2005 SEASON
JULY 25-27: PHILADELPHIA @ HOUSTON
MONDAY, JULY 25, 2005 (Game 99) - PHILADELPHIA @ HOUSTON
Houston 7, Philadelphia 1
The Astros got off to a great start to the home stand, with 7 runs scored on 5 home runs – including two pairs of back-to-back homers by Biggio and Berkman. It was the first time that the Astros have hit 5 home runs in a game since 2002, and the first time ever that a pair of Astros has hit two sets of B2Bs in the same game.
Coming off a marathon effort by the relievers in yesterday’s 14 inning game, the Astros were hoping that Pettitte could go deep in the game. Coming into this game, Pettitte’s ERA in July is a measly 1.08, and his record is 3-0. And he came through again tonight, earning his 8th win by throwing 121 pitches in 7 innings, giving up only 1 ER on 7 hits, 3 BBs, and 7 Ks. Although he got in trouble in a couple of innings (loading the bases in the 3rd, runners on first and third in the 4th inning), he managed to pitch out of it. The only Phillies run scored on Rollins’ home run in the 5th – and Pettitte struck out the other 3 batters in that inning. All in all, another quality start, and like his other recent ones, it was rewarded with nice run production.
The Astros wore home stripes.
High points:
- Biggio! Berkman! Biggio! Berkman! The duo hit back-to-back home runs in the 1st inning to get the game off to a rollicking start, then came back in the 3rd and did it again. At the beginning of the game, the Astros announcers mentioned that Phillies starter Cory Lidle, had only given up 9 homers this season. They jinxed him; he gave up 5 tonight.
- Lane hit the 5th homer, a 2-run job right off the left field foul pole in the 5th inning.
- Biggio seems to have benefited from his day off yesterday (he only pinch-hit); in addition to his 2 homers, he got on base on an error in the 5th, then stole second, and scored on Lane’s home run.
- Garner went to the relievers who didn’t make it out of the bullpen yesterday, with great results: 1-2-3 innings from Mike Burns in the 8th and Chad Harville in the 9th. The Astros relievers have been terrific this month. Mike Burns, a rookie, isn’t getting too many innings, but his last 8 or 9 appearances have been scoreless.
- Eric Bruntlett came up to pinch-hit in the bottom of the 8th, and got a standing ovation by the appreciative crowd. He flied out to center.
- Taveras got his 20th bunt single to lead off the 3rd inning, then stole second (#24). He then scored on Biggio’s second homer.
- Bagwell in the dugout. He looks thinner. I didn’t forget him!
Disappointments:
- You’re kidding. This game was awesome.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nationals had the night off. They only get to stay in the Other Good Guys role to the extent that they are not competitors with the Astros for the Wild Card. That means that they have to stay ahead of Atlanta.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Cubs beat San Francisco, 3-2, in the bottom of the 9th.
- Milwaukee beat Arizona, 4-2.
- Everyone else had late games or the day off.
Final 123456789RHEPhiladelphia 000010000171Houston « 20302000x790W: A. Pettitte (8-7) L: C. Lidle (8-9) ==============================================================================
TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2005 (Game 100) – PHILADELPHIA @ HOUSTON
Houston 2, Philadelphia 1
Oh man! What a game! Roy Oswalt pitched his fourth complete game of the season, giving up only 1 ER in 9 innings, 123 pitches, with 8 scattered hits, 1 BB, and 9 Ks. He was completely masterful throughout the game; the only run he gave up was on double play with a runner scoring from third. Oswalt won his 14th game of the season, knocking his ERA down to 2.33, adding to my conviction that he’s going to be the NL Cy Young winner this year.
To keep the game from being boring, Phillies starter Jon Lieber also pitched a great game, with only 1 ER in 7 innings. His only ER was from a first-pitch homer by Craig Biggio in the first inning.
The game went down to the bottom of the ninth, when leadoff batter, Mike Lamb, knocked his second pitch over the wall for a walk-off home run. The Astros ran out on the field to engage in the requisite ceremonial head thumping. What can I say? It’s a guy thing. They are always either hitting each other on the head or patting each other on the butt.
Anyway, a great time was had by all – well, by all the Astros fans. I had tears in my eyes, overcome by the combination of emotion and a little too much nice crisp Spanish white wine.
The Astros wore home stripes. This win, combined with the outcome of the Washington-Atlanta game (whoever lost became the Wild Card leader), puts Houston only 2 games out in the Wild Card race. I love to say “I told you so”! (And, I might add, 10 games under St. Louis, pending the results of the Cards game on the West Coast. Ten down is a lot, but it’s less than 15. The pattern is in place…)
High points:
- Mike Lamb came through when it counted, saving the win for Oswalt and the team. Lamb, sometimes not my favorite player, had already earned several reprieves from my gripes for his heroic efforts (home runs in tight spots) in recent days. I have now sworn not to say anything bad about him through the end of August.
- Biggio’s home run was his 3rd in two days, putting his season homer count up to 16. This puts him on track to at least match last year’s 24. It was career home run #250. Poor Chris Burke – he must wonder if Biggio will ever run out of steam and let him take over second base!
- Willie T’s infield hit in the 3rd inning was his 50th of the season. That leads the major leagues, and ties the Astros team record for infield hits in a season – and there are 62 games to go. (The record was set by Biggio in ’92.) Taveras has already broken the club record for bunt singles in a season. Looks like there are going to be some new records this year.
- Oswalt is now tied for most wins in the NL, at 14. He’s also edging down in the ERA department – now at 2.33 he’s poised to take over 2nd place for lowest ERA (after Clemens) if Chris Carpenter has an off night tomorrow. He also has the NL lead for most innings pitched. And he’s got a decision in every game he’s started this year.
- Both pitchers are known for being very fast workers. The game was over in 2 hours and 11 minutes.
- In other Astros-related news, Roger Clemens’ son Koby, who is playing in Class A Greeneville this summer, had a nice day at the plate: He hit a grand slam. It was his first home run as a pro ball player.
Disappointments:
None. It was a great game. Good pitchers’ duel, and the Good Guys won.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nationals lost in a heartbreaker, 3-2, to Atlanta, their NL East enemy. Relief pitcher Ayala was the goat tonight: He came into the game with a 2-2 tie, with 2 on and 2 outs. He hit the first batter to load the bases, then walked the next one to lose the game for the Nats. This loss puts Atlanta ahead in the NL East, with Washington as the NL Wild Card leader – for now.
- Since the Nationals are potentially the Astros’ Wild Card competition, they can’t really be the Other Good Guys for now. So I think I’ll track some good guys who won’t be any competition until we get to the World Series: the Red Sox. Tonight, they had a lot of excitement playing Tampa Bay. Starting pitcher Matt Clement was hit in the head by a batted ball in the third inning, knocking him down (but apparently not out). He had to be carried off the field on a stretcher, and taken to a hospital for a CAT scan. Meanwhile, the Red Sox were down 8-6 in the 9th inning, managed to score 2 runs to tie, then 2 more in the 10th. Tampa Bay came back with a run in the bottom of the 9th with a run, but that wasn’t enough – Boston won 10-9. Won one for the Gipper, well, for Clement…
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- Pittsburgh beat Florida, 6-3.
- Milwaukee beat Arizona, 7-2.
- Colorado beat the F-ing Mets, 4-3. I want the Mets on a downturn coming into their Houston series at the end of the week.
- Everyone else in the NL played after I went to bed.
Final123456789RHEPhiladelphia 000001000181Houston « 100000001270W: R. Oswalt (14-8) L: R. Madson (4-4) ==============================================================================
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2005 (Game 101) – PHILADELPHIA @ HOUSTON
Houston 3, Philadelphia 2
The Phillies must hate playing Houston – tonight the Astros completed their third consecutive sweep of a Philadelphia series. Here’s a signal that things went really well during this series: In three games, not a single sign of Billy Wagner on the mound – nothing to save.
It wasn’t Clemens’ most dominating start of the season – 2 ERs in 7 innings, with 6 hits, 2 BBs, and just 4 Ks. The 2 ERs raised Clemens’ miniscule ERA to 1.46. But it was just enough to earn his 9th win, with the Astros only scoring 3 runs tonight.
The win is Houston’s 18th in the last 20 home games, and their 10th in the last 11 games. With the Nationals’ loss tonight, the Astros are now just one game out of leading the NL Wild Card race. Houston pitching has got to take credit for a big part of this sweep: Phillies batters only managed to score 4 runs in the 3 games.
No fancy heroics tonight, no homers. The Astros’ game winning run was scored way back in the third inning, when Biggio doubled, and Berkman singled to score him. The other runs were scored in the second inning when Lamb singled and scored on Palmeiro’s double. Then Everett hit an infield single to move Palmeiro to third; he scored on a beautiful suicide squeeze bunt by Ausmus. A nice night for small ball.
The Astros wore home stripes.
In other Clemens-related news, Roger’s son Koby is doing really well in Greeneville Rookie League. The team sucks – it’s in last place, but Koby’s hitting great, with a .429 batting average so far.
High points:
- Berkman was 2 for 4, raising his batting average to .317. He’s got an 11-game hitting streak going.
- Biggio got his 28th double of the season, scoring on Berkman’s subsequent hit. There has been some talk by the sports reporters that perhaps Garner should put Bidge back in the lead-off role. Although Willie Tee is faster and gets on with a lot of infield hits, Biggio is actually scoring more runs. Second base, leadoff hitter – it would be like old times. Just wish Bagwell were playing, to make the picture complete!
- The relievers came through beautifully again tonight. Gallo (perhaps after hearing rumors that the Astros are hoping to score a lefty reliever before the trade deadline Sunday) came in to pitch to two left-handed batters in the 8th, and got them both. Then Wheeler came in for the last batter – and struck him out on three called strikes. Lidge came in to close, with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, for his 24th save. Astros relievers have been incredibly dependable in July.
Disappointments:
- Ensberg only hit 2 for 11 in this series, with no runs or RBIs.
- Backe has been put on the 15 day DL, after sustaining a strained intercostal muscle on his left side, and will probably be out at least 3 weeks. The Astros have called up Zeke Astacio from Round Rock to fill in for him. He’ll be starting tomorrow night against Pedro Martinez in the first game of the Mets series. Overclassed? Yahhhh.. Astacio had a good start the last time he was called up, for the first game of the Pittsburgh double header last week. But it would be really helpful if the Astros discovered their bats and helped him out a bit tomorrow.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats lost another one run game, 4-3, to Atlanta. The loss puts them 2 games behind in the NL East – and only a one-run lead over Houston in the Wild Card race.
- Red Sox pitcher Matt Clement was checked out of the hospital today, after CAT scans were negative. The video of his getting beaned by a hard-hit ball was stunning; the force literally knocked him off his feet. It’s amazing that he wasn’t badly injured. It’s not like he was wearing a pitching helmet!
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Cubs beat the Giants, 4-3.
- The Brewers lost to Arizona, 3-0.
- The Mets trounced Colorado, 9-3. They should get that out of their system before they come to Houston to lose.
- Florida beat Pittsburgh, 3-1.
- WOO HOO! Late breaking news (12:40 AM): The Cards lost, 2-1, to the Padres in the bottom of the ninth! Jason Marquis (who hit Roy Oswalt with a pitch the last time he faced the Astros) pitched a complete game – and lost. WAH. Houston is now 9.5 games behind the Cards in the NL Central. Sounds like a lot, but the number is steadily shrinking, despite the Cards’ sweeping the Astros after the All Star game. Little by little, the Astros are taking their rightful place.
Final123456789RHEPhiladelphia 100100000260Houston « 02100000x381W: R. Clemens (9-4) L: V. Padilla (5-9) S: B. Lidge (24) ==============================================================================
Trade Winds
In recent days there have been a lot of rumors about possible trades, before the July 31 deadline. The Astros have been said to be in search of another bat to bolster their offense, and more recently, there’s been noise about getting a lefty reliever. The Reds’ Adam Dunn had been mentioned as a possible outfielder who can hit homers. Tim Purpura has recently said that there’s a 50-50 chance of a trade before Sunday.
Up until the past few days, I was thinking that a trade – especially for a good hitter – would be great. But more recently I’ve been thinking: Who would I want to lose? Any of the current Astros roster? What minor leaguers – their future pitching rotation?
As the Astros have racked up win after win in the past couple of months, I’m wondering whether they don’t already have the team that they need to go all the way. Berkman’s hitting great, after his slow start coming off the DL. Ensberg has been having his dream year. Biggio doesn’t realize that he’s turning 40 and is only on a one-year contract; he’s been awesome. Except for some eccentricity in catching fly balls, Taveras has been amazing – who cares about losing Beltran? Palmeiro is batting well over .300; he could be starting more. And Everett, and Ausmus, and yeah, even Lamb. The kids on the team have been great – besides Willie, Lane and Burke have improved with more regular play. And Bruntlett’s had his moment to shine this week. I would be unhappy to see anyone from the team be traded.
I’d also be disappointed to see the Astros trade away some of their top pitching prospects – the trade that I’ve heard that the Reds want for Dunn.
So maybe I’m not really hoping that there will be a trade after all. I like the Astros just the way they are.
