2005 SEASON
AUGUST 22-24: HOUSTON @ SAN DIEGO
MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2005 (Game 125) – HOUSTON @ SAN DIEGO
Houston 6, San Diego 2
After 4 unsuccessful tries, Roy Oswalt finally got his 15th win, as the Astros beat the Padres to return to the lead in the NL Wild Card Race. Oswalt threw 113 pitches in 6 innings, giving up 2 ERs on 5 hits, 3 BBs, and 5 Ks. He finished up the 6th inning with the slimmest of leads – the Astros were ahead 3-2. But in the top of the 7th, Willie T hit a gentle bloop single (the Houston announcers described his singles as “soft hits of the 70s”). Then Lance Berkman hit his first home run of August, to give the Astros a more comfortable 5-2 lead. That was plenty for Oswalt’s relief squad – Qualls, Wheeler, and Springer each pitched a hitless inning to finish off the game.
Garner went with the “kids” lineup, playing Lane and Burke, rather than Lamb and Palmeiro. The whole team hit energetically, with 12 hits, including 4 doubles, a triple, and a homer. All of the starters, except for Oswalt, got hits, and three (Taveras, Berkman, and Ausmus) got multiple hits. The kids were the stars of the show in the 4th, when the Astros first got on the board: With one out, Lane hit a triple, then Burke hit him in with a double. Everett (not a rookie, but still young) singled to score Burke. Then Ausmus (the old guy in this story) singled to put runners on first and second. Oswalt grounded into a fielders choice, with Everett out at third. Then Taveras singled to score Ausmus.
The Astros wore road greys.
In other team news, Bagwell had an excellent time at batting practice today – he hit about 60 pitches in 4 rounds of BP, including half a dozen that landed over the fence. He’s starting to look like a pinch hitter for the run to the finish line.
More team news: Wandy is headed for the bullpen, at least for the rest of this California road trip. With off-days on Thursday and Monday, Garner’s decided to play his aces rather than giving them extra days of rest. That leaves Wandy without a start, so he’ll be available as a reliever.
High points:
- The hero of the game was clearly Berkman, with his home run and two doubles, and 3 RBIs. I can lay claim to some degree of prescience, since I told him (well, his televised image) at the beginning of the game, “Tonight I want to see you hit a home run.” But in truth, I say that pretty often, and it’s been 74 at-bats since he hit his last one.
- Taveras got another multi-hit night, going 2 for 5, with two singles, a run and an RBI.
- Biggio was hit by a pitch in the 9th, which is how he ended up on base when Berkman got his 2nd double of the night, hitting him in.
- Burke got a nice RBI double in the 4th. Although I do like Palmeiro, I wish that Lane and Burke could both play every day. I think that they’d both be batting about 30 points higher (a number based on nothing at all, just intuition). And Burke looks cool with the new beard – kind of a pirate look. (That’s lower-case “P” pirate.)
- Nice relief pitching again! Qualls took down the side in the 7th, 1-2-3 in 6 pitches, all ground outs. Wheeler knocked them down in the 8th, with only a hit batter (not intentional) keeping him from perfection. Lidge was warmed to close, but got the evening off when Houston scored again in the top of the 9th. That 4-run lead took away the save situation, and Springer got a chance to pitch instead. He finished off the game, 1-2-4 (walking the 3rd batter).
Disappointments:
- The home plate ump had a really bizarre strike zone tonight. For most (but not all of the game) it seemed to be about 2 feet wide. He called strikes on balls that were noticeably outside the plate, and a few inside too. And then sometimes he didn’t. The inconsistency seemed to frustrate the pitchers, and more a few batters who were called out on strikes gave the umpire “you must be kidding” looks.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The not-so-Good Guys Nats had the day off.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Phillies were shut out by the Giants, 5-0.
- The Marlins beat the Dodgers, 5-2. Dontrelle got his 17th win to tie Chris Carpenter, with 2 ERs in 5 innings pitched.
- The Cards beat the Pirates, 3-1.
- The Braves beat the Cubbies, 4-2.
- The F-ing Mets beat the Diamondbacks, 4-1.
- Everyone else in the NL had the day off…
Final123456789RHEHouston 0003002016 120San Diego 002000000250W: R. Oswalt (15-10) L: W. Williams (6-10)
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2005 (Game 126) – HOUSTON @ SAN DIEGO
San Diego 2, Houston 0
Roger Clemens finally got a complete game this year, pitching another quality start – and losing. Wouldn’t you know it? The Astros did it to him again: They didn’t score even one run, for their major league-leading 15th shutout.
Clemens pitched 8 innings, giving up 2 ERs on 5 scattered hits, 1 BB, and 7 Ks. His fatal pitches were a triple to the first batter of the game (who scored), and a solo homer in the 7th. In between, he took down 17 batters in a row without giving up a hit, knocking them out 1-2-3 in the 2nd thru 6th innings. But it was all for nought.
The Padres’ starter, 24-year-old Jake Peavy, also pitched a complete game, and it was very fine pitching. But he wasn’t totally invulnerable, and the Astros had a number of chances to score – but didn’t. Houston loaded the bases in the 3rd and 6th innings, both times stranding the runners without scoring at all. They also left a runner stranded on third base in the 7th inning. It would just have taken a long sac fly, a measly single, to get a run across. But nope, nada, nothing – again.
The Astros wore road greys.
In other news, Bagwell and Backe engaged in some mutual help today, as Bagwell batted when Backe threw a bullpen session. It was the first time Bagwell has batted against live pitching, not batting practice with coaches throwing. He’s not ready for prime time yet: "I'm not quite a good hitter yet, but it felt all right. I got to swing at least 15 times. I fouled a lot of balls… It's like coming into spring training."
High points:
- Great pitching by both starters. It was all over in 1 hour and 53 minutes.
Disappointments:
- Clemens came out on the wrong end of a shutout, for the 7th time this year.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- N/A
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- Aside from the Astros’ relatively close game, it was a night for decisive wins….
- Washington lost to the Reds, 6-2. Sorry, Nats, I gotta cheer against you, as long as you’re a threat to the Good Guys.
- The Phillies beat the Giants, 10-2.
- The Brewers whomped the Marlins, 11-2.
- The Pirates clobbered the Cards (WOOHOO!), 10-0. I don’t officially care whether St. Louis wins or loses, since it’s not going to affect the Wild Card race, but it’s hard not to gloat when they get smashed.
- The Cubbies trounced the Braves, 10-1.
- The F-ing Mets beat the Diamondbacks, 14-1.
Final123456789RHEHouston 000000000040San Diego « 10000010x252W: J. Peavy (11-6) L: R. Clemens (11-6)
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2005 (Game 127) – HOUSTON @ SAN DIEGO
San Diego 7, Houston 4
The score doesn’t reflect how terrible this game was. Here’s how bad it was: I fell asleep by the 6th inning and didn’t verify until the next morning that Houston actually lost. Not that I had any doubt: They played like they were doomed.
There was no reason that the Astros had to lose this game. Astacio was weak, but hey -- Chan Ho Park’s not exactly Jake Peavy. The Good Guys had chances to score – they put runners in scoring position, they even scored a few times (they couldn’t do that for Roger???) – but it was hopeless. The whole game seemed off, starting with the pitching.
The game didn’t start out looking so bleak. After being shut out on Tuesday night (sorry, Roger!), it was refreshing to see the Astros score early on Wednesday. In the first inning, Biggio made it to first base on a throwing error, and then Berkman knocked him in with a double. First blood. But the Padres came right back in the bottom of the inning to score.
Astacio didn’t last 4 innings: He pitched 3.2 innings, giving up 2 ERs on 6 hits, 1 BB, and 2 Ks. He was just weak, throwing a lot of balls, getting behind in counts, giving up leadoff doubles… In a rare move, Garner took him out of the game in the middle of an at-bat. He brought in Harville with 2 outs, a runner on second, and a 1-0 count on the batter, to finish off the inning.
But it was steeply downhill, relief-wise, from there. Wandy Rodriguez got his first chance as a reliever, and it was dismal. He gave up 3 singles to the first 4 batters in the 5th,, allowing one to score; then Russ Springer came in and allowed a couple more runs. In the 6th, Gallo gave up a single, a double, and then an IBB. With one out and the bases loaded, Garner pulled him to bring in Qualls. Qualls struck out the first batter, two down, then hit the next two batters, forcing in two more runs. He struck out the last batter. Maybe as punishment, Garner made him pitch the 7th; maybe as contrition, Qualls threw a 1-2-3 inning – one of the few in the game. Garner brought in Lidge, who just needed exercise, to pitch the 8th. He broke the chain, and struck out the side, a rare happy note in a dismal game.
The Astros wore road greys.
High points:
- Berkman’s heating up – he went 2 for 4 again, with a double and 2 RBIs.
- Ausmus was 2 for 3, with 2 runs, a walk and an RBI. He’s been hitting really well in San Diego – maybe showing off for his little girls. He makes his home there.
- Ensberg got a double, but still isn’t batting the way he was up until a week or so ago.
- Lidge struck out the side in the 9th.
Disappointments:
- Biggio continues to slump.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- N/A
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
Washington beat the Reds, 5-3.
The Phillies beat the Giants, 7-4, to increase their lead in the NL Wild Card race.
The Brewers beat the Marlins again, 6-4.
St. Louis beat the Pirates, 8-3, with Chris Carpenter winning his 18th game. Carpenter gave up 3 ERs in 8 innings; his ERA is now 2.34, second to Clemens.
The Cubbies lost to the Braves, 3-1.
One day after trashing Arizona, 14-1, the F-ing Mets humiliated them, 18-4.
Final123456789RHEHouston 100010020480San Diego « 10103200x7 133W: C. Park (11-6) L: W. Rodriguez (8-6) S: T. Hoffman (32)
