2005 SEASON

JUNE 24-26: TEXAS @ HOUSTON

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2005 (Game 71) – Texas @ Houston

Houston 5, Texas 2

The last time the Texas Rangers played in Minute Maid Park was July 4 last year – when the Astros wore their retro rainbow shirts and got clobbered 18-3. The Astros had much better luck Friday night, as Roy Oswalt pitched another excellent game, with enough run support to get his 9th win. (As the Rangers TV announcer said, “Roy Oswalt just basically being Roy Oswalt…”)

At the end of 7 shutout innings, Oswalt had thrown 106 pitches, and only given up 4 hits, with no walks, and 2 Ks. Oswalt has been such a work-horse pitcher that Garner is leaving him in past 7 innings; that didn’t turn out to be a good idea in this game, as Oswalt opened 8th with two back-to-back home runs. "I told Hickey going into the eighth inning that I was pretty much dead from throwing so many pitches in the first two innings," Oswalt said. But the Astros relievers did a great job in the remaining 1 2/3 innings, and the Astros won their 4th game in a row. Houston is now 7 games under .500 – up from 15 games under one month ago.

Houston hitters got 4 of their 5 runs in the first 3 innings, taking a bit of pressure off of Oswalt. "It's nice because you can do a lot more things with an early lead," Oswalt said. "It's hard to pitch when it's 0-0 all the time." Oswalt has had a decision in every game this season. Following this game, he leads the NL in innings pitched at 113 1/3.

The hitting heroes came from the bottom of the lineup in this game – Burke and Ausmus went 5 for 5 between them, with Oswalt getting a couple of sac bunts too.

The Astros wore home stripes. I watched this Friday night game after Shabbat.

High points:

• Excellent relief pitching – Qualls finished off the 8th inning, getting 2 outs in 6 pitches. Then Lidge came in and struck out the side, for save #18, and a K/9 innings ratio of 14.2.
  

• Lane got his 11th home run, with Berkman on base, in the 3rd. Must cheer him up after his bad night Tuesday.
  

• Burke was 3 for 3, and stole a base too – entered the game hitting .188, and left at .209.
  

• Ausmus was catching for Oswalt, despite Chavez’ return. Garner doesn’t like to mess with success, and Oswalt has had very good games with Ausmus behind the plate the past few weeks. Ausmus was on base 4 times in this game, batting 2 for 2 with 2 walks.
  

• Everett scored the 5th and final Astros run in the 8th. He got on base with an infield single, moved up on a sac, and grounder, and then stole home plate with Taveras up to bat. Vizcaino moved to second on that double steal.
  

• Taveras went 2 for 5, with a leadoff double, and a RBI single.
  

• Berkman was 2 for 4, raising his batting average to .265. Bit by bit…
  

Disappointments:

• Biggio was 0 for 4 with 2 Ks. He didn’t get on base --not even a HBP.
  

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

The Nats beat Toronto, 3-0. They now have a 4-game lead in NL East.

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

• The Cards beat Pittsburgh, big surprise, 7-1. In the Chicago duel, the Cubs were trounced by the White Sox, 12-2. Milwaukee beat Minnesota, 3-1. The Reds beat the Indians, 5-4.
  

Final123456789RHE

Texas              000000020270

Houston «        02200001x5      110

W: R. Oswalt (9-7) L: R. Rodriguez (2-1) S: B. Lidge (18)

==============================================================================

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005 (Game 72) – Texas @ Houston

Texas 6, Houston 5

Close, but not quite enough: The Astros made a good come-back Saturday, after another shaky start by Brandon Backe, getting within one run before running out of innings. Backe pitched 6 innings, giving up 6 runs on only 5 hits (4 of the 6 runs scored on homers), 2 BBs, and 7 Ks. It was his third weak start in a row, and his first-ever loss at home. Like his other recent losses, Backe got in trouble early – giving up one run in the first, one in the second, and four in the third. That was all the scoring that the Rangers would do, as Backe and a mix of relievers pitched very well for the rest of the game. But the six runs that scored in the first three innings were just enough to break the Astros’ 8-game home win streak.

I watched the highlights of this Saturday game on Sunday.

High points:

• All of the Astros scoring came on homers. One each by Biggio (#9), Berkman - a 430’ blast (#5), and Ensberg (#17).
  

• The retirement ceremony for Jimmy Wynn's number (24) featured guest speakers, including Joe Morgan. The entire 2005 Astros team stood on the field next to Wynn as he threw the ceremonial first pitch – except one: Jeff Bagwell. Bagwell, who broke Wynn’s Astros home run record, caught the pitch.
  

Disappointments:

• So close… but they lost the boot to the Rangers.
  

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

• The Nats beat Toronto, 5-2, maintaining their 4 game lead in NL East. Livan Hernandez got his 11th win, and Cordero got save #25.
  

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

• The Cards shut out Pittsburgh, 8-0. In the Chicago duel, the Cubs beat the White Sox, 6-2. Milwaukee beat Minnesota, 7-6. Cleveland beat Cincinnati, 12-7, maintaining the Red’s hold on the NL Central cellar.
  

Final123456789RHE

Texas «           114000000680

Houston           000003020560

W: C. Young (7-4) L: B. Backe (6-6) S: F. Cordero (18)

==============================================================================

SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2005 (Game 73) – Texas @ Houston

Houston 3, Texas 2

What a great game!  Andy Pettitte pitched nine – count ‘em – nine full innings for yet another no decision. Nine innings, 120 pitches, two runs (only one ER) on 7 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts. Got down to the bottom of the 9th, game tied 2-2, two out and runners on first and second… So close. But Taveras struck out. The Astros waited until the tenth inning to score another run, to win the game and the Rangers series. But by then it wasn’t Pettitte’s game. Great start anyway.

Who says the Astros aren’t playing well? This was their 17th win in the last 25 games; they’ve won 6 of their last 7 series. And they’re 7 under .500.

High points:

• Qualls pitched a perfect 10th, with two strikeouts, to get the win. I kind of expected to see Lidge. Actually, if I squinted, Qualls looked a whole lot like Lidge on the mound. (See The Numbers Game box below for a comparison.)
  

• Ensberg came through in a big way. No home runs today, just a single at exactly the right moment. Bottom of the tenth, no outs, score tied 2-2, Biggio and Berkman on first and second, both on walks. Ensberg took three balls, and it looked like another walk – then he hit the 4th pitch hard to left, scoring Bidge from second. Nice that Garner lets Ensberg swing on 3-0 counts.
  

• Dad would have loved this game, as a fan of the suicide squeeze and small ball in general. If he’d called it today, he would have been right. In the 7th inning, Astros trailing 2-1, Palmiero got a leadoff double. Everett sac bunted him to third. Then Ausmus put down a beautiful bunt for the suicide squeeze, with Palmeiro perfectly timing his run to the plate. Tie game. Bonus: Ausmus was safe at first on a fielding error by the first baseman. Then Pettitte sac bunted Ausmus to second. Ausmus didn’t manage to score (Taveras struck out). But the three consecutive bunts tied a major league record for the most sac bunts in an inning.
  

• Berkman hit an RBI double to score Biggio in the 6th, for the first Astros run of the game. Nice to see his extra-base hits starting to pick up, along with his batting average.
  

• Today was the 17th anniversary of Biggio’s Major League debut. He scored twice -- and he didn’t even get hit by a pitch.
  

Disappointments:

• Too bad that Pettitte didn’t get a complete game win in such an excellent outing. Pettitte has been terrific in his last two starts – with one ER in 16 innings pitched. These two games have knocked his ERA from 3.76 down to 3.25.
  

• Taveras had a terrible day at the plate: 0 for 5. Two ground outs, a fly out (he was robbed), and two strikeouts -- both with 2 outs and runners in scoring position.
  

• The Astros made two errors in the first inning – a rare event for the NL-leading defensive team. One of them, a bad throw by Everett, resulted in the unearned run.
  

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

• The Nats lost to Toronto, 9-4, in a rare home loss.
  

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

• Pittsburgh squeaked by the Cards, 5-4, in 10 innings. Good little Pirates! The Cubs beat the White Sox to take the Chicago Duel series, 2-0. Milwaukee lost to Minnesota, 5-2. Cleveland beat Cincinnati, 4-3, deepening the Red’s position in the NL Central cellar.
  

Final 10th       123456789      10       R       H       E

Texas     1001000000272

Houston         0000011001382

W: C. Qualls (3-3) L: J. Dominguez (0-2)

Fashion Statement

The Astros wore home whites. Jason Lane is now playing with jersey number 16, after today’s retirement of Jimmy Wynn’s number 24.

See the Resemblance?

Qualls and LIdge

CQBL

Height 6'5"6'5"

Weight220210

Age      Almost 28         28 1/2

Birthplace     CA           CA

Quote of the Day

Phil Garner, on the sweep last month by the Rangers: "Yeah, it bothers me. They beat the snot out of us up there. We need to return the favor.”

Fashion Statement

The Astros wore home red jerseys. Craig Biggio, on the cusp on hitting the HBP record, commented on batting helmet design: "I wear that big old helmet, and that's the reason why. Some guys wear pretty boy helmets, and it's only a matter of time before somebody gets hit in the head and it really does some damage. They look good on your head, but they don't work worth a darn."