2005 SEASON
MAY 12-15: SAN FRANCISCO @ HOUSTON
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005 (Game 34) – San Francisco @ Houston
San Francisco 6, Houston 3
The Astros are not what you’d call a “come-from-behind” team this year: They are now 0-15 in games where they trail after 6 innings. Tonight’s loss puts them with a record of 12-22, 10 games out, alone in the NL Central cellar. This doesn’t mean that I don’t think that they’re going to have a winning season – but I’ll admit that they are off to a painfully slow start. If I’m wrong to be optimistic about their ultimate success, this journal will provide a most elaborate description of a losing season. Even so, if it turns out to be the last Bagwell-Biggio season, it’s worth capturing.
Pettitte got off to a shaky start, allowing a run in each of the first two innings (one unearned). But opposing pitcher, rookie Brad Hennessey gave up two homers in the first, so it was even. The Good Guys took the lead in the 5th on Biggios second HR, but Pettitte gave it away in the 6th, and the Astros never came back. Or as Alyson Footer so coyly put it, “Down by a run with four innings left to play was too much for the Astros to overcome, and they bowed rather meekly to a handful of Giants pitchers.”
The Astros wore home stripes.
High points:
- Biggio is adding to his collection of leadoff homers, as he knocked the first pitch out tonight. Then he added another one in the 5th – the 14th 2-homer game in his career.
- Ensberg got a first inning HR, then walked twice but was left stranded both times.
- Taveras stole second and third, for steals number 11 and 12 – leading the NL.
- Lane singled in the 6th, to snap his 0-17 slump.
- Qualls didn’t give up any runs tonight – two hits but no runs, unlike his last 6 outings!
- Todd Self, Bagwell’s “replacement,” got to come up to bat with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. He hit a long fly ball for the last out, but he did get a chance to play major league ball.
Disappointments:
- Lots of stranded runners tonight. The Good Guys left 2 on base in the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th innings. Really wasted opportunities in the late innings as the Giants brought in relievers who could have been beat up.
- Errors! Four of them, by Berkman, Lidge and Ensberg (2). And three of them resulted in unearned runs. Shoddy fielding from a team whose fielding record is among the best.
- Lidge struck out the side in the 9th, but let two score on a double, a single and two fielding errors (his and Ensberg’s). Not lights-out tonight. But it wasn’t a blown save, and didn’t end up making any difference, as the Giants didn’t need the two insurance runs to win.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats had the night off.
Notes on the (Other) Bad Guys:
- Cards beat LA today, 10-3, and they won last night too. Boo hoo.
- Reds beat Phillies, 7-5 – leaving the Astros all alone at the bottom of the NL Central.
Final123456789RHESF 110002002690Houston 200010000383W: B. Hennessey (2-0) L: A. Pettitte (2-4) S: T. Walker (2) ==============================================================================
FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2005 (Game 35) – San Francisco @ Houston
San Francisco 4, Houston 2
A Shabbat evening game, so of course I missed it. But reading the box score and the various game reports, it doesn’t seem like I missed anything. The game was pretty much a rerun of many recent games. So I’ll save myself the aggravation and heartbreak of watching the archive (I’ll watch the Saturday win instead), and just write up the facts.
The obvious fact first: Houston lost again, the 4th in a row, the 10th out of the last 11 games. In this game the Astros got good hits (8), but failed to capitalize on them: They loaded the bases in the 2nd inning, with no outs, but only managed to get one run across. This was another game where errors (2 of them) cost runs that the Astros couldn’t afford to give up, since they would score so few of their own.
The Astros wore home stripes.
High points:
- After two rough starts, Astacio had a much better outing, after a shaky first inning. He got the first two outs quickly, then loaded the bases with 2 walks and a single. The next batter got an infield single on a 3-2 count, scoring a run, and then a second run (unearned) scored on a fielding error. After that inning, though, Zeke only gave up one walk and one single in his 5 innings, a total of 3 hits, 3 BBs, and 4 Ks. All in all, this games shows some real promise for him – a big improvement over his start last Sunday in Atlanta (the 16-0 fiasco)!
- Right-handed pitcher Mike Burns, fresh up from Round Rock, pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up one hit and no runs. Burns is replacing Ducky on the roster. Franco and Springer also pitched well in relief.
- Taveras was 2 for 4 - one of them another bunt single. The Road Runner stole second base (SB #13), in the 8th, setting himself up to score on Palmeiro’s single. Perhaps he can become a Killer Beepbeep.
- Ensberg went 2 for 3, continuing good hitting.
- Palmeiro is evidently being rewarded for his good playing in recent games: He started the game in LF (covering for Berkman, who is still being given rest days to pace his recovery), and got another RBI hit.
Disappointments:
- Chad Qualls continues his recent bad habits in relief pitching: For the 7th time in his last 8 appearances, he gave up at least one run, including a HR to the first batter he faced. He got the next two out, but then gave up 3 singles in a row, allowing another run to score.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats lost to the Cubs, 6-3.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Wonderful Mets shut out the Cards, 2-0. They can go back to being the Fucking Mets when they lose Saturday. In bad news for the Cards, Scott Rolen had shoulder surgery Friday, and will be out 4-6 weeks. Sad for Rolen (Bagwell can send him a get-well card), but probably good news for the Astros.
- The Phillies blew away the Reds 12-2, so Houston isn’t any deeper in last place than they were before this game.
- Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh, 4-3.
Final123456789RHESF « 200000020490Houston 010000010282W: K. Rueter (2-2) L: E. Astacio (0-2) S: T. Walker (3) ==============================================================================
SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2005 (Game 36) – San Francisco @ Houston
Houston 4, San Francisco 1
I turned on the computer right after Shabbat ended, with a pledge to myself that if the Astros were losing, I’d go read a book, and not watch the end of the game. They were winning: Going into the bottom of the 9th, they were ahead 4-1, after 8 innings of brilliant pitching by Roger Clemens. And with Lidge coming in to close, I had to watch that.
Lidge has been shaky recently, not his usual Lidgeful perfection – giving up hits, runs, even home runs. So even with a 3-run lead, I hadn’t completely given up the suspicion that the Astros would find a way to lose the game. But tonight, he was perfect: 3 up, 3 down, two of them on Ks.
The Astros’ four runs isn’t what one might call a blowout, but considering their recent paltry scoring, it’s huge. With the fantastic pitching, it was way more than enough to stop the freefall losing streak that they’ve found themselves in.
The Astros wore home whites.
High points:
- Clemens is just amazing: He threw 8 innings, giving up only 1 run on 5 scattered hits, no BBs and 10 Ks. After 8 starts, his record is only 3-1, but with his ERA of 1.11, he really should have 7 or even 8 wins. But the Astros have only scored 15 runs for him, counting tonight’s 4. It’s a shame for him to have come back this year, at such a hefty salary, only to have a lousy record with a losing team. But it would be a bigger shame for him to leave, midyear, to play for a contender like Boston. For the Astros, at least; they need all the veteran leadership they can get.
- Lidge looked like his old self, that is to say, perfect: no hits, walks, hit batsmen. And two more strikeouts, keeping him firmly in the lead for Ks by relievers.
- Biggio continues to be hot, with another HR tonight – his third in 3 games. Garner had him in the number 3 position tonight, still moving around the players to find a lineup that works.
- Berkman hit his first HR since his return. Now that must have felt really fine!
- Clemens got another hit tonight; his batting average is .353.
- Ensberg got a double; he hasn’t ever returned to slugging homers, like two years ago, but his batting average is now over .300.
- Garner is keeping Palmeiro in the starting lineup, replacing slumping Lane in RF. His .333 batting average doesn’t hurt.
- No fielding errors tonight! After starting the season with a great fielding record, recent games have been plagued by errors. Tonight was a nice big 0 in the E column.
Disappointments:
- Taveras is back at the leadoff spot, but didn’t get on base tonight, going 0 for 4. He’s an amazing base-stealer, but hey – Willie, you have to get on base first!
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- It’s raining here tonight; the Nats got a late start against the Cubs due to a rain delay.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Cards won, beating the Mets 7-6. It’s hard for me to cheer for the Mets, but in this case…
- Cincy creamed the Phillies, 12-4, staying ahead of Houston’s last-place spot in the NL Central standings.
- Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee, 2-0.
Final123456789RHESF 001000000150Houston « 00001300x470W: R. Clemens (3-1) L: B. Tomko (3-5) S: B. Lidge (7) ==============================================================================
SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2005 (Game 37) – San Francisco @ Houston
Houston 9, San Francisco 0
Brandon Backe must have been truly inspired by Roger Clemens last night – so tonight he went out and outdid him, pitching a complete game shutout against the Giants. Nine innings, 113 pitches, 4 hits, 2 BBs, and 6 Ks. It was Backe’s first major league shutout. And two season milestones for the Astros too: After being shutout numerous times, this is the first time the Astros have blanked an opposing team this season! And it was the first complete game thrown by an Astros pitcher this season.
To add to the fun, the Astros decided to get a few runs off the very anemic SF pitching – nine of them, with scoring in 5 of the Astros 8 innings. Seven of the nine runs were scored on HRs by Ensberg (3 of them) and Biggio. Evidently, Garner wasn’t at the game: He was out sick, with a relapse of his flu bug. What a disappointment for him, to miss seeing the big blowout game that he’s been begging them for. (On the other hand, now he knows the magic key to winning blowout games…)
The Astros wore home Sunday reds.
In other news: Bagwell is having shoulder surgery (an arthroscopic capsular release) in early June, with a three-month projected rehab. According to his press conference, he believes that the procedure will give him a chance to come back at the end of the season. But without it, his career is over. He says that during his recovery, he plans to travel with the team, so at least I’ll still see him in dugout shots. And who knows, maybe the surgery will be amazing, and he’ll be back for the final run at the end of the season – not to mention the postseason games. (Yeah, ever the optimist!)
High points:
- Morgan Ensberg seems to have found his homerun swing, knocking 3 of them out tonight, and throwing in a single too. Hitting 4 for 4, with 5 RBIs, bumped his batting average up to .325.
- Biggio (still hitting in the #3 spot) knocked another one out (#7) tonight in the 3rd – his 4th homerun in this 4-game Giant series.
- As if his best pitching of the season wasn’t enough, Backe got an RBI single in the 5th, knocking in Everett, who was on 2nd with a double. And he scored in the 4th, after getting on base on a fielding error. Got to love a guy who helps himself. Luckily tonight at least, he didn’t have to depend on a Do-It-Yourself approach to winning the game.
- Taveras did a good job in the leadoff spot tonight. He went 2 for 4, hitting two singles, stole second (#14) in the 2nd (after walking), and scored twice.
Disappointments:
- Only one: Because the game was nationally televised on ESPN, I was blacked out of watching it live! I would have loved to have seen Backe’s face – and his fist pumping -- after that last out. I will definitely watch the archived game tomorrow.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- Washington beat Chicago again today, 5-4, after a late night rain-delayed win last night, 4-3. Thanks Nats! Every little bit helps!
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The Cards beat the Mets again 4-2. I’m feeling ready for the Cards to go into a major free-fall losing streak.
- The Phillies beat Cincinnati, 4-3. The Reds loss, plus Houston’s win tonight, puts them in a tie for last place in the division. (The Good Guys’ first move towards abandoning last-lace status.)
- Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee again, 4-2. Funny how the Pirates and Brewers are up there right after St. Louis in the standings. That is definitely not the way it’s supposed to work.
Final123456789RHESF 000000000041Houston « 30212010x9 110W: B. Backe (3-2) L: J. Fassero (0-1) 
