GAMES 35-37: Do You Think Oswalt Still Ain't Mad???

GAME 35 - May 14: Giants 8, Astros 2
GAME 36 - May 15: Giants 2, Astros 1
GAME 37 - May 16: Giants 4, Astros 3

"I feel pretty good. My mechanics wasn't as good as it was last start, but good enough to lose." (Oswalt, on the Astros squandering another terrific start and leaving him stuck with the loss)

I've decided not to write much about these games. Too sad - especially the way the Astros let the Wiz get stuck with a loss in Saturday afternoon's game. I didn't watch it. I've made a new rule this season: I only watch the Sabbath games on the mlb.tv archive if the Astros win. I read about it though, and that made me glad that I was not watching it live, when the Astros loaded the bases in the ninth inning and didn't score.  Kaz Matsui stayed alive for 15 pitches, but then made the last out. I was watching today's game when Matsui came in to pinch bat in the ninth inning, with runners on the corners and two down. He made the last out again. I don't expect to see Matsui again after this season.

Carlos Lee got two hits in today's game, including a home run. He's still batting under .200.

I spent about 8 hours working in the garden today, planting the tomatillos and tomatoes and chiles. It was hot dirty work, and I'm pretty trashed out. I think I'll just publish this now and write about the Astros when it's more fun to talk about.

And oh, by the way, guys - try to win tomorrow. I'll be at the game in LA.

GAMES 32-34: Rare Bird Sighting

GAME 32 - May 11: Astros 6, Cardinals 3
GAME 33 - May 12: Astros 9, Cardinals 6
GAME 34 - May 13: Astros 4, Cardinals 1

Hey Bird Watchers! Here's something you don't see very often: Swept-Away Cardinals pooping in their own nest!

Yes, the worst team in the National League beat the best one, three games in a row. These weren't even close games - the Astros won each of them by a three run margin (although with Pulols & Co, that's not always helpful). They didn't look at all like losers: For the most part, the batters were hitting, the pitchers were pitching, the infield was double-playing, and Michael Bourn was doing his circus act in center field. The Astros took advantage of clutch situations and gifts (8 of their runs in the first two games were unearned, scored as a result of some of the Cardinal's 5 errors), worked their way out of jams, and (gasp!) hit a few home runs!

One of the most exciting things about this series was seeing Berkman coming back to normal - in these three games, he went 5 for 9,  including 2 homers and a double, plus 4 walks (all in Game 2). Over the Astros' current 4-game winning streak, the Puma has raised his batting average from .175 to .239. Obviously, this isn't a batting average he'd be happy with, but a 64 point rise in 4 games is certainly a sign of going in the right direction!

It wasn't obvious at the start that this series would have such a happy ending. Up until the seventh inning, they were chugging along not scoring any runs and making Brad Penny look like another Cy Young candidate. Three up, three down. When they did get a runner, he was erased by a double play or caught stealing. We all know this routine by now. Brett Myers gave up some hits and walks in his 6 inning start, but pitched out of trouble and managed to keep the Cards to only 2 runs.

Then the miracle happened: Down 2-0, with one out in the 7th inning, Carlos Lee managed to get on base, courtesy of a throwing error. At this point El Cabernet will take whatever comes his way. Pence doubled, pushing  Lee around to third. Two runners in scoring position with only one out - you gotta score in that scenario!  Blum was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Uh-oh. You don't gotta score in that situation - you're just a double play away from a big fat nuthin'... Up comes Tommy Manzella, who's been blowing us away with his nice fielding, but not looking quite big league at the plate. But no problem - he gets the sac fly to make cut the Cards' lead in half. Mills then brought in Corey Sullivan to pinch hit for Cash. Sullivan's a veteran, but hasn't been much of a bat this year -- but he lined to left to bring in Pence, tying it 2-2. Then Quintero came in to pinch hit for the pitcher, and he hit a single to left, scoring Blum to give the Astros a 3-2 lead. An error by the catcher allowed Sullivan to get to third, positioned to score when Bourn bunted his way into an RBI hit. That was all the fun that the Astros had in the seventh, but compared to a lot of recent games, it was a pretty huge accomplishment.

The Cards came back to make some noise in the bottom of the inning. Fulchino allowed the first two batters to get on base on a single and walk, got the next guy to fly out, then gave up a run on a single. That brought Pujols to the plate with 2 runners on and only one out - a recipe for a game changing play. Mills make the swap for ground-ball pitcher Chris Sampson, who did just what he was supposed to do: Two ground balls later the Astros were out of trouble, with the score 4-3. But there was more fun to come in the eighth -- Berkman and Pence hit solo homers to bump the Astros to a 6-3 lead, which Lyon and Lindstrom preserved for the win.

Game 2 was a sloppy slugfest, with the two teams combining for 15 runs, 20 hits, 9 walks, and 3 errors. But the Astros managed to piece together four consecutive scoring innings on Wandy's watch, allowing him to get a rare win. It was about time - in his first 6 starts of the season, his teammates had only come up with 7 runs for Wandy. Wandy knew that pitching well wouldn't necessarily be enough; he'd have to pitch in with his bat to ensure a win. And he did -- he got a single, hit a RBI sac fly, and scored twice.

Most of the runs scored in a the 5-run fourth inning, with an error again playing a big role. Feliz led off with a single. Another fielding error by the shortstop allowed Quintero to reach. Manzella struck out for the first out. Wandy bunted, but the play was made at third. Two outs, runners on first and second... Or should I say, only two outs? Lots of fun still to come! Bourn singled to load the bases and Kepp doubled to clear them. Berkman then hit a 2-run homer, to make the run total 5 for the inning. Lee flied out (his specialty this season) to kill the action. The homer was the Puma's only hit in the game, but that didn't limit his base time -- he walked in all of his other 4 at bats.

Wandy pitched really well in the first 5 innings, holding the Cards to a single unearned run. By the time he came to the mound in the bottom of the sixth, with that  9-1 lead, he might have been a little overwhelmed. He gave back 4 runs, on a 2 singles, 2 doubles, a walk, and an RBI ground ball. He left the game with a four run lead, 9-5, but as I tweeted during the game, you can never trust the Cards not to come back and bit you. All it takes is a walk and a bloop single and an error or hit batter and before you know it you've got Pujols at bat with the bases loaded... But happily, that didn't happen in this game. Sampson pitched a scoreless seventh. Wilton Lopez threw a terrific 10-pitch eighth inning. After inducing a ground out to the first batter, he struck out the next two on six swinging strikes. In the ninth, Lopez came back to the mound and quickly erased the first two batters. But after he gave up a pair of singles, with Pujols coming up to bat, Mills called for his closer. Maybe he could have just left Lopes on the mound; Linstrom gave up a double to Pujols, scoring one run, and chiseling the Astros' lead down to 3 runs. But Holliday lined out to end the threat, and the Astros won 9-6.

With the series win assured, and on a 3-game winning streak, the Astros were pumped up for an afternoon game Thursday. I was at work, taking sneak peeks at the score between meetings, so by the time I made it home Thursday night, I already knew that the Astros had won. It could be a coincidence, or it could be that Bud Norris just has the Cards' number. Either way, the rookie came up against veteran pitching star Chris Carpenter in what should have been a mismatch. Instead, Bud Lite pitched 8 stellar innings to get his fourth win (and no losses) against the Cards. He gave up only 1 run on 6 hits, no walks, and 8 strikeouts. Lindstrom pitched a scoreless ninth for the save (#9).

Meanwhile, as Roy and Wandy can attest, pitching a terrific game doesn't mean you won't get a loss. Your team needs to score you some runs. Once again, the Astros did that with a Big Inning. In this game, they scored all 4 of their runs in that big third inning. Norris led off by grounding out. Bourn walked, then advanced to second on Kepp's single. The Puma singled to score Bourn. Lee popped a ball up, and the umps called the Infield Fly Rule for the second out. Apparently, there was a bit of chatter between El Cab and Chris Carpenter (known to be kind of an edgy prima donna on the mound), which resulted in both benches and both bullpens to empty out in the strangest on-field tussle I've ever seen. All the players just kind of milled about, no pushing or scrapping. Then they all went back. Happily, it was apparently enough to distract Carpenter, who gave up a 3-run homer to Pence. That was all the scoring action the Astros could pull off, but with the terrific pitching by Norris and Lindstrom, nothing more was required to complete the sweep.

Astros swept up the Cardinals' droppings and advanced three games in the division standings. Of course, they are still down in last place. But it sure was good to win big against the Card to start this long road trip. Now out West to SF and LA...

GAMES 28-31: When Do We Start Turning this Ship?

GAME 28 - May 6: Diamondbacks 6, Astros 3
GAME 29 - May 7: Padres 7, Astros 0
GAME 30 - May 8: Padres 2, Astros 1
GAME 31 - May 9: Astros 4, Padres 3

The Astros managed to eke out a happy ending for their pink-bat Mothers Day game with what's starting to be kind of a rare occasion: A win. This one was courtesy of an eleventh inning walk off double by Hunter Pence. It may not have been an ideal win, coming three innings too late to reward Roy Oswalt for his seventh quality start of the season. On the other hand, they didn't stick him with a loss this time. Oswalt pitched eight innings, in hopes that if he stayed around long enough, maybe the guys would score a few runs for him. Lee and Pence hit back-to-back homers in the sixth, but it wasn't quite enough to get a win for the Wiz. In his 8 innings, Oswalt gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk, striking out 9. The three runs he allowed all came in a very contentious fifth inning, resulting in the ejection of Brad Mills by the home plate ump. It was the same umpire who had ejected Michael Bourn last night, over a play at first base. Bourn might really have been out last night, but the strike zone today was pretty erratic.

The really good news in today's win was the unusually hot bats of the very guys on the team that ought to have them -- Berkman, Lee, and Pence. Pence went 3 for 5, with a homer and that game-winning double. Lee hit a solo homer and a single, and Berkman hit a double and a single. The other really good news was excellent relief pitching by Lindstrom (2 scoreless innings), and Lyon (1 perfect 5-pitch inning), who got the win.

Just about the only nice thing I can say about the preceding three games, all losses, was that Paulino pitched a beautiful game (Astros.com said "dazzling") on Saturday, throwing 7 innings, giving up 2 runs (only one earned) on 5 hits, no walks, and 11 strikeouts. Lyon and Lindstrom combined in that game for two scoreless innings to keep the Astros in the running, but the Astros only managed to score once on 3 measly hits. I saw the end of this game after the Sabbath ended last night.

On the other hand, I didn't even bother to watch Friday night's shutout.  Norris only lasted 4 innings, throwing 94 pitches, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits (including 2 homers) and 3 walks, and striking out 7. The bullpen was mostly very good. Chacin pitched 2 scoreless innings, and Sampson threw a perfect seventh (his ERA is down to 1.38).  Fulchino finished up the game with a scoreless ninth, striking out 2. But Wilton Lopez got tagged for a pair of runs in the eighth. Not that it mattered much - the Astros had lost the game back when Bud Lite gave up the first Padre run in the second inning. Houston batters only managed to get three hits -- a double (Matsui) and a pair of singles (Lee and Feliz). Not even a walk. Not a game I'd go back and watch just for fun.

I did see the final game of the Dback series back on Thursday night. If I'd thought that the happy ending the night before (Lee's walkoff homer) was going to start a trend, that was not the case. I'd like to think today's win will start a trend. But after an off day tomorrow, the Astros are heading for St Louis for the start of an 8-game road trip.

The Astros are dead last in the whole NL in nearly every batting category. With their 10-21 record, they are just about on target to start the season with a 2005-matching 15-30 record. We all know where that led - straight to the pennant. Now all we need is for the Houston Chronicle to run a tombstone with "RIP ASTROS SEASON" to get us on the right track.

GAME 27: El Caballo - Not El Cabrito!

GAME 27 - May 5: Astros 4, Diamondbacks 2

Maybe he was just waiting for Cinco de Mayo? Well, put on a big sombrero and dance! El Caballo finally found his swing and launched a nice fat homer. And he couldn't have found a more dramatic time to do it: With an 8 game losing streak pushing the Astros deeper into the NL cellar, they were tied in the bottom of the ninth when he let loose. Lee had already grounded out 3 times in the game. When he came up to bat with Matsui on first and no outs, I was kind of thinking that maybe they'd have him bunt Matsui over and hope that the Puma could do something. That would have been an interesting surprise - but given how little experience he has bunting in games, he'd probably screw it up. Mills said "swing away," and so he did. It wasn't some cheap shot into the Crawford Boxes either - it was a big blast, nearly 400 feet. (The picture of Lee below is from Spring Training, not this game - just a little mood music.)

Good Astros pitching: Myers pitched 7 innings in a quality start, keeping the Astros in the game against a team that averages more than 5 runs per game. Lyon threw a perfect 5-pitch eighth. Lindstrom gave up a couple of hits, but eked it out, positioning himself for the W when Lee did his thing in the bottom of the ninth.

Other honors in this game: Manzella hit his first homer in the big leagues, with a 2 run blast in the second inning. And Bourn was ridiculous in center field, with a pair of terrific catches in the seventh inning.

So now the big question is: Can Lee remember how to do that again? 

GAMES 25-26: Roy Ain't Mad...?

GAME 25 - May 3: Diamondbacks 9, Astros 1
GAME 26 - May 4: Diamondbacks 1, Astros 0

"I ain't mad. It's part of the game, I guess." (Roy O, after being stuck with another loss)

It's really kind of an amazing accomplishment: Only 26 games into the season, the Astros have managed to pull off TWO eight-game losing streaks. But in between those two streaks, they won 8 of their 10 games and looked like winners. (It helped that they played the Pirates during that phase.) To keep that pattern going, the Astros should break into another winning phase, but it beats me how they plan to turn things around. They look so totally complacent about losing.

Take last night's 1-0 loss. Oswalt pitched yet another beautiful game: Seven innings, giving up 1 run (solo homer) on 5 hits, striking out 8. Vintage Wizard. He even got a hit, after a 13 pitch at bat (arguably the Astros best at-bat of the game). And vintage Astros too - squandering both Oswalt's pitching and his hit in another shutout. I guess if Oswalt ain't mad, I ain't either. But it's got to be pissing him off. He's started six games so far this year, all considered quality starts, with a 2.48 ERA to show for it - and a 2-4 record. Something is just not quite right there.

By the way, batting .222, Oswalt's got a higher BA than Lee, Berkman, Pence, Manzella, and Quintero. Okay, I think we might have figured out what that not-quite-right something might be. In yesterday's shutout, the Astros combined for 8 hits plus 2 walks, but left 7 runners stranded in scoring position. The missed opportunities started in the first inning: Carlos Lee came up to bat with Bourn on third and one out. Perfect time for that fly ball that he's perfected (in lieu of homers) this season. But he walked. Berkman struck out. Pence grounded out. Astros added 0 runs to their MLB last-place collection.

Somehow the Astros offense makes every opposing pitcher look like a Cy Young Award contender, even kids just pitching their first major league games. Take Game 1 of the series: The Dbacks put major league newbie Cesar Valdez on the mound. It was his big league debut - what a chance for a big game! But nope, the Astros didn't want to hurt the feelings of a bright young man. In his 5 innings (good for the win), they got only one run on 5 hits, 3 walks, and a hit batter. Plenty of chances. Astros left 8 runners stranded in scoring position. They are just too charitable. Meanwhile, Paulino, Byrdak, Gervacio, and Moehler had a real bad time - enough said. Brydak ended up on the DL and Gervacio was sent down to Round Rock.

A few more team changes: Quintero caught for Oswalt last night, the first time this year that JR Towles wasn't behind the plate for the Wiz. Turns out that JR's not just sitting out a game, after some reported communication issue - he's been sent down to Corpus Christi. He must be really upset at being sent to a Double A team, but if the goal is to give him a chance to play, Round Rock already has a catcher who's going to get most of the starts - Jason Castro. (Heir) apparently, Castro's not yet ready for the bigs -- the Astros brought up veteran Kevin  Cash to fill in.

Not sure if any of these changes will have a positive impact on the team. But the Astros aren't exactly in a position to just rest on their laurels, are they?

GAMES 22-24: ...and When She Was Bad, She was Horrid...

GAME 22 - April 30: Braves 4, Astros 2
GAME 23 - May 1: Braves 10, Astros 1
GAME 24 - May 2: Braves 7, Astros 1

Let's just say that the 2010 Astros are not a team that is blessed with consistency when it comes to wins and losses. They lost the first 8 games of the season, then won 8 out of the next 10, then they were swept in two consecutive series. First it was the Reds, who had been swept by the Pirates, who were then swept by the Astros.  (What does that say about the NL Central Division?) And now the Astros have been swept by the Braves, who were just coming off a nine-game losing streak. This is not pretty.

The Astros are actually very consistent when it comes to offense stats - they're at the bottom of the league in just about every batting category. With very few exceptions (namely, Bourn and Kepp) the rest of the lineup is spectacularly underachieving. I'm stretching my imagination to figure out how Carlos Lee could be batting under .200 a month into the season, with only 5 RBIs and no home runs. Our $100M slugger has a slugging stat of under .250. Lee might have a bit of a slacker reputation, but Pence? He's a really hard worker, who had a good Spring Training, yet he's only batting .213. At least he has a couple of homers. Berkman's had a slow start, but he's only been off the DL for less than 2 weeks, so I cut him some slack. I didn't expect anything from either Matsui or Towles, but I'd kind of hoped for someone on the team to bat over .200.

Other than the scores, which are listed at the top, I'm not going to bother to write up this weekend's depressing games. I came home from work on Friday feeling sick, and spent Saturday lying on the couch, hoping that I'd at least have one or even two good ball games to watch after the Sabbath ended. When I saw the results, I went back to the couch. I only watched one play from either of those games - Pence's homer-robbing leaping catch from Friday night's game. By Sunday, the antibiotics were kicking in, but I was still under the weather and feeling too puny to rally much optimism for a big turnaround. So in a strange way, the Astros didn't disappoint me by losing. Let's see, what to like in today's loss...? Lee got a pair of hits - but they were both singles. Bourn and Kepp each hit a single and a double - but that's not a surprise. They're the only consistently good batters in the lineup so far. And, oh yeah, after Norris melted down, the bullpen was totally solid. Fulchino threw two 1-2-3 innings, with 4 Ks.

The only optimistic message I can take from the double-sweeps is this: With their record now at 8-16, the Astros are perfectly poised to repeat their historic 2005 15-30 season start. And we all know how that ended - the Astros won the NL Pennant. (Let's just ignore for a minute the fact that the 2005 team featured a rotation with Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Roy Oswalt.) We might stink, but we are not yet mathematically eliminated. 

GAMES 19-21: All the King's Horses and All the King's Men...

GAME 19 - April 27: Reds 6, Astros 2
GAME 20 - April 28: Reds 6, Astros 4
GAME 21 - April 29: Reds 4, Astros 2

It looked so good to start. Bud Lite got a couple of strikeouts in the top of the first. Leading off, Bourn was hit by a pitch, stole second, made it to third on an errant throw, and scored on a sac fly. First run scored without a hit or a walk. Bourn seems to manufacture bases faster than Schutts Sports (official supplier to MLB). I was thinking that this game might be fun.

That was all the fun for a while. Norris had some really good stuff, but ran up a big pitch count early, with strikeouts, full counts, and lots of foul balls. After 5 innings he had given up a pair of runs on 3 hits, 4 walks, and  a hit batsman, and his pitch count was in the high 80s. He allowed singles to the first three batters, with one run scoring, in the sixth before Mills yanked him. This wasn't one of those days where the bullpen was lights out. Fulchino's line looks clean - 1 hit, no ER - but Bud's other 2 runners scored on his watch. Byrdak pitched a perfect seventh inning. Gervacio, just back from a stint on the DL, didn't really seem to be his usual self in the eighth. He gave up a 5 pitch walk to the leadoff batter, Orlando Cabrera, who advanced to second on a ground out. Sammy Whiplash seemed to forget about him, and Cabrera took the opportunity to steal third, and then scored when Sammy balked. Meanwhile, the Astros squandered their chances to score against Harang. That's just how it went in the first game of the Reds series.

And in the second game... More of the same. Too little too late.

And in the third game, as the Astros were swept away to end their homestand. They failed to support Roy O, who came back from bulldozing his parents' tornado-destroyed house, just to pitch another quality start for a loss. More of the same. Too little too late. Enough said; it's no fun write about games like these, and it's no fun to read about them either.

So it all went full circle: The Pirates swept the Reds, then the Astros swept the Pirates, then the Reds swept the Astros. What does that say about the NL Central division?

Luckily, the Astros were off next to Atlanta, to play against the hapless Braves who had lost 9 in a row. What good timing to get back on a winning pace. Only (I'm publishing this post on Sunday, so I already know what happened),  they didn't....