Okay, That's More Like It!

The Astros and I are on the road this week. They are in Seattle, playing my parents' beloved Mariners, and I am in LA, playing with my beloved Reuben. Reuben's just two and half months old, and many of the Astros players these days are just a bit older than that. The nice thing about being on the West Coast is getting to watch live Astros games on mlb.tv without staying up half the night. Victory over time zones!

And victory over the Mariners too. Since the Astros only previous win was on opening day, which coincided with Passover, I hadn't gotten to see a single winning game yet this season. Last night's 16-9 blowout didn't make up for a week of losses, but it was pretty entertaining. Twenty-two hits, including 5 homers, was a nice change for a team that had only scored 9 runs in the previous 6 games. Reuben enjoyed watching the game with me, while his mom went to the gym to sweat off the last few ounces of babyfat. Actually, Reuben lost interest after the first 3 innings, and dozed through much of the rest.

Highlight of the game: Mighty Mouse Altuve got 4 hits, including a homer, with 4 RBI. Nice first start for pitcher Eric Bedard, who pitched 4 scoreless innings, before getting to his pitch limit. His teammates gave him nice support, and he left the game with a 13-0 lead. Not enough innings to qualify for the win -- that honor went to Paul Clemens, who just came up from Triple A for his chance in the bigs. His line for the night wasn't beautiful - he gave up 5 ERs on 6 hits, including 3 homers, in his 4 innings. But a first ML win is an accomplishment nonetheless!

Low point of the game: Brett Wallace struck out 4 times, giving him 17 Ks in 6 games, not an auspicious start. But it's still early days, and there's months and months to go. I don't expect this to be a playoff year, or even a winning season, it does have its moments.

We're going out to dinner tonight, so I will have to sneak peeks at the last game of the series on my iPhone. Dare I hope for a series win?