2005 SEASON
MAY 20-22: HOUSTON @ TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2005 (Game 41)
Texas 7, Houston 3
SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2005 (Game 42)
Texas 18, Houston 3
Are they cursed or what? The Astros continue their stunningly bad streak of road games with two losses to the Rangers, running their miserable road record to 2-18. Friday night’s 7-3 loss looks positively respectable compared to Saturday’s 18-3 trouncing, when the Astros pitchers gave up eight homers.
Wait a sec, 18-3, that sounds familiar…
Is this as bad as it gets? Does something magically happen after this to turn things around and save the Good Guys from total humiliation this season? Houston, with a 15-27 record (.357) is now 12 games behind the Cards, tied for last place with the Reds.
On the bright side, the Astros didn’t make any fielding errors in either game. All the major errors were by the pitchers: Friday night’s loss was credited to Backe, who stayed alive for 7 innings (plus one batter in the 8th), giving up 5 runs on 5 hits (2 HR), 3 BBs, and 3 Ks. Except for the 4th inning, when he gave up 3 runs on a walk, double, and homer, he really didn’t have such a bad night. He was “supported” by the efforts of Franco and Wheeler who put their hands together to add another pair of runs in the last inning.
Saturday’s Homerfest was inspired by Zeke Astacio, who didn’t even make it out of the second inning. He really did have a bad night. He lasted only 12/3 innings, giving up 9 runs on 9 hits (4 HR), 2 BBs, and 1 K. Harville, Burns, and Springer followed, giving up 2, 3, and 4 runs respectively. In what was probably the least save-like opportunity of his career, Lidge pitched a perfect 8th inning.
I have to admit that I couldn’t bear to actually watch these games after Shabbat. I pieced together my story from the boxscores, play-by-play, Alyson’s astros.com writeup (she’s starting to get a bit cynical in her coverage), and the Houston Chronicle website.
High points:
- Be thankful for small favors: The Astros had 5 doubles in Friday night’s game, one each by Biggio (who went 2 for 4), Taveras (also 2 for 4), Berkman, Lane (also 2 for 4), and Bruntlett. It was Bruntlett’s first hit of the season (about time!).
- Todd Self started for the first time on Saturday, playing left field. He went 2 for 5.
- Ensberg and Everett hit home runs on Saturday. (Ensberg also hit a homer in last years 18-3 thrashing by the Rangers.) If just six of their Astros buddies had followed suit, the Astros might have had a chance of winning this one.
- Lidge knocked out the side in Saturday’s 8th inning in only 6 pitches – only one more than the minimum number required to retire the side while striking someone out.
Disappointments:
- The Astros at least pretended to be contenders in Friday night’s game. They got 10 hits, and tried to be aggressive base runners. Unfortunately, that didn’t always result in runs. In consecutive plays in the 2nd inning, Lane was tagged out at third, and then Ausmus was caught at home plate.
- Except for Lidge’s perfect 8th inning in Saturday’s blowout, the relief pitching was terrible. Shades of the Atlanta trip two weeks ago.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- In an unfortunate scheduling decision, back when it wasn’t quite clear if Washington could really manage to get a major league team, the Nats’ first interleague games aren’t against Baltimore (our local American League rival), but rather against Toronto (Montreal’s American League rival). At any rate, the Nationals lost the first two games of the series, 6-1 and 7-0. Meanwhile, Baltimore was matched up with Philadelphia, and split the first two games. Next year, the interleague rivals series will match the Nats with the Orioles.
- Ex-Astro Wade Miller won his first game for the Red Sox Friday night, against Atlanta.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- St. Louis continues to win close games (Houston, take notes) to run up their lead in the NL Central. They beat Kansas City (which should not have been very difficult – KC, at .279, is the worst team in the major leagues), 7-6 and 6-5.
- The Cubbies lost two against the White Sox, 5-1 and 5-3.
- Cincinnati split a pair with Cleveland, 2-1 (Reds) and 5-3 (Indians).
- Milwaukee split a pair with Minnesota, 7-1 (Twins), and 6-0 (Brewers).
- In the only non-interleague games, Pittsburgh won two at home against Colorado, 9-4 and 8-3.
May 20
Final123456789RHEHouston 0100010103 100Texas « 01030003x790W: K. Rogers (5-2) L: B. Backe (3-3) May 21
Final123456789RHEHouston 000200100390Texas « 28101240x 18 171W: C. Young (4-2) L: E. Astacio (0-3)
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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2005 (Game 43) – Houston @ Texas
Texas 2, Houston 0
The Astros managed to be swept in yet another road series, aiming for a win-LOSS record for the books. Houston got hits – six of them – including the first two batters of the game. They got three runners to third base. They even loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th. They just totally failed – again – to get any of them past home plate. Today’s loss was the Astros’ seventh shutout of the season.
In other news, Pettitte will need to skip his next start tomorrow in Chicago, due to tightness (but not pain) in his arm. Wandy Rodriguez will be called up from Round Rock to pitch against the Cubs, for his major league debut. Not sure yet who’s going down to make room for him.
High points:
- Oswalt pitched another fine start, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits in 7 2/3 innings, no BBs and 6 Ks. His first run was caused by a leadoff triple (not quite caught by Berkman, though he tried); the runner scored on a ground ball by the following batter. He didn’t give up another run until a solo HR by Teixeira in the 6th. All in all, another wasted good start by an Astros pitcher; with decent scoring, this should have been a win for him.
- Franco tried to let a couple more runs score in the 8th, when he relieved Oswalt with 2 out and 2 on. His first 7 pitches were balls, loading the bases and then just about walking in a run – when miraculously he managed to strike the batter out. No damage today. I’m stretching here for high points.
- Todd Self started again, this time in right field. He went 2 for 4 (a single and a double), providing one of the few bright spots in hitting in the past few games.
- Garner continues to start Palmeiro, today in center field, leading off – giving Willie T the day off. He’s still hitting great – 2 for 4, with a .354 batting average. But not scoring – no one hit him in…
Disappointments:
- Everything. Not even one hit from Biggio, Berkman, Lamb, and Ensberg, making the middle of the lineup totally dead.
Notes on the Other Good Guys:
- The Nats beat Toronto, 9-2, with 8 solid innings by Okha.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- Overall it was a dismal day for the NL Central. This should have meant that the Astros loss didn’t affect their relative standing. But at this point the Astros are just playing against themselves. Unless there’s a big turnaround soon, it won’t really matter what the other division teams do, and I can just drop this section – or focus on the New York bad guys instead.
oThe Cards lost to Kansas City, the worst major league team, 9-2.oThe Reds lost to the Indians, 9-2.oColorado beat the Pirates, 4-3.oThe Twins beat the Brewers, 6-5.oBut the Cubbies beat the White Sox, 4-3.Final123456789RHEHouston 000000000060Texas « 10000100x280W: C. Park (4-1) L: R. Oswalt (5-5) S: F. Cordero (14)
