AstrosFanInExile

2005 SEASON

JUNE 3-5: ST LOUIS @ HOUSTON

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2005 (Game 53) – St. Louis @ Houston

St Louis 2, Houston 0

The Astros are on target for a team record number of shutout losses this year: This was the 10th shutout, putting them on a pace for breaking their previous record of 23, unless they clean up their no-scoring act this season.

As typical of most Astros shutouts this year, it was accompanied by a wasted stellar pitching effort by the Astros starter. The victim this time was Andy Pettitte, who didn’t deserve a loss for pitching a very nice game -- 7 innings, with only one ER on 5 hits, no BBs, and 5 Ks. This game knocked Pettitte’s record to 3-6, but lowered his ERA from 3.71 to 3.47.

The Astros wore home stripes.

I missed this Shabbat evening game, so my comments are based on boxscores, play-by-plays, and chitchat from the usual suspects - Alyson Footer and Brian McTaggert.

High points:

The game wasn’t entirely without hitting, just without runs. Willie Taveras was 2 for 4, and Adam Everett went 3 for 3. And Pettitte got his first hit of the season.

The All-Rookie outfield was playing again: Burke, Taveras, Self.

Qualls pitched well in the 8th.

Disappointments:

The Astros bungled their only best scoring opportunity in the 5th on what seemed to be miscues and bad base running decisions (by the management, if not the players). Everett led off with a single, and advanced to second on Ausmus’ groundout. Pettitte singled, moving Everett to third. Runners on the corners, one out, and Taveras up to bat. Garner calls for a sacrifice squeeze. Taveras is an excellent bunter, but bungled the play, which he’d never attempted in the minors. Everett was running, Taveras set up to bunt, and then pulled back, leaving Everett totally vulnerable to the rundown. (As Jose de Jesus Ortiz reported in the Houston Chronicle: “Adam Everett couldn't have been more exposed if he were standing between third and home with his clothes off.”) Pettitte advanced to second on the play. Two down. Taveras, still at bat, singled. Garner, desperate to score a run, had apparently instructed Mansolino to wave the runner on to home. But Pettitte is a really slow runner, and was easily caught at home plate. Pettitte was surprised by the signal to run: "When he waved me I was thinking, 'OK, it might be close.' I'm not real fast and then halfway down the line the catcher already had it. I know I'm slow, but I didn't think I was quite that slow. Obviously I don't think I should have (gone) when you look at it. You got to try anything to try to get on the board."

Springer gave up a first-pitch leadoff homer to Pujols in the 9th. It turned out to only be an insurance run for the Cards.

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

The Nats beat Florida, 3-2, in 11 innings.

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

Pittsburgh beat Atlanta, 3-1.

Colorado whipped the Reds, 12-4.

The Cubbies lost to San Diego, 6-2.

Milwaukee beat the Dodgers, 7-5.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2005 (Game 54) – St. Louis @ Houston

St Louis 11, Houston 9

In the end, it’s just another loss. Worse, another loss to the division-leading Cards, putting the Astros 15½ games behind.

But let’s get that behind us and focus on some redeeming features, or at least excuses. Excuse Number 1: Rookie pitcher Wandy Rodriguez got totally creamed. Excuse Number 2: Rookie Catcher calling the game. So okay, they gave up 8 runs in the third inning, including a grand slam and even a homerun to the pitcher. Aside from that rather sizable hurdle, the defense wasn’t that bad – especially considering that there were 4 other rookies making appearances in the field.

Now let’s look at the good side: The Astros scored a LOT of runs, including homers by Berkman and Ensberg. They scored in six of the nine innings. In almost any other Astros loss this year, this would have been more than enough to make the difference. Doesn’t change the outcome, but it’s got to be a move in the right direction. (It’s hard to imagine a move in the wrong direction that the Astros haven’t already tried.)

The Astros wore home whites.

As usual on weekends, I missed seeing this game live, due to Shabbat. This week, as the Astros were struggling against the Cards, I was drinking bourbon at the Sunshines, celebrating Josh’s imminent wedding. I’ll miss tomorrow’s game (Clemens pitching) due to the main event.

In other news, Jeff Bagwell will travel to Spartanburg, S.C., on Monday to prepare for his right shoulder surgery the following morning. I’ve seen comments that the procedure (arthroscopic capsular release) is only 10-30% likely to return Bagwell to playing ability, so hopes that we’ll see him on the field again this year are dim. But 10% is better than 0, which is where he is right now. Someone commented that if this procedure is successful, it will become known as the “Jeff Bagwell surgery,” kind of like pitchers calling the ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction “Tommy John surgery.”

High points:

Garner commented on the improved hitting after the game, mentioning, “When Berkman starts hitting the ball well again, that's going to be key.” I guess it all depends on his interpretation of “hitting the ball well,” but it looks to me like Berkman’s hitting has been getting better and better. His 2 for 4 (single and homer) performance today, with 2 runs and 3 RBI, bumps his batting average up to .253, continuing the upward swing. And that’s his second homer this week.

Lots of multi-hit performances today:

Ensberg went 3 for 4, with a home run (#11). That homer put him ahead of his measly 10 for last year.

Everett hit 2 for 3, with 2 RBIs.

Burke was 2 for 4 with two doubles, scoring a run and an RBI.

The relief pitching started with Backe in the 3rd, and included Harville, Franco, Qualls, and Springer. Backe only gave up one hit and no runs, but walked four in 2 innings. As usual, Harville and Qualls gave up runs. Franco did really well, with a 1-2-3 7th inning. Same for Springer in the 9th.

Humberto Quintero caught his first major-league game today, after being brought up from Round Rock this week to replace Chavez with someone who might provide more power at bat. He went 1 for 4 with an RBI single. He apparently will not be Oswalt’s pitcher, as Chavez was; Oswalt has requested to go back to Ausmus.

Disappointments:

They lost.

Wandy Rodriguez got by with an okay start in his previous game, and squeaked out a win. But today he was really minor league: His troubles began in the first inning, when the first guy got on with a single, moved to second on a balk, and scored on a double. He settled down in the second, but totally fell apart in the third, starting with the pitcher (who singled) and ending with the pitcher (who homered). In between he gave up three other singles, a triple, an intentional walk – and the grand slam. Total damage: 2 2/3 innings, nine ERs on nine hits, 2 BBs, and 4 Ks. All in all, with his 10.67 ERA, it was not a good way to keep that 5th rotation slot. According to the wire stories, Wandy was distraught after the game, sitting with his head in his hands and remaining silent for several minutes as reporters gathered around him. "I had a lot of bad luck," Rodriguez finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Biggio didn’t get any hits today, going 0 for 5, but managed to end up on base twice and scored two runs. He struck out to end the game. He must have been bummed out.

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

The Nats beat Florida, 7-3. Washington is only one game out of first in the NL East. Of course, all of the NL East teams are within 2 games of each other.

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

Cincinnati lost to Colorado, 7-5.

Chicago and Milwaukee are playing late games on the West Coast.

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SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 2005 (Game 55) – St. Louis @ Houston

Houston 6, St Louis 4

I missed seeing this Sunday afternoon game live for the best of all possible reasons: I was busy dancing at Josh Sunshine’s wedding. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Abe Cherick is a Cards nutcase fan, and was monitoring the game on his cellphone. He kept updating me on the status thoughout the wedding party.

What a game: A pitchers’ duel that just didn’t happen. Both Clemens and Mulder were beat up in the first inning, and only pitched 8 innings between them. For once, Clemens pitched a game that didn’t constitute a “quality” start – giving up 3 runs in the first inning and another in the second – and he finally got a win. He got both run support and great relief pitching – a real team effort for a change. Go figure… At this point in his career, Clemens can afford to be a sport. After two months of not badmouthing the team when they’ve let him down on brilliant starts, yesterday he was pushing the reporters to talk to the hitters – the real stars of the show. Even with the 4 ERs in 5 innings (his shortest outing this year), Clemens is still leading the majors in ERA – it’s up to 1.67.

The Astros wore home Sunday reds.

In other news, Jeff Bagwell appeared in the broadcast, eating sunflower seeds and watching his last game from the dugout for a while. The next morning, Bagwell, his wife, and his doctor left for South Carolina for his Tuesday morning surgery. According to Alyson Footer’s astros.com report, they should know something as early as Tuesday – at least whether his shoulder is so trashed that the repair isn’t possible at all. So stay tuned…

High points:

The Astros actually scored some runs. Came right back from what looked like another hopeless situation, and scored 5 in the first inning.

Back-to-back homers by Ensberg (#12) and Lane (#6) in the Astros’ 5-run first inning. Ensberg went 6 for 12 in this series, with 3 RBIs and 4 runs. (Maybe last year’s HR drought was just a bad dream for him?)

Taveras was 4 for 4 – the best hitting game in his career. (But no steals this time.)

Clemens knows how to keep his cool after a shaky start – he just gets better. He gave up 3 ERs in the first inning. He allowed another in the second (after what might actually have been scored as a fielding error by Lane, instead of a triple), then gave up 2 singles. Two runners on base with one out – and Pujols up to bat. The St. Louis announcers were already speculating on whether the score would soon be 7-4… and Clemens lures Pujols into a double play. After that, Clemens only gave up a couple of scattered singles. But he had a lot of pitches (35 in the first inning!), and had to come out after only 5 innings.

The Astros relief pitching was excellent: Four scoreless innings between them, with only 2 hits. Springer was perfect in the 6th. Wheeler pitched great, with one hit and 3 Ks in his 2 innings. With his 1.40 ERA and rising K-count, he’s looking more and more like a setup man. And Lidge got his 13th save, on one hit and 1 K in the 9th.

Disappointments:

The archived game video, which I watched on Monday night, was from the St. Louis broadcast. Bummer. For some reason, instead of starting before the game, it started deep into the top of the first inning, with the score 3-0. (But maybe I’m not that disappointed to have missed seeing Clemens get clobbered…)

Biggio, Berkman, Everett and Ausmus didn’t have one hit between them. Biggio’s still in a bit of a hitting funk, going 0 for 3, but he hit a nice deep sac fly in the first inning to score the Astros’ first run of the game. And Berkman got on base in a RBI fielders choice, and then scored on Ensberg’s homer.

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

The Nats beat Florida again, 6-3, to sweep the home series, and to take (however briefly) sole possession of the NL East. (There’s only 1½ games between the best and worst team in that division!)

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

The Reds lost again to the Rockies, 8-6, to take their rightful place below the Astros in the NL Central basement.

Chicago won, 4-0, against San Diego.

Milwaukee lost, 10-6, to the Dodgers.