Old Home Team vs New Home Team

I don't wish the Nationals ill. Really. I live in the Washington DC suburbs, and I hope that the Nats do a lot better this year than last year. I love to cheer for the underdog. Lord knows I did it long enough when I grew up in Houston! So sure, I'll cheer for the Nationals...except, of course, when they are playing the Astros.

It's hard to completely gloat over the Astros' 11-2 victory over the hapless Nationals, given how badly my new hometeam has played so far this spring. Washington lost the game in the first inning, thanks to a dreadful performance by their big off-season acquisition, Jason Marquis. The Astros batted around and ended the inning 5 runs up on the Nats. Marquis didn't make it through the fourth, giving up 8 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks, before he reached either his pitch count or the limit of his manager's endurance.

On the other side, Wandy had a nice start - much better than his last one. He pitched a full 4 innings, giving up 2 runs (both solo homers) on 4 hits, no walks, and 7 strikeouts. All in all a solid performance from Wandy. We really need him to take up where he left off last year.

The bullpen was stellar, with Byrdak, Chacin, Corcoran, and Lopez combining for 5 shutout innings.That's 10 straight no-run innings from the relievers in the two games I've attended. (I can't make any claims for the two away games the Astros have played since I arrived, both of which they lost.) Here's Byrdak:

The offensive power was spread pretty much accross the team, with the Astros scoring 11 runs on 13 hits and 1 error. One star of the day was Michael Bourn, who has not had a great Spring so far. In Wednesday's game, he went 3 for 3, stole a base and scored 3 times. I think this picture, of Bourn sliding into second on a steal, may turn out to be one of the best ones I will take in Spring Training this year:

Hunter Pence continued to do his thing, going 2 for 3, with 2 RBI, resulting in a nice round .500 BA. It's wonderful to watch the enthusiasm Pence brings to the game, even though he's now a veteran player who doesn't need to compete for his job in Spring Training. He doesn't clap his hands in glee when he gets a hit any more, like he did in 2007, but you can tell that he's really into what he's doing - even if it's "just" Spring Training.

Another player who had a good game Wednesday was Chris Johnson. He has a lot more to prove in Spring Training than Pence does, and he came through, going 2 for 4, with a double, a single, a walk, and 3 RBIs. Here he is playing third base - the ball came in too late to spoil Guzman's triple, but it's a good actiion shot.

Another player with a good game Wednesday was Quintero. In addition to his usual nice job behind the plate, he also did well on the upside of the plate, going 2 for 3, with a double and 2 RBIs. Quintero supposedly has a lock on the backup  catcher role, with Towles and Castro duking it out for the main spot. Here's a shot of him catching Wandy in the bullpen during pre-game warmups.

Nice work by Jason Michaels, with the Astros only long ball in this runfest, as well as a real nice catch in right field at the warning track. I had to include at least one KISS-MEE picture in this blog!

With 11 Astro runs and great pitching, there are a lot of kudos to go around for this game. I've posted some of the highlights here, and uploaded a lot more of the photos to the Astros Fan in Exile website's Photo Album, the Astros Fans in Exile Facebook group, and my AFIX Daily Booth.

Now off to see the Astros play the Blue Jays. More news and photos later...