GAMES 71-76: A Hot Week in Texas (Fahrenheit)

GAME 71 - June 22: Giants 3, Astros 1

GAME 72 - June 23: Astros 6, Giants 3

GAME 73 - June 24: Astros 7, Giants 5

GAME 74 - June 25: Astros 7, Rangers 4

GAME 75 - June 26: Rangers 7, Astros 2

GAME 76 - June 27: Rangers 10, Astros 1

Bonus Game: June 23: Royals 1, Nationals 0 (Strasburg's first loss)

I wasn't the only one who was excited, watching Tuesday night's game as the Astros fielded their new "young" team with Roy Oswalt on the mound facing Tim Lincecum for the third time this season. Alyson Footer tweeted that she was excited too, and some of the usuals I hang out with on Twitter chimed in. We were all hoping that fresh blood, plus Oswalt's reliable arm, would translate into at least a little more fun from the limping Astros. Or better yet, a win for Roy O, who had lost to Lincecum in both previous starts, despite quality starts. Alas, it turned out to be much ado about pretty much nothing that night, as the Astros failed to turn 7 hits (including Jason Castro's first ever), 2 walks, and 3 Giant errors into any meaningful run support for the Wiz. Chris Johnson, Jason Castro, and Tommy Manzella were all in the starting lineup, but other than that, the game went just about the same as so many of Oswalt's starts -- quality pitching, no offense, a loss. Adding injury to insult, Manzella broke his finger on a diving fielding play, and he'll be out for at least six weeks on the DL. It was the seventh loss in a row against the Giants this year, and the fifth game in the Astros latest losing streak. Things were not looking good for this series.

However, the rest of the series was a lot more exciting, as the Astros pulled out a series victory on a pair of sloppy but ultimately winning games. In these two games, Houston players made 6 errors (3 in each), not to mention other fielding miscues that didn't wind up getting the honor of being called errors. Of the Giants' 3 runs on Wednesday and 5 on Thursday, 6 were unearned, courtesy of the Astros' unusually messy fieldwork. Although the newbies accounted for some of the mess (Johnson made 2 fielding errors at third  and Castro had a passed ball on Wednesday), it wasn't all their fault. Myers sailed a pickoff, Feliz threw astray, and Blum made two fielding errors from his not-best position at short stop (substituting for Manzella). There was an odd tossing match that turned what looked like a double play into two safe runners. Not that I ever insult the Astros, but there was some tweeting by others that used terms like "little league."

Despite all this mess on the field, the Astros managed to come through with a boatload of base runners, and enough of them crossed the plate to beat the Giants. Houston managed 11 hits plus 3 walks on Wednesday, including doubles by Berkman, Kepp, and Johnson. Myers threw another nice start - 7 innings, giving up 3 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts, and tried to ensure his win with a pair of singles, an RBI, and a run of his own. Lyon and Lindstrom came in behind him to pitch scoreless eighth and ninth innings for the save.

On Thursday, the Astros made sure Wandy had a chance to return from his recent malaise by scoring 7 runs in the first 3 innings, including a 3-run homer by Pence in the first, and Castro's first major league dinger, a solo bomb in the second. They didn't manage to pull off any more scoring after the third inning, but Wandy looked more like his old self from last year. He threw six innings, giving up 2 unearned runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. Sampson, Brydak, and Lopez combined to pitch the seventh inning, resulting in 2 more unearned runs, before Lyon and Lindstrom came in to finish. Our closer wanted to make sure we were properly hepped up for the series win, so he gave up a run on 3 hits in the ninth before ending the game with a 3 pitch strikeout. 

On that cheerful note, the Astros zipped off to spend a very hot and humid weekend in Arlington to resume their annual loss of the Silver Boot to the Rangers. After being swept last weekend, it would only take one loss to accomplish this milestone and the Rangers were on an 11 game tear. But the Astros didn't just give it away. When I turned on my computer after the Sabbath ended last night, I expected to see the usual pair of Friday/Saturday losses. I had even saved a Samurai Sudoku for a baseball free evening. But to my surprise, the Astros had beat the Rangers on Friday night. The Rangers had 13 hits, three walks, and a pair of Houston errors to work with, but amazingly, the Astros pulled off a win. They did it with 14 hits of their own, including the Puma's first home run in recent history, and a little help from 3 Giants errors. All in all, it was quite a messy game on a rainy night, lasting almost 4 hours. (Watching the game after the Sabbath ended, I didn't get to bed until almost 2 AM.) It was a very good night for our newbie third baseman, Chris Johnson -- he went 4 for 5, driving in 3 runs. Jason Bourgeois got his first start in left field, with Carlos Lee at DH. He went 1 for 4, with a walk and a stolen base.  Quintero was back behind the plate, with no apparent problem from being hit in the head with a bat last week. With all this fun, Moehler managed to eke out a win, his first of the season, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings on the mound. Sampson, Chacin, Lopez, and Lindstrom combined to keep the Rangers from stealing the win.

Saturday afternoon's scorcher of a game (around 100 on the field for the afternoon match) ended the contention for the Silver Boot. The Astros fielded their junior team, with Johnson, Castro, Bourgeois, and Navarro in the starting lineup, and Josh Banks (just up from Triple A to replace Paulino) on the mound. Bourgeois,  leading off in place of Bourn, went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a pair of stolen bases. Jason Michaels, starting in left (with Lee still DHing), hit a 2-run homer in the fourth for Houston's only scoring action. Banks had all the fun he's going to get on this trip to the bigs -- he only lasted 4 innings, giving up 6 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks. After the game, Mills charitably summed up the outing by saying "He gave us an outing that at least kept us in the ball game and gave us a chance to win." But really, how often do the Astros win when the bad guys score 6 or more? Maybe it was just the heat. However, with Bud Norris back from DL, Banks was designated for assignment.

Today's game didn't start until 8 my time, when the temp in Arlington had dropped down to about 98 degrees. I looked forward to watching Roy O pitch all day, thinking that we might pull another series win out of the hat and end this week with a net plus. But after a nice quick 1-2-3 first inning, the Wiz melted down, allowing 8 runs in under 5 innings. The Rangers basically treated the Astros pitchers like they were throwing batting practice, while Houston couldn't do more than 6 scattered singles. Final score 10-1. Enough said.

Happily this concludes inter-league play for the season. Another losing record, after being stuck playing the Yankees and the Rangers (twice) -- the two top teams in the American League. There's something seriously unfair about inter-league schedules. 

In other baseball news, my favorite non-Astro player Stephen Strasburg got to experience the reality of playing for a losing team. After a no-decision in his last start, he pitched a terrific game on Wednesday -- 95 pitches over 6 innings in a blazing late afternoon game, giving up 1 run on 9 hits and 9 strikeouts, with no walks. What in the world are the Nats thinking, starting the game at 4:30 instead of 7, when it's in the high 90s? Who wants to sit outside and bake, even to see Strasburg? Apparently lots of people - the paid attendance was almost 32,000. Compare that to 21,000 the night before. Unfortunately, those who braved the heat to see Strasburg win were disappointed. The Nats didn't manage to score at all. After a day off, they managed to be swept by the Orioles (!!!) over the weekend. Now that's BAD.