2005 SEASON
AUGUST 2-4: HOUSTON @ ARIZONA
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2005 (Game 106) – HOUSTON @ ARIZONA
Houston 3, Arizona 1
HAPPY 43rd BIRTHDAY TO ROGER CLEMENS! (August 4 is the big day.)
Tonight’s game was classic, consistent Clemens: 7 innings, 100+ pitches, 1 ER on 4 hits, 1 BB, and 8 Ks. ERA: 1.45. He gave up a solo home run to Chad Tracy in the first inning, but after that he was totally dominating. Actually, “dominating” may be an understatement: That homer was only Clemens’ 3rd ER on the road this year. The Astros managed to score a few measly runs, but with Clemens and good relievers, a little goes a long way. Clemens got his 10th win. (It probably should have been his 18th or 19th or 20th.) The win (the Astros 14th in the last 16 games) puts Houston at 10 games over .500, with a 2 game lead in the NL Wild Card race.
The losing pitcher, Claudio Vargas, also pitched a good game, It was his longest outing ever: 125 pitches in 7 1/3 innings, 3 ERs on 7 hits, 3 BBs, and 9 Ks. Vargas is well-known to one of the Astros players: Last year when he was pitching for Montreal, he was the guy who whacked Adam Everett with a pitch that broke Everett’s wrist, putting him out for the rest of the season. Everett got him back tonight, batting 2 for 4, with an RBI double.
High points:
- The relief pitchers did a great job of saving Clemens’ game. Gallo pitched a scoreless eighth inning against a string of left-handed batters. Then Lidge came in to do his thing. The Arizona TV announcers were wishing for an exciting ending. After the first batter grounded out, Lidge gave up a single to the next batter. Then, Sean Green lined a long ball out to right field. It looked like extra bases, but Bruntlett made a terrific catch and threw to first. The runner, thinking that it was a hit, was doubled up for the last out. So the Arizona announcers got their exciting ending after all. Lidge got his 27th save on 8 pitches and a big sigh of relief.
- Lamb is still in good graces – he was 1 for 3, plus a walk. The one that he hit was a home run (#7) in the eighth inning, and he scored off the walk when Everett doubled in the sixth.
Disappointments:
- With one out and fast runners on first (Everett) and third (Bruntlett) in the 8th and Ausmus at the plate, I wondered if Garner would attempt a squeeze again. Instead they tried for a double steal. It would have been great if they’d pulled it off, but Bruntlett got caught at home plate.
- Taveras was 0 for 5. I can’t see him steal if he doesn’t get on base.
- Unrelated to this game, the biggest baseball disappointment is Rafael Palmeiro’s suspension for the use of some unnamed drug. Palmeiro claims that he didn’t knowingly use the drug, that it must have been in a dietary supplement. But the NY Times reports that the drug was stanozolol, a strong anabolic steroid that is not available in dietary supplements. After his emphatic denials of steroid use during his Congressional testimony, it’s hard to believe that Palmeiro could have been stupid enough to use them this year. It puts a suspicion on all of the other players who have been suspected (because of good physique and performance) and who have denied it – guys like Jeff Bagwell. Very unfair.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats lost to the LA Dodgers in another one-run game, 5-4. I’m sorry to do it, but at the moment I have to cheer for the other guys – the Nationals are too close to Houston in the Wild Card race. Once Houston gets ahead of the Cards (!), I’ll stop worrying about the Wild Card.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- Pitchers’ Duel of the Day: Chris Carpenter (Cards) vs. Dontrelle Willis (Marlins). Didn’t look too good in the first inning: Carpenter gave up a run, and Dontrelle hit the first two batters, but then got out of trouble. Dontrelle only lasted 5 innings and got the loss, but only gave up one ER. Carpenter didn’t give up anything after the first inning – he pitched a complete game for his 16th win, and lowered his ERA to 2.26.
- Atlanta creamed Cincinnati, 12-2.
- Pittsburgh lost to San Diego, 11-3.
- The Cubs squeaked by the Phillies, 2-1. Chicago was leading 2-0 going into the bottom of the 9th, when its relief pitcher gave up 4 consecutive walks to tighten up the score to 2-1. Then they managed to weasel their way out of it to win.
- Milwaukee lost to the F-ing Mets, 9-8, in 11 innings.
Final123456789RHEHouston 000011010390Arizona 100000000160W: R. Clemens (10-4) L: C. Vargas (4-6) S: B. Lidge (27)==============================================================================
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2005 (Game 107) – HOUSTON @ ARIZONA
Houston 7, Arizona 0
Ezeqiel Astacio gets another chance to show his stuff, with Backe still on the DL, and again, he makes the most of the opportunity. In a game against the Diamondback’s ace pitcher, Houston’s rookie turned it into a pitchers’ duel for the first 5 innings: He threw 5 shutout innings to get his 2nd consecutive win, giving up only 4 hits, 3 BBs, and 1 K. Of the 4 hits he gave up, only one made it out of the infield. His outing wasn’t without its exciting moments – he walked the first two batters of the game, and loaded the bases in the 4th, but managed to get out of trouble without allowing a run. He left the game for a pinch hitter with the score 1-0; Houston’s lone run was due to Burke’s sac fly with the bases loaded in the 2nd inning.
The unexpected pitchers’ duel ended in the 6th inning, though, as the Astros hitters exploded for 4 runs, starting with Ensberg’s 450’ blast to center field (#28). With 2 out in the inning, Palmeiro got a RBI double, and then Taveras got an infield hit, and 2 more scored on an error. Arizona managed to get 3 errors in the 6th; that combined with Astros hitting made for a nice big inning.
Astros relievers kept the shutout intact. A tag team of Springer, Burns, Wheeler, and Harville each pitched a scoreless inning.
The Astros wore road greys.
In other news: Andy Pettitte was named July’s NL Pitcher of the Month. Pettitte was 5-0 in 6 July starts.
And Bagwell thinks that he’ll be able to pinch-hit by the end of the season. He’s traveling with the team now, doing some BP, and playing catch with Ausmus. It’s not clear whether he’ll be able to throw, but he might be able to take a spot on the bench.
High points:
- Good pitching – 9 shutout innings. Good hitting – 7 runs on 13 hits. How good is that? Go ahead, guys, be offensive!
- Ensberg was 3 for 4, with an RBI and 2 runs.
- Lamb, Lane, and Everett each had 2 hits.
- Good work from the bench too: Both Palmeiro and Vizcaino came in to get RBI hits. Palmeiro is having a tremendous year as both a pinch-hitter and a starter; his batting average is up to .338, and he tied a team record for pinch-hit doubles in this game.
Disappointments:
- Biggio was cold tonight, going 0 for 5. He and Burke were the only Astros’ starters, other than Astacio, who didn’t get a hit.
- Lane hit a tremendous blast to left field, but was robbed by an amazing catch by Luis Gonzalez, who leaped to grab the ball and then smashed into the wall.
- Berkman was out of the lineup, with a tummy bug.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats pulled off a 3-1 win over the LA Dodgers.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Cards beat the Marlins, 9-6. Bad for the Astros in the NL Central, good for the Astros in the Wild Card race.
- The Reds beat the Braves, 8-5! (The Nats thank them!)
- Pittsburgh beat San Diego, 9-8.
- The Cubs lost to the Phillies, 4-3.
- Milwaukee beat the F-ing Mets, 6-4.
Final123456789RHEHouston « 0100040117130Arizona 000000000073W: E. Astacio (2-4) L: J. Vazquez (9-10) ==============================================================================
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2005 (Game 108) – HOUSTON @ ARIZONA
Arizona 7, Houston 3
After a couple of good starts, Wandy Rodriguez had a reality check in this game. The Diamondbacks roughed him up for 5 runs in the second inning, when he gave up 2 walks, 3 singles, and a homer. For good measure, he threw in (literally) an error in a pickoff attempt, allowing a couple of runs to score. Wandy hung on for 5 innings, giving up only one additional run, to earn his 5th loss. Houston’s attempt at a Arizona sweep was thwarted, but they won the series.
Houston got a lot of hits – 10 total – but only managed to score three runs, one in each of three innings. The Astros left the bases loaded in the 3rd and 4th innings, and also had runners in scoring position in the 1st, 7th, and 8th. But they could not get enough runs across the plate to offset the early-inning damage.
The Astros wore road greys.
I’ll be glad when the Astros get back from the NL West games. These middle-of-the-night games are exhausting!
High points:
- Chris Burke got a triple in the 2nd, and scored on Quintero’s ground out. Burke really looks good at the plate – much better than his batting average indicates. He’s also been doing some quality fielding out in left field, in his endless wait for Biggio to tire out.
- Harville loaded the bases with one out in the 6th, on a double, two walks, and a wild pitch. But he managed to get out of trouble, and had a 1-2-3 7th, ending up pitching two scoreless innings.
- Taveras got his 23rd bunt single (his 54th infield hit).
Disappointments:
- Qualls gave up a first-pitch homer in the 8th inning.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats beat the Dodgers, 7-0. I’m not sure that I can keep the Nats in this “good guys” category for the rest of the season…
Notes on the (Other) Bad Guys:
- St. Louis lost to the Marlins, 4-3.
- The Cubs lost to the Phillies, 6-4. Hard to know which to cheer for – the Phillies are the bigger threat in the Wild Card race, but I can’t cheer for the Cubbies.
- The Brewers beat the F-Mets, 12-9.
- Atlanta beat the Reds, 7-4.
Final123456789RHEHouston 0101000103 101Arizona « 05010001x7 81W: B. Halsey (8-7) L: W. Rodriguez (6-5) S: J. Valverde (3) 
