2005 SEASON
JULY 18-20: HOUSTON @ PITTSBURGH
MONDAY, JULY 18, 2005 (Game 91) - HOUSTON @ PITTSBURGH
Houston 11, Pittsburgh 1
Woo. That sure felt good.
After a totally humiliating and depressing weekend in St. Louis, the Astros found the Pirates to be just what the doctor ordered. Pittsburgh was extremely hospitable and accommodating to a Houston team that badly needed to let off a little steam – mostly at the plate. The Astros scored 11 runs on 17 hits and a couple of Pirates errors.
Brandon Backe got the win on a somewhat eccentric pitching performance: He pitched 6 innings, and only gave up one ER on 3 hits. But he continues to give up a lot of walks – he walked as many batters as he struck out tonight (6!). He got off to a very shaky start, giving up a dubious ground-ball infield hit, and a pair of walks to the first three batters. The single Pirates run scored on a fielder’s choice with one out and the bases loaded. After that, Backe and a trio of relief pitchers kept Pittsburgh from scoring. Backe had Pirate runners on base in each of the next 4 innings, more due to walks than to hits, but managed to get out of trouble each time. But he ended his night on the mound with a 1-2-3 sixth inning. As usual, Backe was just as exciting to watch at the plate: He was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI triple.
Tomorrow may be a bigger challenge: In a twi-night double header, making up a rainout from earlier in the season, the Astros are starting two rookie pitcher, both of whom have had shaky starts: Zeke Astacio and Wandy Rodriguez. I’m predicting a hard night for the bullpen, but one never knows. I’d love to be surprised!
In other news, there are rumors that the Astros are trying to pry outfielder Adam Dunn away from the Reds. But Cincinnati, according to the rumors, is asking for an outrageous bite out of Houston’s future pitchers. Another heavy bat in the lineup could make the difference this season. But the cost has to be worth it.
High points:
- Nearly everybody got in the action at the plate tonight, which had to cheer the Astros up after the stingy Cards all weekend long:
- Quintero was the unlikely hero who kicked off the run spree. With 2 out and the bases loaded in the 4th inning, and the Astros down 1-0, Quintero fouled off 6 consecutive pitches before doubling into a gigantic hole in left field. Who would have thought that Quintero, with his miniscule batting average, just returning off the DL, would pull it off? The soft hit into the empty left field cleared the bases, and Quintero moved to third on the throw to the plate. That was the warmup. Backe’s triple scored Quintero. Quintero’s second hit of the game scored the first run of a 4-run 9th inning, when the Astros batted around.
- Berkman was 3 for 5, with 2 singles, a double, and a walk, and 2 RBIs. His batting average is .299 – right where I predicted. He could start hitting home runs any time now… :-)
- Burke was 3 for 4, with 2 RBIs and 2 runs.
- Lane was 3 for 6, scoring 3 runs.
- Taveras was 2 for 5, with 2 singles, and was hit by a pitch. One of Taveras’ two infield singles was truly ridiculous: He hit a grounder to second, but beat the pitcher to first base! He’s crazy fast. (And that pitcher looked really slow!)
- Good job by the bullpen. One scoreless inning from each of the trio of Gallo, Burns, and Harville. Gallo’s getting a second chance this year, and hasn’t blown it yet. Burns is a rookie, and has pitched quite well in recent outings. And Harville’s getting his sea legs back after his big faux pas on Friday night. He gave up a first pitch lead-off single, the second batter hit his first pitch directly into a double play. Harville managed to knock out the side in the 9th in 5 pitches. Pretty.
- Reminder of the Game: It’s not over ‘till it’s over. That means every inning: All but one of the Astros’ 11 runs were scored with 2 outs.
Disappointments:
- Taveras was caught stealing in his only attempt.
- The only Astros starter who did not get a hit was Craig Biggio, who is 2 for 17 since the All Star break.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- Washington lost another close one at home to Colorado, 5-4. I’m hoping that they can keep this up until Houston blows through at the end of the week.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- In the Wild Card race: Atlanta beat San Francisco, 6-1. The Cubbies clobbered Cincinnati, 9-4. Florida lost to Arizona, 8-7.
- And in other NL Central games: oSt Louis trashed the Brewers, 11-4. I should probably just forget about the Cards and focus on cheering against anyone who is above or near the Astros in the Wild Card race. But it goes against the grain to cheer for St. Louis. Ultimately, the Astros have to beat them.
Final123456789RHEHouston « 000401204 11 170Pittsburgh 1000000001 62W: B. Backe (8-6) L: D. Williams (7-7) ==============================================================================
TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2005 (Game 92) - HOUSTON @ PITTSBURGH
Game 1: Houston 9, Pittsburgh 3
How’s this for justice? A guy wins his first major league game, throwing 6 innings, and only giving up 2 ERs on 5 hits, 2 BBs, and 5 Ks. And as a reward, immediately after the game ends, he gets sent back down to the minors.
That was the fate of Ezeqiel Astacio tonight, as he came through for the Astros in the first game of a double header in Pittsburgh. He pitched his heart out, but he has to be sent down in the half hour between games to make room for another minor leaguer – Wandy Rodriguez – to pitch the second game.
I bet he’s not complaining. That big “W” next to his name sure looks good, after the rough starts he’s had in his earlier games. Unless he gets traded to acquire a bat like Dunn, I’d see this game as more evidence that he deserves to be back later in the season, or next year, for another crack at the Astros’ starting rotation. But he still has a face only a mother could love.
The Astros continue to vent their aggression on the Pirates, cleansing themselves of the humiliating 5-run swept series in St. Louis. In the first 2 games of this 4-game series, the Astros have scored 20 runs. That was about 2 weeks’ worth of runs earlier in the season!
The Astros wore road reds.
High points:
- Woo woo woo. More hitting! More scoring! Nine runs on 14 hits! Thirty-one hits in two games.
- Berkman went 2 for 5, with two doubles – taking a .301 batting average out of the game.
- Ensberg was 3 for 4 with a triple, 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Batting average is up to .294.
- Palmeiro was 3 for 4 with a double. His batting average is .312. (So why don’t the Astros use him as their extra bat?)
- Taveras was 2 for 5, with a double and 2 RBIs.
- Vizcaino was 2 for 5, with 2 RBI.
- The Pirates’ Ryan Doumit got his first major league homer in the fifth. Then he got his second in the 8th. (It probably would have been a bit more satisfying for him if it could have been in a game the Pirates won.)
- Relief pitching did fine. With such a big lead, Garner could save Wheeler and Lidge for the second game and use his other relievers.
- Gallo gave up a couple of hits in the 7th, but no runs; Qualls came in and got the last out.
- Springer gave up a run in the 8th on a solo HR, but got 2 Ks to end the inning.’
- And Mike Burns had another good appearance, pitching in the 9th, with 2 Ks.
Disappointments:
- Biggio’s slump continues with an 0 for 4 game.
- Pittsburgh FSN announcers – boring! The only thing I don’t like about mlb.tv is having to watch the opposing team’s TV coverage. Why can’t I choose which broadcast I want?
Notes on the Other Good Guys and the Other Bad Guys:
- See the second game…
Final123456789RHEHouston 1220000319 141Pittsburgh 000011010383W: E. Astacio (1-4) L: I. Snell (0-1) ==============================================================================
TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2005 (Game 93) - HOUSTON @ PITTSBURGH
Game 2: Houston 6, Pittsburgh 4
The Astros continued to hit and score, carrying rookie Wandy Rodriguez to a win in the second game of tonight’s double header. The win puts both the Astros (47-46) and Wandy (5-4) over the .500 mark for the season. What the Astros could not accomplish with their pitching aces against the Cards has been much easier with their young guys against the ailing Pirates. The Astros’ 6 runs on 10 hits in this game seem almost paltry compared to the two previous ones, but it was more runs than the Astros managed to score in the whole St. Louis series.
The Astros brought Wandy up from Triple A in the break between the games of the double header, sending Zeke Astacio down to make room for him. Wandy threw a good game, pitching 6 innings, giving up 4 runs (2 of them ER), on 7 hits, 1 BB, and 6 Ks. He was backed up by Houston’s A team of relievers – Qualls, Wheeler, Lidge – who pitched a scoreless inning each to finish up the game.
The Astros wore road greys.
High points:
- Garner wanted to play all of his position players over the double header. He started Bruntlett in CF, in place of Taveras, with Burke in LF and Lane in RF.
- Bruntlett started the fun in the 3rd inning, when the Astros first got on the scoreboard. After singles by Burke and Quintero, a sacrifice by Wandy, and Biggio’s walk, the bases were loaded with one out. Bruntlett tripled to clear the bases, then scored on Ensberg’s sac fly.
- I had expected Biggio, who is in the middle of a hitting drought, to rest, but there he was, leading off the lineup in his 2500th major league game. He just doesn’t let up – kind of a cross between the Energizer Bunny and Pigpen. Anyway, Biggio ditched the slump, getting on base in three consecutive at-bats with two hits and a walk, and scoring 2 runs.
- Berkman is still on a tear – he went 2 for 3, with a single, a 2-run homer (#7), and a walk. His batting average is up to .306. Given his horrible start, when he first came off the DL, he must be hitting close to .400 in the past month. Hot-hot-hot.
- Wheeler continues his Lidge imitation, and he’s doing a very good job of it. He pitched a perfect 8th; his ERA is 1.52.
- Nice to see Lidge on the mound, getting his 21st save. I can hardly complain since the reason for not seeing him was high-scoring games that did not require the services of a closer. But he’s wonderful to watch.
Disappointments:
- Wandy was charged with a balk with runners on second and third, scoring a run. Wandy also had a fielding error in the first inning, which resulted in the Pirates’ first run.
- No home runs from Ensberg today? (Okay, I’m being greedy!)
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nationals beat Colorado, 4-0. As long as they let Houston win later this week, I’m glad that they finally got a win for the hometown audience.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Brewers beat the Cards, 5-4!!!
- In the Wild Card race: The Mets beat the Padres, 3-1.The Phillies beat the LA Dodgers, 5-4. The Cubs beat the Reds, 7-3. Florida and Atlanta were leading when I went to bed.
Final123456789RHEHouston « 0040200006 102Pittsburgh 100110100480W: W. Rodriguez (5-4) L: M. Redman (4-10) S: B. Lidge (21) ==============================================================================
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2005 (Game 94) - HOUSTON @ PITTSBURGH
Houston 8, Pittsburgh 0
FOUR GAME SWEEP!!!
Andy Pettitte threw his customary excellent start: Seven innings, 5 hits, no runs, 1 BB, and 7 Ks. In his last 6 starts, Pettitte has an ERA of 0.90. But that doesn’t always equate to a win, as he saw last weekend against the Cards. Today looked to be more of the same. Into the 6th inning, with a 1-0 lead, Pettitte was thinking that he’d have to be just about perfect to win this afternoon.
That was before Taveras was cheated, threw his helmet, and got thrown out. That was before Garner was ejected for the first time of the season. That was before there were two outs, and the Astros scored 4 runs to blow out another win against the Poor Pitiful Pirates. After that, I bet Pettitte felt a lot better.
Pettitte never did give up a run, so that 1-run lead he protected for so many innings would actually have been enough. But the Astros continued their offensive assault, with another 8 runs on 13 hits, to complete the sweep of Pittsburgh with a total of 34 runs to the Pirates’ 5. I guess they’ve gotten the Cards series out of their systems.
The Astros wore road reds. Red for road rage.
Tomorrow: The Astros at Washington. I’ll be there to cheer.
High points:
- Pettitte got a win to reward his good start. Thanks Astros!
- More hitting! More scoring! Three wins in 22 hours! And more “it’s not over till its over” as the Astros scored 6 of their 8 runs with 2 outs.
- The thermometer shows red and Berkman is so hot! He hit solo homer in the top of the first inning (#8), so Pettitte had a lead before he ever took the mound. Berkman was 3 for 3 tonight, with a double, a homer, and a walk too, 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Berkman went 10 for 16 in this series, raising his batting average from .292 to .315. Now that’s getting closer to where I expected him to be this year! He’s 21 for 47 (.446) in his last 13 games.
- Burke was 3 for 4 today, with a double and a run scored. Phil Garner said earlier this season that he wasn’t worried about Burke’s low batting average, that he would start hitting sometime soon. Burke sure hit well this series – getting regular playing time, he was 8 for 12, raising his batting average from .233 to .261. I’m predicting that he’ll get up to about .275-.280. Burke got a rare chance to play second base today, with Biggio taking a day off after playing both games yesterday.
- Okay, I’ll stop bad-mouthing Mike Lamb for his low batting average (under .220) and his crummy fielding… at least for a few days. He came up in the 6th with 2 down and 2 on – and hit a 3-run homer (#3) to put some teeth in the Astros’ lead. (He came up in the 7th with 2 down and the bases loaded and struck out. Okay, I said I’d stop bad-mouthing him. Never mind…)
Disappointments:
- Taveras was ejected in the 6th inning for throwing his batting helmet in a fit of pique after being called out at first on a ground ball he’d beat to the base. From the replay, it appears that the umpire made a bad call, and then compounded it by throwing out Taveras, rather than just fining him for throwing equipment – the usual punishment for this misdemeanor. Phil Garner, who is not known for being mild-mannered, has been quite well behaved this year, but he was very aggressive today – and ended up being thrown out too. Meanwhile, with Garner out and 2 outs in that inning, the Astros pulled together a rally and scored 4 runs.
- Although the two relievers (Springer and Harville) each pitched a scoreless inning, both of them did it the hard way, giving up 2 hits and a walk. It’s really a miracle (or Pirates’ total bad luck and ineptitude) that runs did not score.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- Washington continues its woeful playing, losing to Colorado, 3-2. That’s the problem with one-run games. Sometime you lose them. Hope that they can keep up their bad luck for 4 more games, just till the Astros go back to Houston! I’ll be there to see!
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- In the Wild Card race: Atlanta beat San Francisco, 4-1. The Cubbies were spanked by Cincinnati, 9-3. WAH! The Mets beat the Padres, 7-3. The Phillies lost to the LA Dodgers, 10-3. Florida played Arizona after my bedtime.
- And in other NL Central games: St Louis beat the Brewers, 4-2. They have to lose sometime, right? Right???
Final123456789RHEHouston « 1000042108 130Pittsburgh 000000000090W: A. Pettitte (7-7) L: J. Fogg (4-6) 
