2005 SEASON
JULY 8-10: LOS ANGELES @ HOUSTON
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2005 (Game 85) – LA Dodgers @ Houston
Houston 3, Los Angeles 2
Another no-decision quality start for Roger Clemens, but this one ended up in a win, to take off a lot of the sting. At this point, giving up just 2 runs in 7 innings raises his ERA – from 1.41 to 1.50 – still the best in the major leagues. Clemens threw 115 pitches, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Should have been enough for a win, for most teams, but the Astros are soooooo stingy with Clemens. They didn’t get the winning run until the bottom of the 9th.
The Astros didn’t lack hitting during Clemens’ tenure on the mound – they had lots of base runners, but abandoned most of them without scoring. In the first inning, the Astros loaded the bases with no outs on singles by the first three batters, but only got one run across. They stranded two runners in scoring position in the 3rd inning, and runners on first and third in the 5th and 7th. By the bottom of the 9th, they had only 2 runs on 9 hits, when Morgan Ensberg hit in the winning run. Lidge, who had pitched a perfect 9th, got the win.
The Astros wore home stripes.
High points:
- The Astros put up their best relievers Friday night – Wheeler in the 8th and Lidge in the 9th. Both pitched perfect innings, keeping the score tied in preparation for 9th inning heroics. Lidge got the win, his 3rd of the season.
- Ensberg came up twice in heroic situations – with the bases loaded in the first inning, and with runners on first and third in the 5th – and both times popped out. But in the ninth inning, he came through in a big way. Taveras had a leadoff single, and Bidge sacrificed him to second. Berkman was intentionally walked to set up the double play, bringing up Ensberg, the Astros hottest hitter. On an 0-2 count Mo knocked a double into center field, scoring Willie T, and that was the game. "Even though I know they're not saying the guy behind [Berkman] can't hit, I did draw a little bit of intensity from that." Maybe more than a little bit of intensity – when the ball dropped between the outfielders, he rounded first grinning, waving his hands in the air, as Taveras dashed home.
- Willie T was 3 for 5, scoring 2 of the Astros’ 3 runs, pushing his batting average up to .296. He’s one of 4 Astros whose batting averages are really close to going over .300. Biggio, Berkman, and Ensberg are really close behind.
- Berkman was 3 for 3, with an RBI triple and two walks. He’s now batting .294 with more of the power hitting that the team needs.
Disappointments:
- It would be nice if Clemens could score the win on nights like this…
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- Washington beat the Phillies, 8-7, in another one-run miracle.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- Pirates beat the Mets, 6-5, in 10. Braves beat the Brewers, 2-1. Reds beat Arizona, 4-3. The Cubs beat the Marlins, 9-6 (Dontrell gave up 8 runs in 4 innings, bumping up his ERA to 2.39!). And of course, St. Louis beat San Francisco, 3-1.
Final123456789RHEL.A. Dodgers 000020000281Houston « 1000001013 101W: B. Lidge (3-2) L: Y. Brazoban (2-3) ==============================================================================
SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 (Game 86) – LA Dodgers @ Houston
Houston 4, Los Angeles 2
.500!
Roy Oswalt pitched another quality start to underline why he deserved his spot on the All Star team and to lead the Astros back to the .500 mark just in time for the All Star break. It wasn’t Oswalt’s best game of the season -- he threw 116 pitches in 6 1/3 innings, giving up 2 ERs on 9 hits, 1 BB, and 7 Ks. But with a little help from his friends, it earned him his12th win of the season. In a year of wasted quality starts from the Astros rotation, 12 wins is a very big number. Oswalt doesn’t do things halfway – he has a decision in every start this season. One reason is that he stays in the game. This game’s 6 1/3 innings are an anomaly; he usually pitches 7 and has gone all the way three times in the first half of the season. He goes into the All Star break with an ERA of 2.45 – third in the NL to Clemens and Dontrelle Willis.
The Astros were last at .500 on April 22, when their record was 8-8. A month later, on May 24, they were 15 games under .500. It’s been a slow climb back up to being a winning team, but they are almost there. And then, maybe, who knows… well, watch out!
The Astros wore home whites.
High points:
- Biggio went 2 for 4, pushing his batting average up to .292. He singled in the sixth inning, moved to third on Berkman’s double, then scored on a wild pitch. His second hit (#2730 career) ties him with Barry Bonds on the all time hit list, at 49th place.
- Palmeiro, Vizcaino, and Lamb started, as Garner wanted to give the bench some exercise before the All Star break. Not a bad move: Palmeiro hit a home run (#3) on his first at-bat. Lamb went 2 for 4 with a RBI double.
- Good relief pitching: Qualls came in to relieve in the 7th, with the bases loaded and 1 out. He let a runner score on a wild pitch, but then struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Springer pitched a perfect 8th, and Lidge came in to close with a hitless 9th for his 19th save.
Disappointments:
- Willie T didn’t get a hit, but he did hit the sac fly that scored the 4th run in the 7th inning.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
•The Nats lost, 1-0, to the Phillies in the bottom of the 9th.
The Nats lost, 1-0, to the Phillies in the bottom of the 9th.Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Cards lost to the Giants, 2-0.
- The Cubs beat the Marlins, 8-2. Cubs rookie Adam Greenberg had major league debut to remember -- he can remember it. He was hit on the head by the 1st pitch.
- Milwaukee beat Atlanta, 9-6. Pittsburgh beat the Mets, 11-4. Cincinnati beat Arizona, 6-2.
- The NL Central teams’ wins (except for the Cards) are not all bad news – the Astros are presently in second place in the NL Central, ahead of them all. On the other hand, the NL East teams they beat are the Astros’ competition for the NL Wild Card slot.
Final123456789RHEL.A. Dodgers 000100100290Houston « 01000210x470W: R. Oswalt (12-7) L: J. Weaver (7-8) S: B. Lidge (19) ==============================================================================
SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2005 (Game 87) – Los Angeles Dodgers @ Houston
Houston 6, LA 5
Now that was a great game! Come-from-behind action. Nail-biting suspense up until the last play. And, of course, the Good Guys won to sweep the home series with the Dodgers, and to officially become a “winning team” – one with a record better than .500.
The win was a real team effort. Backe pitched better than the numbers indicate (two of his runs were unearned), but not with Clemens’ or Oswalt’s dominance. Houston got out in front with a run in the first inning. Then LA took a 5-1 lead on a trio of runs in the third (related to some Astros errors), plus a two-run homer in the fifth inning.
But the Astros didn’t just shrivel up and wait to lose, like they might have earlier in the season; they came back hard in the bottom of the 6th with 4 runs to tie the game. Then, with excellent relief pitching, the Astros kept the Dodgers from adding to their score, while plating the one run they needed to go ahead in the bottom of the eighth.
The hits and heroics came from all over the lineup, with RBIs from Everett to tie and Ausmus to go ahead, as well as the obligatory homer from Morgan Ensberg. But the best part was the heart-thumping photo finish. With the Astros ahead by one run in the top of the ninth, Brad Lidge struck out the first two batters without ever throwing a ball – just strikes and fouls. Then up came Oscar Robles, who had 3 hits on Saturday and another two today. He got his third hit, but tried to stretch it to two bases. Taveras fielded the ball in center, threw quickly and perfectly to second, where Biggio made a brilliant grab and tagged Robles to end the game. It was the kind of moment that makes me really love this game.
The Astros wore home Sunday reds.
In other, totally awesome news, Ensberg got a nice surprise on his way to the airport to catch a flight to Lake Tahoe for a little vacation during the All Star break: Tim Purpura called him on his cell phone to tell him that Scott Rolen had decided not to play. “Purpura said, 'Congratulations, you're an All-Star,'" Ensberg related. “Chaos ensued.” The good kind of chaos, apparently – the kind where you have to change your plane tickets and get your gear out to Detroit to be with Clemens, Oswalt, and Lidge.
The Astros fans had not taken Ensberg’s oversight lightly. "There were signs all over the place just saying really nice things and how they felt I was their All-Star in their hearts," Ensberg said. "I sign (autographs) down the line before the games. Virtually everybody was saying, 'We believe you deserve to be an All-Star.' I think people identified with the situation I was in. A lot of times people will do everything correctly, but they don't get the prize." But, sometimes, they do!
DESERVING ALL-STARMorgan Ensberg - the NL's best third baseman this seasonCategory Total Rank*Homers 241stRBIs 651stTot. bases 1771stSlug. pct. .5961stOPS .9831st* Among NL third basemen High points:
- Ensberg’s 2-run homer (#24) in the 4-run 6th inning scored Berkman, who had just singled. It was followed by three consecutive hits – Lane’s single, Everett’s triple, and Burke’s single – to score 2 more runs to tie the game. Homer 24 is just one below Everett’s total for his great season the year before last – and there’s still half of the season to go.
- The go-ahead run was scored in the bottom of the 8th when Ensberg got a single and Lane walked. Everett struck out. Then Palmeiro came in to pinch hit, and knocked a fly ball just over the right field wall – which would have been a home run if the Dodgers outfielder hadn’t leaped to catch it. Ensberg tagged and moved to third, and Lane advanced to second. With two outs, Ausmus hit a single to score Ensberg. Lane was tagged out at home. So the Astros went into to the 9th ahead by just that one run.
- Taveras was 2 for 3, going into the break with a .296 average. Unfortunately, he was caught stealing twice by a Dodgers team that has a terrible record against base stealing; they were really gunning for Taveras.
- Berkman was 1 for 3, raising his average to .295 going into the break.
- Excellent relief pitching today: Gallo and Harville combo perfect in the 7th. Springer gave up a HBP and BB, but no hits or runs in the 8th, earning the win when the Astros went ahead in the bottom of the inning. And Lidge struck out the first two batters in the 9th, before giving up the hit that ended the game.
Disappointments:
- Wow, how can I be disappointed? I was looking for the Astros to get to .500 by the All Star break, so they’d be poised to move up in the second half. And that’s just what they did.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- Washington lost to the Phillies, 5-4. Although I like the Nats, I need for them to get in the habit of losing a few games, in preparation for the home stand against the Astros the week after next. I want to see the Astros win!
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The teams ahead of Houston in the Wild Card race, going into the All Star break, are basically all the teams in the NL East (except for the Nats, who lead the pack):
- Milwaukee beat Atlanta, 8-4.- Chicago beat Florida, 9-2.- The Mets beat the Pirates, 6-1.- And in NL Central news:
- The Cards beat the Giants, 4-3.- The Reds lost to Arizona, 2-0.Final123456789RHEL.A. Dodgers 003020000591Houston « 10000401x692W: R. Springer (2-3) L: D. Sanchez (2-4) S: B. Lidge (20) 
