidate - but terrific pitching from most of the other starters.
Could this be a recipe for a great year, despite the naysayers and blog blabbers?
Backe's star
t in this game is fairly representative of the season so far - he gave up only 2 ERs over 6 innings, on 6 hits, 3 BBs, and 7 Ks. Backe's run support was so bad that he had to do it himself - he doubled to lead off the third inning, and scored on Erstad's single. Besides that - nothing in his six innings. (Okay, the Cubs had Zambrano on the mound, but the Astros aren't going to play every game of the season against ace-type pitchers.)
This game got off to what looked like a strong offensive start. Bourn led off with a single, then took third on Pence's double. Erstad (hitting in place of Berkman who is still out with a stiff neck) struck out. Then Lee hit a fly ball to Soriano in left for the second out. Should Bourn have tried to tag up and score? The race was on: Bourn's speed vs Soriano's gun. Soriano fired a bullet to home plate and Bourn was tagged out to end the inning. It didn't work out - but I like that the Astros are taking chances on the bases.
Tejada hit his first homer of the season to tie the game 2-2 in the seventh. But Villareal gave up a home run to that pesky Derrek Lee in the bottom of the inning, and posted his second loss of the season.
In other news, Matsui is headed for Corpus for rehab. Berkman and Wig are still day-to-day.
Chicago 9, Houston 7
Word for the Day: Sabbath. A time of rest.
Although my family, friends, business colleagues, and acquaintances generally consider me to be over the top in my passion for the Houston ball club, I actually do have priorities. One of my priorities, which will soon be quite evident from this series of postings, is that I am Jewish and religiously observant. That means that I don't eat hotdogs at baseball games. More importantly for a Fan in Exile - who doesn't actually have much opportunity to consume stadium hotdogs - I don't use the computer to watch games on mlb.tv on the Sabbath, from Friday at sunset until Saturday at dark. I also do not watch the games on Jewish holidays - in a good year, that includes not only Passover (spring) and Shavuot (summer), but also the High Holidays, Succot, and Simchat Torah (fall/playoffs). I don't know the results until Saturday night, when I rush to Astros.com to find out what happened the moment the Sabbath ends. (With Rosh Hashanah starting September 29 this year -- the day after the Astros' regular season finale -- I'll be pretty much going crazy in October if (when!) Houston makes it to the playoffs.)
So I missed Saturday's afternoon loss to the Cubs, as I will miss one or two games a week for the rest of the season. I like to brag that "I watch every game of the season," but that's not totally true. Every week, after the Sabbath, I have to make the hard decision: Should I spend time watching the archived game(s) on mlb.tv, or should I just read Footer and McTaggert's game reports and move on?
Generally, it depends on what happened in the game. If the Astros won, I always watch a good part of the game - the first inning to see the starting pitchers, innings with runs or interesting defensive plays, the end of the game. If the Astros lost, I might watch the interesting parts (but maybe not the end of the game). It was an especially hard decision this week: I never want to miss watching Oswalt pitch; on the other hand, I didn't have the heart to watch him lose his second start of the season. In the end, I passed on it.
Here's what I missed, courtesy of Footer, McTaggert, the box score, and the play-by-play:
Oswalt got another loss, after giving up 6 runs (5 ER) on 10 hits, 1 BB, and no strikeouts(!) in 6 2/3 innings. Four of the hits were for extra bases, including an RBI double by Jason Marquis - Oswalt seems to have a particular problem getting out the opposing pitcher this year. As in his first game, his curve ball doesn't seem to be there. He was peppered with hits, including infield/bunt hits. The relief pitchers didn't do much to help him out of the 7th inning; Villareal, Wright, and Geary combined to give up a walk, a balk, and two doubles, allowing 3 more runs to score before making that elusive third out. Brocail also gave up a run in his inning of relief.
With 7 runs on 12 hits, the Astros offense was good - just not good enough to overcome the Cubbies. Carlos Lee was the hitting leader for the Astros, going 3 for 4 with two doubles and a home run. (Unfortunately, the Cubs' Derek Lee was 4 for 4, with a home run, double, and pair of singles, 3 runs, 2 RBIs.)
Bourn continues to make Ed Wade look like a genius - he was 2 for 5 with a triple, another stolen base (#4), and an outfield assist.
On the bad news side, Berkman and Wiggington left the game with injuries. Berkman has a stiff neck, hurt in Friday's game; he's day to day. Wiggington has a broken thumb, apparently spiked through his glove by Marquis' attempted slide into third.
Pence had a disappointing day at the plate - he was 1 for 5 with an infield single. He's off to a pretty slow start, just batting .185. Unfortunately, he's in good company in that regard.
An observation: Although Cooper has stated that there are no "personal catchers," he's still having Ausmus catch for Oswalt. I'd expect that Oswalt, as the ace, can have whoever he wants as a catcher. However, with Ausmus not hitting (and allowing a run on a rare passed ball in this game), perhaps Oswalt will be amenable to considering having the blond kid catch for his next start? Just a thought...
Just one more game of the opening road trip, and then back to Houston. I'll write up my season prediction after the Sunday game.
Houston 4, Chicago 3
Quote of the Day: "Hopefully that will make ESPN." (Astros catcher, JR Towles)
One of the best things about baseball is that you just never know, going into a game, what you might see. Maybe a triple play, maybe a perfect game? Those are rare, but they do occur now and then. How about something more exotic - like a batter doing a handstand on home plate?
JR Towles' first at bat provided the chance to see this unique move. Hit on the knee by the pitch, he fell down and forward. Towles broke his fall by with his hands; his momentum carried him up and over, and he ended up in a handstand at the plate. That was de
finitely one of the most acrobatic ways (besides actually hitting) that the Astros have found to get on base so far this season. (Unfortunately for the Astros, Sampson followed with a strikeout to end the inning with the bases loaded.)
Note: Due to copyright considerations, I only use my own photographs on this blog. Click here if you want to see a picture of Towles upside down on the Houston Chronicle site.
Towles followed up on his next at bat with a more valuable offensive move - a 2-run homer to put the Astros on the scoreboard. The lead held up until the 7th inning, when Sampson - who had been terrific for the first 6 - gave up a pair of runs to tie it up. Cooper brought in Wesley Wright, the new lefty kid, with 2 outs; he retired the one batter he faced.
The Astros came back in the top of the 8th to regain the lead. Berkman got to first on an error; then scored on Tejada's "triple" (looked more like a double that the left fielder mishandled). Then Wiggington sacrificed Tejada in, to make it 4-2. Although Valverde gave up a home run in the 9th to make it a scary ending, the one-run lead held up, and the Astros beat the Cubbies 4-3 in the series opener.
Wright, the pitcher of record when the go ahead runs were scored, earned his first major league win - after facing just a single batter. Sampson must have been disappointed not to have been able to finish the 7th to get the win, but he can't have been unhappy with his pitching performance. He gave up only 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings, on 6 hits, no BBs, and one K.
Other notable stuff in this game: Bourn made a stupendous catch, on what appeared to be a multiple-base hit to the gap in left center. Noting that this was Bourn's third such amazing catch so far this season, the Cubs announcer called him a "human highlight reel." On the other end of the highlight reel plays, Berkman dove head-first into second base on Carlos Lee's single in the fifth inning, only to find that there wasn't even a play there. He looked pretty sheepish -- the second baseman apparently deked him into sliding to keep him from taking third on the hit.
Happily this game was played in Chicago, so it was an afternoon game. I got to watch it before the Sabbath started. No such luck next game - Oswalt's start will be in a Sabbath afternoon game, so I will miss it. WAH!
e? Tipping pitches?
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