2005 SEASON
APRIL 8-10: CINCINNATI @ HOUSTON
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2005 (Game 3) - Cincinnati @ Houston
Houston 3, Cincinnati 2
Woke up at 6 AM Shabbat morning, and ran downstairs and out the back door to get the paper. Opened it to the Sports section to check on the Friday night game. Awesome: Clemens got his first win, giving up 1 run on 5 hits, with 9 Ks in 7 innings. Great pitching, and more: He also got a hit that scored 2 of the 3 RBIs in the game. Cool.
I could tell just from the boxscore that it was a great game: Luke Skywalker got his first hit of the season – and his second. Lidge was Lidgeful. Taveras got multiple hits – again. And what kind of double play is this: “Ausmus, AEverett, Ausmus”? I never bother watching archived games; why watch a game that’s already over? But between the blurb/boxscore in the paper, and then reading the recap after Shabbat, I knew that I just had to watch the archived game. Stayed up until 2 AM Sunday morning to see it.
Houston wore the home pinstripes.
High points:
- Clemens was masterful. Besides the awesome pitching, he managed to hit in 2 of the 3 runs in the game, on an infield single. Pitcher coming up to bat with two on and two out – easy out, no worry, right? Even better: The two runners on base were the new kids: Scott and Taveras. Just great clutch hitting. Clemens’ confidence, on the mound, and even at the plate, is great to watch. Hard to believe this guy was seriously thinking about retiring.
- Lidge pitched 1 1/3 innings, with 2 Ks, and one hit. The other relievers (Qualls and Franco) each pitched 1/3 innings in the 8th, before Garner went ahead and brought in Lidge. Since I already knew the outcome, I wasn’t a nervous wreck; I just enjoyed the ride.
- Luke Scott finally got his first hit – a triple. Then scored on a sac fly. After his amazing hitting at Spring Training, Scott must have been going nuts wanting to hit in a real game. Then he got a second hit, and he scored again on Clemens’ hit. I read online that his mom was there at the game, crying. Said that he was giving her the ball from his first hit (good that it was a triple not a HR, so he was able to get it), after the other guys put a little graffiti on it for him. Wonder if it will be too rude to give to his mom.
- Taveras got two hits, a walk, and a stolen base. Was picked off first too. Live and learn.
- And that crazy 2-6-2 double play: The first out was a strikeout. In the 6th, with runners on first and third and no outs, Ken Griffey Jr is up to bat. Clemens throws 3 balls, and then turned around and strikes him out. The runner on first attempts to steal second; Ausmus throws, but Everett doesn’t make the tag. The runner on third is on his way home when Everett fires back to Ausmus, who tags him out.
Disappointments:
- Nothing. It was great. Well, maybe I would have liked to see Ausmus hit a bit more like he did at Spring Training. Still doing the leg kick, but not getting the hits.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats got clobbered by the Marlins, 9-0. It was like a replay of the Marlins game David and I saw at Spring Training – for the same reason: Dontrelle Willis. That guy’s amazing: Pitched nine shutout innings, gave up only 5 hits and 1 BB. And – just like at Spring Training – he can hit too. He went 2 for 4, with 2 RBIs. Unlike Spring Training, he didn’t score a run. In our game, he scored on an idiotic head-first slide into home plate. I’m wondering what Garner would have said to an Astros pitcher who pulled a stunt like that in Spring Training.
Notes on the Bad Guys:
- The Mets lose again, hahaha, 3-0 to Atlanta.
Final123456789RHECincinnati 000010010280Houston « 01000200x380W: R. Clemens (1-0) L: M. Belisle (0-1) S: B. Lidge (2)==============================================================================
SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2005 (Game 4) - Cincinnati @ Houston
Houston 4, Cincinnati 3
Saturday night's game had a 7 PM start, so I couldn’t tune in until the 6th inning. Grossly rude to my house guest visiting from Israel, I abandoned Laura the moment we finished Havdalah, and glued myself to the computer.
Luckily, Houston waited to do the cool stuff until then. When I came in, Backe had pitched 5 innings, giving up 2 runs, and Duckworth gave up another, so Houston was down 3-0. But things picked up once they had me cheering for them. Bagwell led off the bottom of the 6th with a homerun, and Lane hit another one, with Ensberg on base, for two more runs, tying it up. Stayed that way until the ninth inning, when Taveras got on with an infield single; Vizcaino, pinch hitting for Lidge, got a double and Willie zoomed around from first to end the game. Love that kid’s speed. I had to admit that I was wary when Viz came in to pinch hit for Lidge, thinking that if the Astros didn’t score, it would be nice to have Lidge pitching again in the 10th. But Garner knows best, and it was a great ending.
Astros are winning close games. Fun to watch. Would be nice if they could win one with a blowout and lots of runs. I was so up from the game, I watched the archive of Friday night’s game. Now that was an amazing game – go read the notes.
Houston wore the home white jerseys.
High points:
- Bagwells’s first HR of the year. He needs to average 28 HRs a year for this year and next to break 500 before his contract (and possibly his career) ends.
- Lidge gave up a hit and a intentional walk in the 9th, but didn’t give up any runs (still 0.0 ERA) – and got the win, since it was tied when he came in.
- Besides scoring the game-winning run, Taveras went 3 for 4. Current batting average is 600, highest in NL. He has two or more hits in all four games this season.
- Biggio hit again, keeping alive his streak of hitting all four games this season.
- Relief pitchers are still doing good work. Aside from Duckworth, who gave up a run, the other 4 relievers together gave up 3 hits and 2 BB – but no runs - in three innings.
Disappointments:
- Wish I’d gotten to see Backe pitch. He’s very cute.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
•Washington beat Florida, 3-2, in ten innings on a Guillen homer.
Washington beat Florida, 3-2, in ten innings on a Guillen homer.Notes on the Bad Guys:
- Philadelphia beat St. Louis, 10-4. I love it when the Cards lose.
- Mets lost again – heh heh heh. That’s 5 losses in a row. I don’t want Carlos Beltran to have a bad year; I just want him to play for a losing team. And I hate the f-ing Mets.
Final123456789RHECincinnati 1001010003110Houston « 0000030014101W: B. Lidge (1-0) L: R. Wagner (0-1) ==============================================================================
SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2005 (Game 5) - Cincinnati @ Houston
Houston 5, Cincinnati 2
What a perfect day – blue sky, temp in the low 70’s, garden in full spring bloom. Great day for weeding and a bit of transplanting. And of course, great day for baseball – even if it’s only through the Internet. The Astros completed their sweep of the Reds – after the Reds had just come off of an opening series sweep of the Fucking Mets. Sweet.
Oswalt had a good start – much better than his loss in the first opening game! Pitched 7 innings, 112 pitches, 2 ER on 5 hits. Control not as good as his usual – five BBs and only two Ks. But a good start, and his first win of the season, making his career record against the Reds 12-zip. Chavez is back to catching for Oswalt. Like last year, Ausmus caught for Oswalt on opening day, and then Chavez took over as his regular catcher. Oswalt’s pitching was complemented by the Astros relief pitching, which is continuing to look good. What a relief! Russ Springer pitched a perfect inning. And Brad Lidge was Lidgeful again – striking out 2, and still 0.0 ERA. Lidge saved/won games the last 3 days in a row. If the Astros could just manage to keep the starter in to the 8th inning, they could just have Lidge as a one-man bullpen. He’s been a machine.
High points:
- Biggio’s first HR of the year, in the first inning. Bidge is the leader of the leadoff homerun club, but this wasn’t one of them – he’s second in the lineup this year. He also got a single and a double, and he stole 3rd base (100th career steal of 3rd base). He’s hit in every game of the year so far. Nice start for a guy who’s supposed to be over the hill. (But bad luck for Burke, the replacement in waiting.)
- Bagwells’s second HR of the year – a 2 run shot in the 5th, into the Crawford boxes.
- Ensberg’s first HR of the year – right after Bagwell’s. He had come up in the 3rd with two outs and the bases loaded, and hit a way long ball to the warning track. Just short of a grandslam. But at least he got his homer on the next try.
- It’s great to see Biggio and Bagwell side by side in the infield. Seventh inning: Nice 5-4-3 double play for the first two outs, and 4-3 grounder for the third. Go Bees.
- Burke finally got some hitting – three hits in 4 at-bats. Garner put him in left field, instead of Luke Skywalker today. (Last year, when Burke got called up in September, he was only 1 for 17.) The kids are really coming through for the Astros. This is a real wildcard factor for the year.
- Even Oswalt got a hit – on a fly ball that could have been caught by either of two outfielders, but each one deferred to the other, and the ball dropped on the field for a hit.
Disappointments:
- Leaving the bases loaded in the 3rd and 7th innings. The Astros really could be getting those big scores….
- After multiple hits in each of the first 4 games of the season, Taveras didn’t get a hit today. He did get a RBI on a sac fly, and was hit by a pitch (then got caught stealing).
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- Washington lost again to Florida, 8-0.
Notes on the Bad Guys:
- Mets finally won a game. Houston is playing them in NY tomorrow, so hopefully, they will go back to their losing ways after today’s aberration.
- Philadelphia creamed the Cards, 13-4. Watched the end of that game, and the crowds at Busch Stadium just about abandoned their heroes by the 9th inning. Wah!
- Cubs beat Milwaukee in 12, leaving the Astros in sole ownership of the NL Central.
Final123456789RHECincinnati 0101000002 60Houston « 10013000x5111W: R. Oswalt (1-1) L: E. Milton (1-1) S: B. Lidge (3)
