Houston Astros : Offensive Juggernaut
by Stros Bro
on Apr 21, 2008 11:03 PM CDT
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Now this is what the 2008 Houston Astros offense should be doing. Every Astros starter except for catcher Brad Ausmus recorded at least one hit tonight, with shortstop Miguel Tejada doing the most damage with his 4-5, 3 RBI's and 3 runs scored including a double and a home run. Tejada raised his average on the season to .342 with his best offensive performance of the year. Lance Berkman added a home run of his own to help the Astros beat the Padres 10-3 in the 1st game of this 2 game mini series.
Padres starter Justin Germano entered today's game with a top 5 ERA of 1.35; he left the game with a middle of the pack 5.01 ERA.
Roy Oswalt is starting to return to his old ways after losing his 1st 3 starts of the season. Roy has been good in his last 2 starts by giving up just 4 runs over 14 innings. Roy's ERA is still at 6.00, but that is much better than the 9.00 he was sporting 2 starts ago. I'm not going to say that he's 100% back to normal, but his breaking ball is coming around and he's hitting his spots most of the time with his fast ball. Roy struck out 6 batters tonight and only walked 2. On the down side, 2 of Roy's earned runs against tonight were home runs; but fortunately, both solo shots.
Other Notables
- Bullpen : Byrdak, Villarreal combined for 2 scoreless innings
- Pence : 2 for 4 with an RBI - avg up to .229
- Bourn : 1-3 with 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored
- Matsui - 2-5 with 2 runs scored
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Byrdak
I didn’t get a chance to watch the whole game. Therefore I didn’t get to see him. How’d he look?
Bourn to Run!
by jsams on
Apr 22, 2008 12:35 AM CDT
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Only a brief appearance....
and his only miscue was one walk, which came on a 3-2 count, if I recall. He looked good, from what I saw. He is a fastball/slider pitcher, and he doesn’t look like the typical veteran LH reliever, in the sense that he isn’t a soft tosser. I was encouraged that he seemed to handle LHB Edmonds well, a guy who terrorizes the Astros. My impression is that Byrdak will be used as a situational lefty by Cooper, which will make Wright available later in games.
Stats: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1995&;position=P
by clack on
Apr 22, 2008 7:13 AM CDT
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Ausmus
Yet another example of why Ausmus shouldn’t be starting.
by raiderdav on
Apr 22, 2008 9:13 AM CDT
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Oswalt
...better pitch his rear off every start since he insists on Ausmus as a battery mate. It’s painful watching him at the plate.
Ausmus: please retire.
by BillyD on
Apr 22, 2008 9:40 AM CDT
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Ausmus has to start...
one game per week. Towles can’t catch every game; no team does that with their starting catcher. And if you look around the league at back up catchers, a lot of them have poor hitting stats. So it’s not like starting a poor hitting catcher one day per week is unusual. Personally, I would prefer that Ausmus catch whichever starter benefits the most from his pitch calling and knowledge of hitters, which is likely someone other than Oswalt. However, if Oswalt is the ace, I can see an argument that he will hold down opposing run scoring enough that Ausmus’ bat does less harm in O’s starts.
by clack on
Apr 22, 2008 10:45 AM CDT
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Humberto Quintero
I don’t expect Towles to catch every game. I would prefer Quintero as a backup than Ausmus. He slimmed down from last season and had a great spring.
Ausmus obviously has a huge edge as far as calling a game and knowledge of opposing hitters, as you mention. But he can call a game from the dugout, can’t he?
Ausmus: please retire.
by BillyD on
Apr 22, 2008 11:53 AM CDT
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Calling game from dugout...
I suppose it could be done, assuming the team kept three catchers. But I don’t think calling pitches from the dugout is the optimal way to call pitches. Some managers won’t do it. You can’t see the same things from the dugout that the catcher does. The catcher has a better feel for how the umpire is calling the strike zone for particular pitches, as well as the quality and location of the pitcher’s pitches, and the batter’s reactions.
by clack on
Apr 22, 2008 1:11 PM CDT
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More Ausmus
I’m not asking for Towles to start every game – I don’t think Ausmus should be starting any more. He can’t throw out baserunners anymore and is resigned to being Oswalt’s personal catcher. If he must start, Ausmus should be catching the younger pitchers that can learn from him. Quintero is getting jerked around and doesn’t deserve that.
by raiderdav on
Apr 22, 2008 3:25 PM CDT
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Current Series
3 game series vs Pirates @ Minute Maid Park
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Pittsburgh Pirates
Monday, Jul 6, 2009, 7:05 PM CDT Virgil Vasquez vs Mike Hampton Partly cloudy,rain. Game time temperature around 90. |
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| Tue 07/07 | 7:05 PM CDT | |
| Wed 07/08 | 1:05 PM CDT | |
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis
|
45 | 39 | .535 | 0 | Won 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
43 | 39 | .524 | 1 | Lost 1 |
|
Chicago
|
40 | 39 | .506 | 2.5 | Won 1 |
|
Cincinnati
|
40 | 40 | .500 | 3 | Lost 1 |
|
Houston
|
39 | 41 | .487 | 4 | Won 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
37 | 45 | .451 | 7 | Lost 2 |
(updated 7.5.2009 at 5:31 PM CDT)
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