GAMES 139-143: Too Many Games to Watch - Even for Me!

GAME 139 - September 9: Astros 4, Cubs 0 (Happy Birthday, Marissa and Ariella!)
GAME 140 - September 10: Astros 4, Dodgers 3
GAME 141 - September 11: Dodgers 4, Astros 2 [11 innings]
GAME 142 - September 12: Dodgers 6, Astros 3
GAME 143 - September 13: Astros 7, Dodgers 3

Sunday Morning: When I turned on my computer after the Sabbath ended, I realized that catching up on the three days of games I'd missed during the Rosh Hashanah/Sabbath combo would be an impossible task. So I watched the end of last night's game live, and then just browsed the boxes and writeups of the others. Maybe I'll try to catch a few innings of the other games before this afternoon's finale against the Dodgers. Can't miss that - Brad Ausmus will be the starting catcher for LA. I read online that Ausmus would be interested in a future role with the Astros, the team that he played most of his long career with. Now wouldn't that be an interesting combo -- Ausmus and Bagwell in the dugout together, managing and coaching the team. Maybe start by brining in Ausmus as the pitching coach, and then move him up to manager? Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself - for today, at least, he's playing for the enemy.

The Astros did very well on Rosh Hashanah. Wednesday night they shut out the Cubs 4-0 to win the series in Chicago, behind the incredibly consistent Brett Myers. Retiring the first 14 batters he faced, Myers took a perfect game into the fifth inning, then went on to complete 7 innings -- his 29th consecutive 6+ inning start. Abad, Lindstrom, Brydak, and Lopez combined to finish off the other two innings for the win. On the offense, Pence hit another homer (#23), and CJ, Kepp, and Q each got a pair of hits and an RBI.

Second night of Rosh Hashanah, the Astros went back home to start a 4-game series against the Dodgers. The player of the game, for good and bad, was Chris Johnson. CJ started out the game by making a fielding error, setting the stage for a 2-run homer that put the Astros behind. He struck out in 3 of his 4 at bats. All in all, it would have been a night to forget. But in the sixth inning, with Pence and Lee on base, CJ smoked a fast ball 417 feet, over the railroad tracks in left field, to give the Astros a 3-2 lead. Meanwhile, after that first inning homer, Bud Lite didn't give the Dodgers much to play with and finished up with 6 innings of 3 hit ball, striking out 7. Chacin loaded up the bases in the seventh inning on a single and a pair of walks, but Melancon finished off the inning with no damage to the Astros slim lead. Melancon then threw a scoreless eighth, and Lyon got the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Friday night, while we had a nice Sabbath dinner with the Fainchteins, the Astros were dueling with the Dodgers for 11 innings of a low-scoring game. Houston's starter Happ had a tough battle in his 5 innings, giving up 7 hits, but only a single run. Mills then used 8 Astros pitchers over the next 6 innings. With the score still tied 2-2, September callup Fernando Abad gave up a 2-run homer in the 11th inning. With 2 outs and a runner on first, Mills brought in Henry Villar for his big league debut. He prompt made a fielding error to put a second runner on, but then struck out the next batter to end the threat. On the little offense that Houston mustered, Bourn went 3 for 5, with his pair of RBI singles accounting for all of the Astros' runs. The Astros had the perfect opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the tenth, when Bourn hit a one out triple. But ex-Astro closer Octavio Dotel got back-to-back swinging Ks against Kepp and Pence to prolong the agony. I can only imagine the collective groan of the 31,000 fans. More than 30K fans showing up for a team so far down in the standings? Shows you what an infusion of youth and winning will do -- even if it's too little, too late for the season.

I tuned into Saturday night's game after the Sabbath ended, just after the Dodgers had scored 3 in the fourth inning with a homer and three singles. That was pretty much all that LA could do against Wandy, who settled down and stayed in for 7 innings, giving up just those 3 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 10 strikeouts. Meanwhile, his teammates scored one run for him in the fourth, when Bourn tripled, and then scored on Keppinger's single. Then they got two more runs in the fifth, starting with Brett Wallace's leadoff homer (#2), then a pair of singles, a sac bunt by Wandy, and Bourn's ground out RBI. That tied it up 3-3, but the Astros didn't manage to score again on Wandy's watch, leaving him with a No-D for his trouble. Given how much work the bullpen had in Saturday night's game, Mills went for his closer in the ninth, even though the score was tied. But this wasn't Lyon's night, starting with a 3-2 walk to kick off the inning. Then a bunt was misplayed by Wallace (scored as a single) put a second runner on. Another sac bunt... and this time it was Lyon who misplayed it with a wild throw, scoring the tie-breaking run, and an extra one for good measure -- a 2 run error, leaving a runner on third with no outs. That was it for Lyon. Brydak gave up a fly ball to right, which bounced off Pence's glove. By the time Bourn fielded it, it was a called a double, not an error on Pence. But even if Pence had caught it, the runner on third would have scored. That run was just gravy anyway, as the Astros didn't put up a fight in the bottom of the ninth.

What do these 4 games have in common? Same answer as most of my other blogs in the last month or two -- solid starting pitching that has allowed the team to get into late innings either leading or tied. That doesn't necessarily lead to starting pitchers with a pile of wins, with so many games either won or lost after the starters were done. But it does mean that going forward into a better-luck next year, the Astros have some nice talent to choose from.

I need to put in a few hours of work this morning, so I can free up in time for the first pitch at 2 this afternoon... More later!

Sunday @ 5:30: For about an inning, it looked like Houston might have one of those wild runaway train extravaganzas, with double digit runs, and all kinds of fun. The Astros batted around in the first inning, with Hunter Pence's 2 run homer in a starring role. Four runs scored, and we're already thinking "blowout." However, as I tweeted to whoever might be following:

  "Dodgers on their 2nd pitcher in the 2nd inning. But don't get too smug Astros Fans! We've lost one of these 4 run first inning games before"

I wasn't actually predicting that they'd go off and try to DO that. Just about then, I noticed that Roy O was about to pitch the ninth inning of a 3-0 game against the *(^&*% Mets (my least favorite team). So I decided that with that nice 4-run lead, Nelson Figueroa could just hold the fort while I watched the Wiz secure a complete-game shutout. Oswalt did great, got the win, putting the Phillies in sole ownership of the NL East (at least until the Braves play tonight). It's just what Oswalt wanted - to play for a contender, to make a difference. He's been pitching great, has made a difference for the Phillies -- more power to him. I'll cheer for him, as long as he's not playing the Astros. That game over, I returned to the Astros game, and find that the 4-game lead is now evaporated, and that it's now a tie. Geez! I take my eyes off them for a lousy half inning, and look what happens!

So, not a blowout, not a walk in the park, not a slam-bam done-deal. Instead it looks like it's going to be  another close game, tie game, wait-until-the-last-minute game. Figueroa didn't make it out of the fifth inning, leaving the game with two outs and two on, no chance to win it, but still a chance to lose. These days, a rarity - not a quality start. Chacin came in, walked the next batter to load the bases, and then got that third out to end the threat. For his one-third inning bit of work, Chacin ended up being the pitcher of record when the Astros put a pair of runs on the board with a trio of doubles (Wallace, Castro, Blum) in the bottom of the inning. Carlos Lee, who had passed up a chance or two for real heroics earlier in the game, hit a solo homer in the eighth inning to give the Astros a nice calm 3 run lead. Brydak, Fulchino, Abad, Lindstrom, and Lyon combined for the other 4 innings, shutting down the Dodgers on just 2 hits.

So the Astros tied the series with a comfortable win. I was thinking that, if it really did turn into a blowout, they could afford the luxury of pulling a Mike Hampton deal on Ausmus -- throwing him a nice fat fastball over the plate and letting him take his chances. Sure enough, Ausmus came up in the ninth inning, but it wasn't good buddy Hampton on the plate. Ausmus grounded out to Lyon to finish off his 0 for 4 day. He got a nice standing O from the Astros fans after his last Houston at-bat before retirement. Of course, many of us are hoping to see him back again soon, and not wearing a blue jersey next time.

With 19 games to go, the Astros are just 7 games under .500. They're not going anywhere near the playoffs, of course, but there's still a chance to finish the season in the win column. It would take a heroic run, but hey -- there's always something to hope for. Other things to hope for: Hunter Pence is at 84 RBI - can he reach 100? Carlos Lee too (he's at 83)? Let's also hope that Brett Myers throws a complete game tomorrow. The Dodgers series really wore out our bullpen! And while we're at it - peace in the Middle East? Okay, I'm being greedy. Bring on the Brewers!

GAMES 137-138: Happy New Year!

GAME 137 - September 6: Cubs 5, Astros 4
GAME 138 - September 7: Astros 7, Cubs 3

I'm going to have to write this blog up quickly, then get back to cooking for Rosh Hashanah. I won't be able to record the tie-breaker game for this Chicago series -- or even see the outcome -- until Saturday night after the double-header holiday/Sabbath combo ends.

I came home from work late tonight, turned on the computer, and logged into mlb.tv just in time to see Brett Wallace hit his first major league home run. Anyone who hears me rant and rave on Twitter will know that I've been predicting this milestone event in just about every game since Wallace started. So finally tonight I was right. Other features of this crazy win included:

* Michael Bourn going 1-2-3 (single, double, triple), with 2 runs, 3 RBI, and of course a stolen base.

* National League Player of the Week Hunter Pence hitting an RBI double.

* Nelson Figueroa getting another win, pitching 5 innings, giving up 3 runs.

* Then, Byrdak, Melancon, and Abad preserving his win with 4 totally lights-out innings.

Nice game. Luckily I keep my iMac on my kitchen counter, so I could watch while chopping onions, making soup, sauteeing veggies, making spicy tomato sauce, roasting beets, and a bunch of other stuff that will result in my Rosh Hashana guests actually getting a meal tomorrow evening.

Yesterday afternoon's game started out fun, with a 4-run second inning. I was hoping that was a sign of a blow out, but unfortunately, the run-scoring stopped there for the Astros. Meanwhile, the Cubs just kept creeping up on Wandy, tying it up in the fifth, and then getting the go-ahead run off of Lopez in the eighth. I think the turning point of the game for me was when Bourn doubled, and then Kepp was sent out to sac bunt in the fourth inning. Reminded me of the WAY-TOO-MANY wasted outs sacrificed under the previous management last year. Bourn was eventually tagged out at home, and spiked in the face for his troubles. The high point of the game was CJ's homer in the second inning. The low point was Brian Bogusevic's first big-league start, with a bunch of his Chicago buddies in the stands -- he had a pair of strikeouts, and hit into two double plays. Better luck next time, kid.

So don't look for any blog updates from me until Sunday, when I'll have 4 games to catch up on, not mentioning the one to be played that day. I'll be busy celebrating Rosh Hashana with family and friends. Happy New Year! Let's hope that this time next year, we'll look back on a wonderful year of health, happiness, prosperity -- and that the Astros will be on their way to the playoffs!

GAMES 134-136: A Cure for Snake Bite

GAME 134 - September 3: Dbacks 4, Astros 3
GAME 135 - September 4: Astros 6, Dbacks 5
GAME 136 - September 5: Astros 3, Dbacks 2

Another winning series for the Astros. It's always fun to win, even when you're not going to the playoffs. Even when the team you beat is in last place. The Snakes are not having a good year. If it weren't for Pittsburgh (already eliminated!), the Diamondbacks would be the worst team in the league. Astros fans can sympathize with that situation, having been there not long ago. But since we sold off our big stars and started playing the kids, we're having some fun. Hey - the Astros are only 8 games under .500 now. They could still finish with a winning season. That's my new ever-optimistic prediction.

Despite the Diamondback's lowly rank in the standings, they did come into this series having won 6 of their previous 7 games. So it wasn't a breeze, as you can see from the scores above. All three games were won or lost by a single run. Both of the Astros wins ended with the tying Diamondback run in scoring position.


Brett Myers is really getting to be a bore. He's so predictable this year. In Friday night's opener, he did what he always does: Pitched another 6 innings, his 28th consecutive 6+ inning start. With his ERA hovering around 3 and the consistency of his performances, he's become quite a reliable inning eater. All this good throwing isn't necessarily resulting in a big win record though, he's only 10-7, with Friday night's no decision illustrating why. His team mates got plenty of hits (11), but only plated single runs in 3 innings. Myers, who hit a double, was one of the runners who scored. The game went into the bottom of the 8th inning tied, before Wilton Lopez gave up an RBI sac fly for the winning Snake bite.

Norris did not have a quality start on Saturday night, but he was really only an unfortunate pitch away from one. With the game out West, when I tuned in at the end of the Sabbath, it was still in the first inning and the Astros had a quick 1-0 lead. The Dbacks tied it up in the bottom of the inning, and added another in the second. Things stayed tight at 2-1 until the fifth. Then, with 2 outs in the bottom of the inning, Bud Lite gave up a 3-run homer to give the Snakes a 5-1 lead. But this isn't your old roll-over-and-die Astros team from the past -- this is the new don't-cry-come-from-behind team! The Astros got one run back in the sixth (still leaving Bud holding the bag for a loss), and then knocked in four more in the eighth to take -- and keep -- the lead. The hero of the game was Carlos Lee, who has suddenly surged in RBIs into the respectable range, with 34 RBIs in the past 34 games. He may even hit 100 this year, go figure! (A comeback from El Cabernet would be a good thing, since we're stuck with him for 2 more years.)

Astros.com ran a headline for Sunday's game that said "Astros take lead early, never look back." Hah! I bet they were looking back over their shoulders the whole came, watching the Diamondbacks creeping up on them! Before the game, I was tweeting about how fun it would be if something special happened today -- a no-hitter, a blowout. Then when Pence hit a 3-run homer before the Astros had even logged their first out of the game, I was pretty hopeful for a massive pile of runs. That was not to be -- the Astros did put runners on base (including Sanchez on third, twice), but never scored again. Meanwhile, Happ allowed solo homers in the 3rd and 4th innings to make it a really close game. Happ kept the Diamondbacks quiet for the rest of his 7 innings, and the Lindstrom-Lyon duo took it from there.

Special mention for these games goes to Angel Sanchez, who got two singles Friday, a single and a triple on Saturday, and another triple on Sunday. Pence has been hitting well (and with power), including his 22nd homer on Sunday -- his BA is now over .290.

GAMES 131-133: It's Not in the Cards... for St Louis

GAME 131 - August 30: Astros 3, Cardinals 0
GAME 132 - August 31: Astros 3, Cardinals 0  (Happy Birthday Josh!)

GAME 133 - September 30: Astros , Cardinals 

September!!! It's still almost 100 outside, but the calendar says it's September. Fall's just around the corner. Baseball season's coming to a close -- for the Astros at least. Things have been quite entertaining recently, but that hole they dug at the beginning of the season will mean that our guys will be relaxing at home come October.

So now that we're playing the kids, the Astros have started to win. And not just against loser teams, either. First they swept the Phillies. Now the Cardinals. Two teams that now find themselves in second place in their divisions. The Astros may not be going to the playoffs but they are still a team that counts -- as a spoiler for those teams with aspirations of post-season fun and games. Baseball games, that is.

Who knows -- we may still end up with a winning season! We're just 9 games under .500, with 29 games still to go. And we were 8-2 in our last 10 games. Do the math. It's possible. (Note that we are not yet mathematically eliminated, but I'm not making any claims in that department. I'm not looking to be a total fool!)

So we swept the Cardinals this week, leaving them 8 games behind the Reds going into this weekend's series between the two teams. We won against St Louis the same way we've been winning against other teams -- with terrific starting pitching. This time it was the triumphant trio of Happ, Wandy, and Figeuroa who got the honors. Happ threw a complete game shutout on Monday night, giving up only 2 hits. It was a great comeback for him, after his previous embarrassing start against the Cardinals -- his only poor performance since joining the Astros. This time he was lights out. Vindication!

Wandy showed up Tuesday night, and nearly duplicated the performance, with 7 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits. It was a pretty stunning show against the formidable Chris Carpenter, who lost the duel on one 3-run inning. This continues a fantastic run for him in the second half -- his ERA is just 1.65 in his past 13 starts, with a 8-2 record.

Wednesday afternoon, Figueroa was quite a bit less dominating, but earned the win anyway. After allowing 2 runs in the first inning, he kept the Cards scoreless for another 4 innings, despite a couple of bases-loaded situations. The bullpen kept things going, and a big 3 run homer by Pence in the fifth made Figgy a winner.

The starting pitching has been outstanding, and the bullpen's no slouch either. The Astros hitters haven't exactly been tearing the cover off the ball -- the team is still in last or next to last place in nearly every offensive stat category. But there have been some players who've been hitting well. Pence is hitting hard, and has raised his batting average to .288 with 21 homers. Considering where he came from at the start of the season, that means some serious over .300 time since then. Even El Caballo is coming along, with a big string of August RBIs. More like the guy he better be to earn his massive paycheck over the next two years!

Now that it's September, there are some new faces in the clubhouse.  But I'll have to talk about that next time. Gotta light for Shabbat!!!

GAMES 128-130: I Hate the Mets!

GAME 128 - August 27: Mets 2, Astros 1
GAME 129 - August 28: Astros 4, Mets 1
GAME 130 - August 29: Mets 5, Astros 1

Before I realized that I'd be completely overwhelmed at the office in August and September (end of the government fiscal year blues), I had thought about going up to New York to see the Astros play the Mets. I thought that it would be a fun way to celebrate my son Josh's birthday, going to Brooklyn to hang out over the Sabbath with him and his pregnant wife Katie, then taking him out for a Sunday afternoon ballgame.  Josh is the only one of my kids who more than tolerates my love of The Game -- he came all the way to DC for the day to take me to an Astros-Nats game a couple of years ago. (Backe started, Astros won 5-0, temp was miserable - close to 100.

Anyway, I never actually got a chance to run this idea past Josh before I realized that I'd most likely have to be at the office on Sundays in August/September. But now I'm just as glad I didn't make it, given how disappointing today's game turned out. (I would have liked to see Katie with a big belly though!)

Overall it wasn't that bad a series, although the Astros came out on the short end. They continued their trend of solid starting pitching in the first two games. Despite a Friday night loss, Figueroa pitched another quality start - giving up only 2 runs (1 unearned) in 7 innings. His teammates weren't much help;  Mets' starter Mike Pelfrey shut them down for 8 innings. They got 9 hits, but only managed to eke out a single run in the 9th inning. Too little too late...

I tuned in after the Sabbath in time to see the Astros come out on top in Game 2 Saturday night. A little run support goes a long way for Myers, who did it again -- his 27th consecutive 6+ inning game. This time he threw 7 shutout innings, allowing 6 hits and a walk, striking out 6. The Astros batters defied Santana, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning, and another pair in the fifth for good measure. Carlos Lee, starting at first base, went 2 for 3 with a homer and 3 RBIs, and a couple of flat out (literally) good fielding plays. He's turned around quite a bit in the past few weeks. (He doesn't seem to be keeping up that Slacker title that my friend and fellow-blogger Austin bestowed on him.)

I was at work for 11 hours today, with Game 3 right in the middle of it. So I didn't get to see Bud Lite  break the streak of quality starts for Astros pitchers, giving up 5 runs by the time he came out in the sixth inning. All but 1 of the Mets' runs came in a 4 run second inning, featuring 2 walks, a double, and 2 singles. The Astros got plenty of base runners on 9 hits and 2 walks, but only managed to get one all the way home. That's been their other recent theme -- low run scoring, despite lots of hits. I like the good starting pitching theme better.

What with Thursday's afternoon game, Sabbath games, and work-on-Sunday games, I haven't gotten to watch much live baseball recently and I've entirely abandoned my friends on Twitter. I'm really hoping to get home in time for tomorrow night's 8:05 first pitch against the Cards. Tweet you then!

GAMES 124-127: Friends and Family and Foes in Filly...

GAME 124 - August 23: Astros 3, Phillies 2
GAME 125 - August 24: Astros 4, Phillies 2 [16 innings]
GAME 126 - August 25: Astros 3, Phillies 1
GAME 127 - August 26: Astros 5, Phillies 1

With a four game series in the City of Brotherly Love, one might have thought that there would have been a pretty good chance of facing our beloved Brother Roy. But when Oswalt pitched seven innings of shutout ball against the Nationals on Sunday, it didn't seem likely that the Astros would see much of the Wiz on the field. Surprise! Oswalt was called in to face his old teammates, but it was not how one might have predicted. With Tuesday night's game droning on into lots of extra innings, Oswalt got a chance for heroics when he was brought in in the fifteenth inning. But it wasn't a mound appearance -- he was swapped in to be the Phillies' left fielder, batting cleanup! It's the kind of odd move that a manager finds himself making when his bench is totally gone and one of his players gets ejected.  As luck would have it, Houston pulled ahead in the sixteenth, and it was Roy Oswalt standing at the plate for the Phillies, with two out and two on in the bottom of the inning. A homer would have won it for the Phillies, who are battling for the NL East lead. But he grounded out and his old Astros teammates partied for the second night in a row.  Don't you just LOVE this game?

In a bizarre twist, the lowly Astros swept the contending Phillies in four hard-fought close games, all characterized by terrific starting pitching on both sides. Here's how the Astros starters continued to squash the opposition:

Game 1, Monday: Myers gets the win with another 7 innings, 2 runs on 9 hits, a walk, and 9 Ks.
Game 2, Tuesday: Norris threw 6 innings, givoing up 1 run on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 4 Ks. But he was long gone before Fulchino (the 7th Astros pitcher) got the win in the 16th inning.
Game 3, Wednesday: Happ earns a win on 6 1/3 innings of 2-run ball. Mills uses 3 of his exhausted relievers to finish off the 7th, before Lyons throws 2 innings for the save.
Game 4, Thursday: The Astros give Wandy solo runs in each of the first 4 innings, plus another in the 7th for good luck - more than enough for his win on 7 innings, 1 run on 5 hits and 6 Ks.

Kudos to the bullpen too, with special mention of the Astros' new acquisition, Melancon, who threw 3 scoreless innings in relief in the Tuesday marathon.

Nice to have such a great series in Philly, from which some of our current players were acquired (Bourn, Myers, Happ), and some of our other players have landed (Oswalt, Lidge). Not to mention our General Manager, Ed Wade, whose Philly background probably accounts for some of that give and take.

GAMES 121-123: Sleeping with the Fishes

GAME 121 - August 20: Marlins 9, Astros 0
GAME 122 - August 21: Marlins 6, Astros 3
GAME 123 - August 22: Astros 2, Marlins 1

Going into the last quarter of a disappointing season, there have been lots of changes in the Astros clubhouse - Oswalt gone, Berkman gone, new kids on the block. Now Pedro Feliz is gone, traded to the Cards in trade for a young pitcher. Jeff Keppinger is out with a broken big toe. Lindstrom is on the DL. Tommy Manzella is back.  Fernando Abad and Anderson Hernandez called up. Lots of changes - making the game a lot more interesting than the start of this miserable season.

Main story in the weekend series against the Marlins: The starting pitching continues to be solid. Despite the scores (not even close) in the two losses in this Fish Story, the starters aren't the cause. Friday night's 9-0 blowout started out as a 1-0 game for the first 5 innings. Happ gave up a pair of runs in the sixth, but the game was still not too bad. But Fulchino gave up 4 runs in the seventh, and Abad added another pair in the eighth to make it look really ugly. As you might imagine, I didn't bother to watch this one after the Sabbath ended.

Saturday night's game was looking good for Wandy, who had a 2-0 lead going through 5 innings. I joined in after the Sabbath, just in time to see the Astros lose the lead in a 3 run sixth. Only 2 of the runs were earned, giving Wandy a very respectable line: 2 earned runs in 6 innings on 7 hits, 1 walk, and 10 strikeouts. The Astros did come back in the 9th to score that extra run, but it was too little too late -- Melancon had given up three more runs (2 unearned) in the seventh, resulting in that 6-3 loss. The three  unearned runs were thanks to a trio of fielding errors by our youngsters -- one for Wallace and 2 for CJ.

Sunday the Astros avoided a sweep with a beautiful start by Nelson Figueroa, who's making a case for his position in Houston's rotation. He pitched six innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and a walk, striking out 7. That wasn't good enough for a win, since the Astros only eked out a single run on his watch - a sac fly by Pence. After Figueroa was done, Pence knocked in the go-ahead run in the eigtht, with a solo homer (#19). The new close-out duo, Lopez and Lyon combined for 3 shutout innings to get the Astros a weekend win.

To net it out -- solid starters, inconsistent bullpen. And a pretty much stalled offense -- only 5 runs in the 3 game series. You gotta find something to like, if you're going to watch a losing season, and I like that starting pitching.