GAMES 65-70: The Thrill of Defeat...

GAME 65 - June 15: Royals 15, Astros 7
GAME 66 - June 16: Astros 4, Royals 2

GAME 67 - June 17: Royals 5, Astros 2

GAME 68 - June 18: Rangers 9, Astros 3

GAME 69 - June 19: Rangers 5, Astros 1

GAME 70 - June 20: Rangers 5, Astros 4

Late yesterday afternoon, with another hour still left before the end of the Sabbath, I decided to address  the tug-of-war between anticipation of hope vs disappointment. So instead of waiting until after dark to find out the outcome of the two Sabbath games I'd missed, I walked home with neighborhood guests who still subscribe to the print edition of the Washington Post. I only stayed for a few minutes -- just long enough to take a glance at the Astros-Rangers box score from Friday night. It was another high score by the opposing team. Another low score by the Astros. In short, another loss. 

Actually, I stayed an extra couple of minutes to take a look at the outcome of the Nats game. I'd actually listened to the first 5 innings of that game on the radio before the Sabbath started, while waiting for my dinner guests to arrive. (Sundown's really late this time of year.) It's discouraging when I am taking more interest in every fifth Nationals game -- the ones when Stephen Strasburg pitches, of course -- than the Astros game taking place at the same time. Strasburg did not get a win Friday night - the Nats gave him a lesson about run support (or lack thereof) - and he ended up with a no decision when they lost in extra innings. But he did pitch 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits, ten more strikeouts, and (unlike his last game) no walks. His 32 strikeouts in his first 3 starts sets a new record - no doubt one of many records he'll break in his rookie year, and in his career. I have never been so excited about a player before. Of course I'm in good company - everyone is nuts for Stephen Strasburg. 

Perhaps there is a connection between the Astros' horrible season and Strasburg's rookie year. It's pretty clear that this is not going to be a replay of 2005's bad start and miracle turnaround. Too little, too late... So why not take this pattern all the way -- let's just be this year's version of the Nats from the past couple of seasons. Let's be the worst team and get the first pick. Let's get our own Strasburg. Of course there's a small glitch in this plot: While there's a first pick in every year's draft, there may only be a prospect like Strasburg once in a generation. We'd have to be horrible and then extremely lucky. 

So far we're pretty horrible.

We should have had a chance to rebound from last weekend's NY humiliation with a trip to Kansas City. The Royals are barely better than the Astros, record-wise, with poor home turf performance. But we got off to an ominous start: In a game where the Astros batters scored 7 (count 'em - SEVEN! a blowout!) runs, their pitchers gave up 15 to the mediocre Royals. Oops. Luckily, we have Oswalt pitching every fifth day, giving us a rare chance to win. He came through with another quality start in Game 2, typical Wiz style: 100+ pitches, 7 innings, 2 runs on 6 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts. Lyon and Lindstrom threw a scoreless inning each, and the Astros won. Did I mention that they scored more than 2 runs?! Kudos to Jason Michaels, who got the start in left field as El Cab DH'ed. JMike was responsible for 3 of the Astros' 4 runs. In Game 3, Brett Myers looked to be on the path for a pretty hot game of his own, holding the Royals scoreless for 6 innings, while the Astros sat on a pair of first-inning runs. Myers started out the seventh with two quick outs, and then the wheels came off: Three singles and a home run later, the Astros were behind and never came back. Another series loss. Ho hum.

Even in a bad game, there can be interesting moments. In the case of the Game 3 loss, it was a bizarre play in which the umps called an out that never occurred, reversing a double play that should never have happened. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, the Royals had a runner on second base. The batter lined towards short, and Blum was there to field the ball that hit the dirt at his feet. It should have been a simple ground-ball play, but the umpire oddly called it an out, as if Blum had caught the ball. Blum then stepped on second to double up the runner, who had taken off towards third. The Astros fielders, recipients of a lucky bad call by the ump, left the field after the third out had apparently been made. 

But in a rare (unheard of?) event, the umps got together and decided to reverse the call, determining that Blum would have made the play at first if the original out call had not occurred. They called the batter out at first, although there had never been a throw, and awarded the runner third base. After a long delay and much arguing by both teams' managers, the game resumed. Ironically, the next play was a liner straight to Blum, who actually did catch the ball this time, for the third out. So no harm done, and the outcome was probably as fair as it could have been. But it did open up a whole can of worms about whether the umpires can get together and just reverse a wrong call. And if they can, why didn't they do that in the botched no-hitter a couple of weeks ago? (I bet Jim Joyce wished they did!) 

Meanwhile, it was time to come back home to take on a more formidable opponent in the annual Silver Boot matchup. The Rangers are leading their division, and came into this series on a winning streak. Of course the Astros wanted to be hospitable to their guests, so they allowed them to continue the streak in peace. Friday night's game -- the one I read about in a Washington Post box score -- was another in an ongoing series of really bad starts for Wandy. He's definitely not the same Wandy as last year! This was not just a case of poor run support. Wandy threw two easy innings and then fell apart in the third, giving up 6 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks. That was it for him for the night. Wesley Wright gave up another couple of runs in his two innings, and Daigle gave up another.  But the Astros had already lost it back in the third, never coming back out of the hole Wandy dug. He was rewarded with a loss - his league-leading tenth of the season. 

Moehler, pitching on Saturday night, had more to complain about in earning his loss. He pitched six innings, allowing a pair of runs on a 2-run homer -- the only hit he gave up. But his pals only eked out a single run (Bourn scored on a wild pitch), to earn poor Moe his 4th loss of the season. Lyon gave up 2 runs in the eighth, and Daigle gave up a his usual run in the ninth, but that was all just window dressing for the Rangers fans. 

On Sunday I went to an engagement party for some wonderful young friends. Between toasts and speeches, I took peeks at my Blackberry, happy to see that the Astros were maintaining a lead they'd grabbed with 4 runs in the first two innings. Nice for Paulino, who's been plagued with poor run support for most of the season. I got home just in time to see the Lindstrom blow a save opportunity in the ninth inning, setting up for Daigle to come in to pitch in the tenth. This was clearly going to be the kiss of death.  After four good appearances to start off his Astros career, Daigle had allowed runs in his last 4 games, starting with the grand slam he gave up to the Yankees and ending with the previous two games this weekend. He managed to put on the go-ahead run for the Rangers, and earned the loss when Chacin allowed that inherited runner to score. (I'm wondering if perhaps we shouldn't have signed Daigle's wife - softball pitcher Jennie Finch - instead?) I sure hope Chris Sampson is coming back from the DL soon. Anyway, foolish me to think that the Astros would end the week on a high note.

The Diamondbacks have now pulled ahead of us, leaving only the Pirates below us in the race to the NL Center. In the American League, the Orioles have a slam dunk claim on last place. Even if the Astros continue to play this kind of stinky baseball for the rest of the season, it may be a challenge to catch up with Baltimore for the worst-of-the-worst title. 

Remind me,  when is Strasburg pitching next?