2005 SEASON

MAY 27-29: HOUSTON @ MILWAUKEE

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2005 (Game 47) – Houston @ Milwaukee

Milwaukee 3, Houston 0

After one night of shit-eating grins on Wednesday, the Astros resumed their losing road habits, with their 8th shutout of the year. Roy Oswalt was the Robbed Starting Pitcher of this game, as his record dipped to 5-6 after another fine start: He pitched six innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits, 3 BBs and 3 Ks. Oswalt left the game after 6 because of back stiffness. He said that he felt a twinge when he slipped on a pitch early in the game, but just toughed it out; he wanted to pitch the 7th, but Garner took him out as a precautionary move.

A start like that would be deserving of a notch in Oswalt’s win record, but not for the Astros this year – especially on the road. Despite loading the bases with 1 out in the 2nd inning (two walks and a single), they failed to score. The rest of the game wasn’t any better: They only got 3 hits in the whole game. “You can’t expect your pitchers to throw shutouts,” Garner complained afterwards. Tell that to Oswalt and Clemens, as their many fine starts this year have not produced many wins – even when they do throw shutouts.

I missed this game, due to Shabbat; I probably don’t have enough masochistic energy to watch the archived game.

The Astros wore road greys.

High points:

• Biggio’s double in the 3rd inning was his 14th of the year, and 580th career.
  

• Springer, relieving Oswalt in the 7th, struck out the side, with a single tossed in the middle.
  

Disappointments:

• Biggio was hurt in the first inning, when he was hit in the hip by a runner trying break up a double play. Bidge played the rest of the game, but was in great pain afterwards, and will have to sit out a game or two to recover. As if the Astros can afford to lose one of the few team members who has consistently come through this year!!!
  

• The Qualls-Franco-Wheeler combo was ineffective in the 8th, as Qualls loaded up the bases, Franco did his part by striking out his batter, then Wheeler came in and gave up a hit to score two of Qualls batters.
  

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

• The Nats lost to the Cards, of course, 6-3.
  

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

• The Reds beat the Pirates, 6-5.
  

• Chicago whomped Colorado, 10-3.
  

Final123456789RHE

Houston          000000000030

Milwaukee «    10000002x360

W: D. Davis (6-5) L: R. Oswalt (5-6) S: D. Turnbow (7)

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

SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2005 (Game 48) – Houston @ Milwaukee

Houston 9, Milwaukee 6

The Astros won their second road game in the past week! That would not have sounded like much of an accomplishment any other year, but it’s a major feat this season. Wandy Rodriguez’ got his first major league win, giving up a single run in each of 4 of his 6 innings. That would normally be an insurmountable obstacle for the inoffensive Astros, but homers by Ensberg and Everett with men on base ran up a nice padded score tonight. (Clemens and Oswalt, robbed again, must be wondering if they are just cursed.) Rodriguez gave up 9 hits, no walks, and 5 Ks on his way to the win. Qualls, Astacio, and Lidge managed to finish off the game without giving it away – although Astacio tried.

Tuning in right after Shabbat ended, I managed to catch most of the last 3 innings, including Lidge’s beautiful ending.

The Astros wore road greys.

High points:

• The scoring started early, after today’s lead-off batter  Palmeiro got on with a walk, advanced to third on a fielding error, and scored on Berkman’s single. With Self and Berkman on, Ensberg cleared the bases with his 10th homer, putting the Astros ahead by 4 in the first. Ben Sheets, just coming back from an inner ear infection, limited his shaky start to that inning; after that he was nearly unhittable and struck out 9.
  

• But the Astros scored another 5 in the 6th when Sheets was relieved. Viz got a double, Berkman was intentionally walked, and Lamb doubled them both in. Ensberg walked, and then Everett homered, scoring 3 more.
  

• Brad Lidge was back to his usual form, shutting down the Brewers in the 9th on 11 pitches (9 of them strikes), a big improvement over his wild and crazy loss last week. A groundout and two strikeouts, to get his 9th save. Qualls managed to pitch an inning without giving up any runs, only a couple of hits.
  

Disappointments:

• Astacio isn’t helping his case with the Astros. He made a relief appearance tonight, rather than the originally planned start, and gave up two homers in that inning. He seems to be having significant problems with pitch location, and the results aren’t pretty.
  

• Biggio had to sit out the game, after being roughed up fielding last night, when a runner over-vigorously tried to break up a double play in the first inning.
  

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

• The Nats lost to the Cards, 3-1.
  

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

• The Cubs beat Colorado.
  

• Pittsburgh crushed Cincinnati, 9-2.
  

• Boston beat the Yankees, 17-1, with 27 hits!
  

Final123456789RHE

Houston «       4000050009 60

Milwaukee      1001110206131

W: W. Rodriguez (1-1) L: B. Sheets (1-4) S: B. Lidge (9)

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

SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2005 (Game 49) – Houston @ Milwaukee

Houston 2, Milwaukee 1

The Astros won a series on the road!

I had been holding my breath since Brad Lidge took the mound, in the bottom of the ninth, the Astros ahead 2-1. I was thinking: “Three Ks to save Andy Pettitte’s awesome start.” He must have been thinking: “Let’s not make this too easy,” as he gave up singles to the first two batters. Then one went down on a pop foul. The next batter hit a dribbler that went about 2 feet towards the mound. Ausmus fired it to third, Ensberg shot a missile to first, and the game ended with a beautiful double play. I couldn’t help myself: I actually sniffled with joy.

So the bad news is that the Astros are 5 and 22 on the road. The good news is that 3 of those 5 have come in their last 4 games on the road. The magic of stats… It was the first Astros road series win since late last September, when they also won against the Brewers.

The Astros wore Sunday red roadies.

High points:

• Totally outstanding Astros pitching made up for the parsimonious scoring.
  

• See Andy smile? Andy Pettitte gave up a leadoff single and double. Then he spent the remainder of his six innings being virtually unhittable: he only allowed two more baserunners. No runs, one additional hit, one BB, and eight strikeouts – including five Ks in a row in the first through third innings. His control was beautiful: His last strikeout came in the bottom of the 6th, after a 3-0 count.
  

• Wheeler pitched two nearly perfect innings, after Pettitte was lifted for a pinch batter in the 7th. Wheeler, who hadn’t allowed a run in his last 10 outings, gave up a homer today in the 8th. But other than that one mistake, he had a nasty slider going, and pitched and fielded wonderfully – including 4 consecutive batters who grounded out to the pitcher, 1-3.
  

• And dear, darling Lidge. Maybe he just didn’t want Pettitte to feel bad for giving up two hits before mowing down the Brewers? Maybe he just didn’t want to bore the ever faithful sucker Astros fans? Maybe he just wanted to have some fun with the Milwaukee crowd before disappointing them? Whatever… He let two get on, and then suddenly it was all over, a happy ending for a change for the too-often hapless Astros. Save #10.
  

• Giving credit where credit is due, the Milwaukee pitcher, Chris Capuano, pitched a great game, and nearly shut down Astros runners on first base. A lefty with a great pickoff move, he caught Bruntlett in the 1st, and Ensberg in rundowns in the 2nd and the 6th (apparently a miscommunicated hit and run). Capuano turned Astros first base runners into Little Leaguers, holding them practically on the base. The Astros got a chance at a fair turnabout in the 3rd inning, when Pettitte initiated a rundown of Junior Spivey.
  

• Little by little, Berkman is raising his batting average. Since his first couple of “Spring Training” weeks back in the lineup this month, his average has gone up daily. Today’s 2- for-4 performance, with a double, puts him up to .229. I’m guessing and hoping that by the All Star break, he’ll be at his usual level, and that could make the difference between winning and losing in the many close games the Astros have lost.
  

• Mike Lamb’s solo homer in the first gave the Astros an early lead, which they never gave up. Would have scored two on it, had Bruntlett not been the victim of Capuano’s first pickoff. Live and learn, kid.
  

• But Bruntlett paid back big-time his second hit, a triple in the 5th, scoring Ausmus who was on base with his second of 3 walks. It was the first triple of his career.
  

• Pettitte still doesn’t have a hit for the season (the odd man out among the Astros pitchers), with a nice round 0.00 batting average, but managed two nice sacrifice bunts today.
  

• 
  

Disappointments:

• Biggio had to sit out another game, bruised up from Friday night’s bashing, but came in to pinch hit in the 7th (a long fly that looked like it would have made a nice double).
  

• Vizcaino wasn’t available to play today; he’s gone home to be a dad. His son broke his leg in a baseball game yesterday.
  

Notes on the Other Good Guys:

• The Nats beat those nasty Cards, 3-2. GO NATS!
  

Notes on the Other Bad Guys:

• Cincinnati took its revenge on Pittsburgh for yesterday’s trouncing, 11-2.
  

• Chicago clobbered Colorado, 11-6.
  

• Dotel, traded to the Padres last year, and not missed at all as Lidge stepped up into the closer role, is about to find himself out of a job. On the DL with an elbow strain, Dotel is about to be replaced by a rookie, Huston Street. Looks like Dotel will find himself traded before July 31.
  

• Dontrelle Willis got his second loss yesterday, bumping his ERA to 1.67.
  

Final123456789RHE

Houston «       100010000250

Milwaukee       000000010161

W: A. Pettitte (3-5) L: C. Capuano (4-4) S: B. Lidge (10)

Card Carrying

Member of the Team

In addition to his daily lineup tweaking, Garner has turned superstitious in selecting who will carry the lineup card to home plate at the start of the game. Last Wednesday, he decided to do it himself, rather than sending his look-alike, 3rd base coach Doug Mansolino, and -- shazaaam! -- the Astros won. But they lost the next day, quickly ending that tradition.

Yesterday, in desperation, he went for the heavy artillery: He sent out Jeff Bagwell – and the Astros won! Again today, Bagwell carried the lineup card. "The big boy went out there," Garner said. "The real pressure is on him to get two wins. We'll see what he can do." Well, with the season’s first out-of-town series win, Bagwell has proved that he can still perform for the Good Guys. Bet we’ll see him, card in hand, at tomorrow’s game in Houston.

But Garner better come up with a backup plan quickly, since Bagwell is due to be on the operating table in Colorado next Thursday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

JEFF BAGWELL!

The Numbers Game

The Astros’ lefty specialist, John Franco, has been in the game a long time – so long that he holds second place for the record for the pitcher who has appeared in the most games. So far, he’s played in 1106 games in his career.