2005 SEASON
AUGUST 18-21: MILWAUKEE @ HOUSTON
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2005 (Game 121) – MILWAUKEE @ HOUSTON
Milwaukee 5, Houston 2
Maybe I should just start this writeup with the Disappointments section, since that’s pretty much how I’d categorize the game. Clemens had a disappointing night on the mound. The Astros had a disappointing night at the plate. The game had a disappointing outcome. And for the first time this year, I went to bed before the game was over, a little under the weather, and lot too stressed. (At least I recognized the folly of getting overly stressed about a baseball game, and turned it off.)
After nearly a season full of amazing games, Roger Clemens finally had an off day. He pitched nearly perfect ball for 5 innings, giving up only one bloop single, before allowing a solo home run in the 6th. But in the 7th inning, the wheels fell off, and the Brewers added 4 more runs to Clemens’ total – adding .20 to his ERA. For only the second time this year, Clemens was relieved during an inning in a tight spot.
The Astros, who had led 2-0 for the first few innings, continued to find ways not to score runs. They appeared to be due for a giant inning in the 3rd, when they loaded the bases with no outs. But aside from Lane’s RBI single, they couldn’t find a way to capitalize on the opportunity, and only managed one run out of it. Their only other run came on Lane’s solo home in the 2nd inning. Burke tripled in the 5th, but was stranded on third base. And after that, they didn’t do anything offensively at all.
The Astros wore home stripes.
High points:
- Richard Justice wrote a column in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle, maintaining that Garner would do well to play Jason Lane every day. No more platooning (especially with Lamb!) – just play the kid and let him grow. Lane seemed to take it to heart in this game; he was responsible for both of the Astros runs, including his 18th home run.
- Qualls relieved Clemens in the 7th, with one out and and runners on 2nd and 3rd. He got the other two outs on just one pitch – a sac fly that scored the runner on 3rd, but the runner on 2nd was tagged out.
- Springer pitched another great relief inning in the 8th – two Ks and a groundout.
- Taveras singled in the 3rd and got his 29th stolen base. He scored on Lane’s single. Taveras is leading the NL in home batting average, at .359.
Disappointments:
- Lidge, who hasn’t had much opportunity for saves in Houston’s recent slide from grace, pitched a scoreless 9th, but gave up 2 hits in the process. Not his Royal Lidginess.
- Biggio sat out the game, after spending some time with his dentist . He had 2 abscessed teeth pulled. Burke got a rare start at 2nd base, which was not a disappointment.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Phillies beat the Nats, 2-1. in the first game of the double header, to allow them to take the lead in the NL Wild Card race. Houston had held the lead since July 29th. In the second game, the Nats came back to win, 5-4. The split between the closest two Wild Card contenders kept the Astros from losing as much ground as they might have.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Cards lost it to the Diamondbacks, 9-2.
- Cincinnati beat the Giants, 4-2.
- In other Wild Card race games… The Marlins shut out the Padres, 2-0, for the second night in a row. The F-ing Mets were shut out by the Pirates, 5-0. It was win #6 for Pittsburgh Wunderkind, Zach Duke, who hasn’t yet lost a game. Atlanta lost to the Dodgers, 7-4.
Final123456789RHEMilwaukee « 000001400571Houston 011000000280W: T. Ohka (8-7) L: R. Clemens (11-5) S: D. Turnbow (27)
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2005 (Game 122) – MILWAUKEE @ HOUSTON
Houston 5, Milwaukee 3
Alyson Footer called it an “ugly” game. But beggars are not allowed to be choosers, and at this critical point in the season, the Astros are begging for wins. So ugly or not, that W is a thing of beauty. For the first 6 innings, it looked like just another Astros shutout, with Houston on the wrong end of the deal – they had no runs and only 3 hits. Luckily, starter Ezequiel Astacio and Astros relievers kept the Brewers to just 1 run over the first 6.
Uncharacteristically for the Astros, things got better in the 7th: With two outs, Burke singled and Ausmus walked. The Brewers brought in a relief pitcher, swapping Kane Davis for starter Doug Davis. Vizcaino came in to pinch hit, with an 0-for-13 slump hanging over his head, and got an RBI single to tie it up. Ausmus scored on a wild pitch, and Taveras walked. Biggio appeared to end the inning by hitting a dribbler down the first base-line. But instead of just tagging him out, the pitcher tried to throw the ball to first, hitting Biggio in the back, and allowing Viz to score.
The Astros got another pair of runs in the 8th on Lane’s 2-run home run. Those extra runs turned out to be important when Mike Burns gave up a 2 runs in the top of the 9th, before Lidge came in to save the game.
The Astros wore home stripes.
High points:
- Another impressive night for Jason Lane, inspired perhaps by Richard Justice’s plea to Garner to let Lane play everyday. In addition to his 2-run home run in the 8th (#19), he had a double in the 2nd. He also made beautiful catch in the 5th – he grabbed the ball and made a complete roll, landing on his feet.
- Biggio, apparently recovered from his dental woes, got two infield hits and a walk.
- For the most part, great relief pitching: Springer had another beautiful relief performance, pitching 1 1/3 perfect innings in the 6th and 7th innings, to get the win. Wheeler pitched a scoreless 8th, with 2 Ks. After Burns hit a batter and then gave up a 2-runs homer in the 9th, Lidge came in to finish it off for 30th save. Lidge took out the last two batters, throwing 6 pitches to 2 batters – all strikes.
Disappointments:
- Goose-eggs for Taveras, Berkman, and Ensberg – not one hit among them.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- There are no Other Good Guys at this point in the season.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Nats’ Patterson lost a pitchers’ duel to the Mets’ Jae Seo, 1-0. Seo has only been up from Triple A Norfolk for 3 weeks, but has a 3-0 record in that time.
- The Phillies lost to the Pirates, 11-2, giving Houston back the NL Wild Card lead.
- The Marlins beat the Dodgers, 3-0.
- The Cards beat San Francisco, 5-4, in a game that Chris Carpenter did not win. The Cards went into the bottom of the ninth, trailing 4-0. But did the big come-back thing, getting 5 runs to win, keeping Carpenter from actually getting a loss.
- Atlanta lost to the Padres, 12-7.
- The Cubs beat the Rockies, 5-3.
- The Reds blew away the Diamondbacks, 17-3.
Final123456789RHEMilwaukee 000001002381Houston « 00000032x590W: R. Springer (4-3) L: D. Davis (9-9) S: B. Lidge (30)
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2005 (Game 123) – MILWAUKEE @ HOUSTON
Milwaukee 3, Houston 2
The Astros continue their imitation of their bad ol’ April selves, squandering yet another game in this horribly disappointing homestand. It was their 6th loss in the past 8 games, and they’ve only scored 7 runs in those 6 losses. Houston pitchers, led by starter Wandy Rodriguez, did a fairly good job of keeping the Brewers to a low score, but the Astros batters just outdid them in the low-scoring department. Wandy pitched 5 innings, giving up 2 ERs on 6 hits, but he was wild as usual – he put another 6 batters on with 4 walks and 2 hit batsmen.
Although Harville got the loss, he actually pitched quite well for 2 innings (6th and 7th). He gave up only one hit; unfortunately it was a solo home run that put the Brewers ahead. With the score tied in the 7th, giving up the lead was a deadly sin. The Astros only have one real come-from-behind win this season.
Ben Sheets pitched an excellent complete game, holding the Astros to 2 runs, with 8 Ks.
The Astros wore home whites.
In other news, Brandon Backe is doing well in rehab, and has thrown without pain for several days in a row. He’s expected to throw from the mound soon. Unfortunately, with the minor league season almost over, there’s not really a chance for him to take a rehab start in Round Rock. He may have to come back in the Astros bullpen for a few games, until he regains his strength – not a move that he’d like. But the main thing is to get him back as an effective pitcher.
High points:
- Terrific relief outing by Chad Qualls. He is really shaping up from where he was earlier in the season, when he could always be relied upon to give up a run. He pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings tonight, with no hits and 4 strikeouts.
- Jason Lane got a double that looked a whole lot like a home run; he looked really surprised when he had to stop at 2nd base. The ball must have hit just a little below the yellow line. He scored on Everett’s subsequent single.
- Taveras was 2 for 4, with a stolen base (#31), and an RBI.
Disappointments:
- Ensberg is on a long dry spell at the plate, adding another 4 hitless at-bats tonight. Berkman got a double tonight in 4 at-bats. Without hits and runs from these guys, would be a sad September.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- Sorry Nats – the Wild Card Race is too close for you to be Good Guys.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Phillies beat the Pirates, 6-1, to take back the NL Wild Card lead.
- That one-run scourge got the Nats’ again. They were down 8-0 after 6 innings of excellent pitching by Pedro Martinez. But when he left the game after 6, the Nationals scored 6 runs in the top of the 7th. In the 9th, trailing 8-6, they quickly got two outs, but came back to tie the game. But the F-ing Mets finally won it, 9-8, in the bottom of the 10th.
- The Marlins lost to the Dodgers, 11-6.
- The Cards won again, what a surprise – they beat San Francisco, 4-2.
- Atlanta lost to the Padres, 7-2, in 13 innings. Atlanta’s hold on the NL East is getting tenuous – they only lead the Phillies by 3½ games.
- The Cubs lost to the Rockies, 4-2.
Final123456789RHEMilwaukee « 100100100370Houston 000011000281W: B. Sheets (9-9) L: C. Harville (0-2)
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SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2005 (Game 124) – MILWAUKEE @ HOUSTON
Houston 8, Milwaukee 3
Chris Burke got a bit of a jolt today: He found out that he would be batting in the third spot in the lineup – quite a step up for a guy who is batting .230-something. At first he didn’t realize it – he didn’t see his name on the lineup in the customary 7th spot. Given that he’s often platooned with Palmeiro, he just assumed he wasn’t in the lineup today. When I saw the lineup at the beginning of the game telecast, I jotted in my game notes: “Burke batting 3rd – odd, but Garner does odd stuff.”
Garner may have played a lucky hunch, or flipped a coin, or maybe he’s just a total genius -- who knows? In any case, Burke played like a number 3 batter today: He hit a 3-run homer in the 3rd inning, an RBI double in the 4th, and another double in the 6th, with a walk in the 8th for his fourth time on base. He scored 3 runs, and got 3 RBIs. Burke got some advice before the game from the guy who’s played that 3rd spot for many years – Jeff Bagwell. "He touched me for good luck," Burke said. Wow, if Bagwell touched me, I’d feel lucky too.
Burke wasn’t the only Astro to have fun at the plate today: The Good Guys scored 8 runs on 11 hits. They got on the board first on Adam Everett’s 2-run home run in the 2nd inning. They batted around in the 3rd, and brought up 8 batters in the 4th, causing Brewers starter Victor Santos to be removed after only 3 1/3 innings. The 8 runs scored today topped the sum of all the runs scored (7) in the 6 Astros losses in this disappointing homestand.
With Burke and the rest of the Astros in the mood for hitting today, starter Andy Pettitte coasted to his 11th win. He threw 100 pitches in 7 innings, giving up 2 ER on 4 hits, 2 BBs, and 6 Ks. It was Pettitte’s 8th win in his last 10 decisions.
Despite the disappointing outcome of this homestand (6 wins, 7 losses), Houston’s 42-22 home record is still stellar – the most home wins in the National League. But the team had hoped for much more on this 13-game homestand, the longest of the season. Garner’s take: "It wasn't exactly what I wanted. It's good to end on a winning note, but I had expected better."
High points:
- Everett’s two-run homer in the 2nd inning was his 10th of the season – a career high home run count for him.
- Biggio scored twice today, bumping up his career runs count to 1677 – that ties Mickey Mantle for #25 on the all time runs record. Coming into today’s game, he tied Ernie Banks for career games played.
- With Lane getting so comfy at the plate this month, it was great to see him come up to bat in the 4th with the bases loaded. I was all prepared to cheer when he hit his grand slam – but instead he was hit by a pitch, forcing in a run. He never did get a home run today, but did hit an RBI sac fly in the 6th.
- Taveras was 2 for 4, bumping his batting average back up over .300.
- Gallo pitched well in relief, 1 1/3 scoreless innings to finish off the game.
Disappointments:
- Ensberg got a well-deserved day off today – only his third all season, and his first since April! Vizcaino replaced him at third for the first time this season, and there was a significant difference in the quality of fielding. Vizcaino made two errors – a bad throw in the first inning, and a fielding error in the 4th. Luckily neither error resulted in Brewers scoring.
- After 9 appearances without giving up a run, Mike Burns has hit rockier times. He gave up a run in his 2/3 inning today. It’s the 4th appearance in a row where he gave up at least one run.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- N/A
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Phillies beat the Pirates, 4-3, to retain the NL Wild Card lead.
- The Nats beat the F-ing Mets, 7-4, mostly on the strength of a 6-run blastoff in the first inning. Loaiza, who had an RBI single in the slugfest, got the win. Mets starting pitcher Kris Benson got the lost; he was relieved in the first inning after the 10th batter. Now that’s not what you call a quality start.
- Florida thrashed the Dodgers, 7-1. That’s right, Dodgers, get in a losing frame of mind before the Astros come to town…
- The Giants beat the Cards, 4-2.
- Two days after beating Arizona 17-3, the Reds beat them again today, 13-6. The Reds got 6 home runs, including a disputed one in the 7th that got the Diamondbacks’ manager ejected from the game.
- The Cubbies lost to the Rockies, 9-7.
Final123456789RHEMilwaukee 000200010370Houston « 02320100x8 11 2W: A. Pettitte (11-9) L: V. Santos (4-12)
