St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros, 7:05 PM CDT
St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros, Apr 8, 2008 7:05 PM CDT
| Lineups | ||||
| St. Louis | Houston | |||
| 1. | Schumaker, RF | 1. | Bourn, CF | |
| 2. | Duncan, LF | 2. | Pence, RF | |
| 3. | Pujols, 1B | 3. | Berkman, 1B | |
| 4. | Ankiel, CF | 4. | Lee, LF | |
| 5. | Glaus, 3B | 5. | Tejada, SS | |
| 6. | Kennedy, 2B | 6. | Blum, 3B | |
| 7. | LaRue, C | 7. | Loretta, 2B | |
| 8. | Thompson, P | 8. | Towles, C | |
| 9. | Izturis, SS | 9. | Chacon, P | |
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Game On!
I'm predicting that Pence has a good game today... not stellar, but maybe 3-4 with a double and maybe a stolen base. Hopefully I'm not jinxing him.
If you haven't read this already, check out JBotter's recap of his experience yesterday as the Astros beat the Cards.. it can be found here.
Go 'Stros!
nice wrapup
can't wait until I can get down to Houston for a game this year. I've got tickets to both the RedSox and Yankees, but I hope I don't have to wait until then.
Nice
I think I'll avoid the Red Sox/Yankee's series... I'm not big on standing room only games...
I'm not sure when I'll get to make my 1st game. I have a 2 year old who just cant sit though a game yet and I'm not one of those people who will let their kid go wild and annoy the hell out of everyone there... But I should make a handfull of games this year.
Go 'Stros!
last season
was the first since they've been at MM that I didn't get to a game. not b/c of a conscious decision, but just didn't work out.
Duncan
Duncan works a full count, and then grounds out to Loretta who fields to his left and easily throws Duncan out at 1st.
Go 'Stros!
Pujols
I wonder if he will EVER not scare me again...
Chacon working him inside... we all know he can take an inside pitch and put it out... Next pitch looked like a fastball down the chute, Pujols "pops up" to DEEP left field right in front of the warning track where Lee hauls it in to end the inning.
Go 'Stros!
granted it's pujols
but there are a LOT of popups to LF @ MinuteMaid that barely miss going out. he doesn't have a patent on them. but b/c of him and the memories, it's still a little scary.
Bourn
Ground to Kennedy at 2nd, Bourn hustles and makes what looks like a routine 4-3 put out very close, Kenndy pulls Pujols off the bag and Pujols has a swipe tag. JD mentions that that would have been one of the only times it's good to slide to first and I have to agree. A slide would have made him safe. Close call anyways, but it looks like the call was right.
Go 'Stros!
Top 2nd
Just finished off a yummy turkey and provolone cheese samich... I don't know why I tell y'all what I eat...
Ankiel, Glaus and Kennedy due up in the inning.
Time for some chips :)
Go 'Stros!
Ankiel
I think it's a joke he is batting 4th in any lineup... maybe he'll prove me wrong.. He is batting .296 with 3 dingers so far this season.. It's weird pulling up his stats and them listing his pitching stats 1st. His best season was 2000 when he went 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA.
Works the count full before taking a walk.
Go 'Stros!
he seems like a bad fit anywhere in the top 5
considering his OBP and K rate, but they have big holes everywhere
Glaus
I have him on my fantasy team.... but I hope he loses points tonight.
Chacon quickly ahead 0-2, then goes 1-2 before flying out to Bourn in deep center(not real deep.. but deep enough). Bourn then shows us his arm by keeping Ankiel at 1st with a nice throw to 2nd.
The Astros in their 1st 9 games have already had my 2 least favorite umps ever... CB Bucknor and Angel Hernandez... Luck?
Go 'Stros!
SHIT!
No I don't.. I forgot to put him back in the rotation... DAMNIT!
Oh well... I'm not supposed to win this thing anyways...
Go 'Stros!
Good thing you didn't.
He just walked the bases loaded. Can't be good.
by entropic soul on Apr 8, 2008 7:28 PM CDT up reply actions
Kennedy
Chacon throwing quite a few pitches this inning with batters taking him to full counts..
Kennedy takes him full as well and then walks Ankiel. Both batters reached in this inning by way of free pass. Better not keep this up.
Go 'Stros!
LaRue
Chacon goes 2-0 on LaRue and Dewey heads to talk to him.. Great words of wisdom.. throw strikes!
Quick visit, next pitch from Chacon was a bal outside and low. Maybe we should have another visit... write it down this time. Now Chacon walks the bases loaded with 1 out.
Go 'Stros!
Thompson
I don't like the pitcher batting 8th.. I think it's dumb.. but Larussa likes it and it could come to bite him here with bases loaded.
1st pitch, attempt to squeeze with Thompson fouling it off to the right. He's now 2-1 on the pitcher! THROW HIM A MEAT BALL! I don't care, anything for a strike even if it's right down the middle.
Another squeeze right back to Chacon who doesn't have time to go home and throws to 1st for the 2nd out. Run scores
Go 'Stros!
Izturis
1st pitch strike... about damn time. WOW! 2 strikes in a row! Can we do 3 in a row?? Too much to ask for.. this one very low to go 1-2.
Izturis flies to right field.. Hunter was playing more towards center makes a pretty decent over the shoulder running catch to his left to end the inning.
Go 'Stros!
it's nice having two plus defenders in the OF this year
now I only have to worry about 1/3 of the balls hit out there
El Caballo
Works a 2-2 count and then lines out to Ankiel in CF.
I just noticed... looks like Lee might have taken over the group hug role that Chris Burke used to have with Lance...
Go 'Stros!
Burke/Lance
used to always hug after Lance home runs last season... I just seen Lance and Lee hug in a replay from last night.. was just commenting on that :)
Go 'Stros!
Now that's the type of stuff you don't get elsewhere...
Where's Milo on the hug fest? Slacker.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Miggy
Works the count 2-2 and then gets plunked in the rear. Looked like he was going inside and missed... conspiracy theorist will say it's payback from last night though.
Go 'Stros!
Blum
Blum stands right over the plate, just took one for a ball that I think was a strike... but it barely missed him inside. Next pitch, rope foul into the stands... a little to fast there Geoff.
Now 1-2, Thompson throws at a sliding back Tejada at 1st. Blum fouls off again, count still 1-2... Inside again... roped foul again... OKAY! We know Geoff can pull an inside pitch now... Tejada goes and Blum pops to Duncan in left for out 2.. Tejada books it back to 1st.
Go 'Stros!
Loretta
2 outs with Miggy still on 1st.
Loretta, always good for a single bloops it to right field as Tejada heads to 2nd.
Go 'Stros!
Towles
Count 3-1 on Towles before taking a slider low for ball 4. Bases juiced for Chacon.
Go 'Stros!
got Towles on my fantasy team
wanted him to pickup a couple RBI there. at least we put some runners on this inning.
Radio guys talking about Blum's hair...
apparently he got a buzz cut. No blondness right now...
And the decision about Wiggy comes on Thursday (offday). Paulino is in the clubhouse because he's getting checked out again. They say another month without touching a baseball.
And Matsui is in Corpus today.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Didn't see the locks..
but then again, I only seen him with a helmet. My wife will be happy; for some reason, she hated his hair.
Go 'Stros!
Nope
I've heard multiple times how the Astros seem to be relying on home runs this season... at least 5 times today between TV and radio.
Go 'Stros!
Schumaker
1st pitch, to DEEP center field, Bourn runs back but can't get to it as it falls in for an easy stand up triple.. 1st hit of the season to.
Go 'Stros!
a good offense would be pounding the Redbirds pitching
and despite our offseason, we haven't shown to be a good offense the first week of the season.
their pitching has feasted on the Nats and Rockies. We should be pounding the ball.
Berkman
1-0 pitch and Berkman gets good wood on it sending a deep line drive about 3/4 the way up the wall on the bullpen for a double.
Go 'Stros!
Tejada
DEEP LINE Drive off the wall in left center field.. 1 runs scores... 2 run scores! Tejada in to 3rd!!!!
Go 'Stros!
Blum
1st pitch, too far inside, rolls to the backstop.. Tejada coming... and.... SAFE with a nice slide to the side putting hte hand in at the last second. Astros lead 3-2.
Now hits a line drive single to center.
Go 'Stros!
Radio guys say...
Bourn's nickname is 380... as in OBP. Milo throws in Igniter...
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Bourn seems to have a good approach at the plate
even if his OBP isn't v. high yet, he sees some pitches
I noticed that last year
But he got better results overall. He needs a respite from the 2 hole. Can't wait for Matsui to make it back.
by entropic soul on Apr 8, 2008 8:02 PM CDT up reply actions
I dunno
I think he will be a good 2 hole hitter, but maybe it's too early this season for it.
Go 'Stros!
I think he can be too
I just don't think now is the time.
by entropic soul on Apr 8, 2008 8:07 PM CDT up reply actions
me as well
we didn't get to see it last year because he was in the minors, but he said he was batting about .150 last year at this time...
Go 'Stros!
Today is the
34th anniversary of his Hank Aaron call.
Milo Hamilton, on Atlanta Braves radio: Henry Aaron, in the second inning walked and scored... He's sittin' on 7-14... Here's the pitch by Downing... swinging... there's a drive into left-center field... that ball is gonna beeee... Outta here! It's gone! It's 7-15! There's a new home run champion of all time... and it's Henry Aaron! The fireworks are going... Henry Aaron coming around third... His teammates are at home plate... and listen to this crowd!
Go 'Stros!
Is that right?
Thanks for pointing it out. It's one of the most famous calls of all time... and it's Milo Hamilton!
Oh, and the achievement of hitting 715 homeruns was pretty good, too. :-) His record still stands, by the way.
if Tejada turns into a Cardinal killer
like Edmonds was to us, that will totally make the trade for him worth it, regardless of anything else that happens. I love beating the Cardinals more than anything.
yeah, just watched the replay on El Caballo
that throw bounces a little lower and less up the first base line and it's really close. although it would have been fun to see Carlos flatten LaRue. I never liked LaRue from when he was w/ the Reds. He hit a GS off us once I think.
Miguel Tejada
He's picked up his game tremendously since the Astros left Florida.
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on Apr 8, 2008 8:08 PM CDT reply actions
Thompson at 67 pitches...
Chacon at 52. And he's only given up 1 hit (with 3 walks). It's funny how the boxscore can tell a different story.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Top 4th
Glaus, Kennedy and LaRue due up..
Did anyone just notice that FSN showed Glaus' name as Ben(or was it Rick) Glaus??? Did I miss something?
Go 'Stros!
LaRue
Aflac trivia question..
Who was the last manager to manage two teams in the majors.. JD guesses Tony Larussa
LaRue hits to Tejada who flips to Loretta and fires to 1st for a double play to end the inning.
Go 'Stros!
It is Tony Larussa
I didn't complete the question.. it was in the same season.. I left that off which COMPLETELY changes the question.
Go 'Stros!
Is Jim Leyland
a bad choice? Didn't he quit Colorado and later join Detroit?
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on Apr 8, 2008 8:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Towles
Thompson up around 75 pitches runs the count full on Towles.
Towles then fouls a few off and then grounds up the middle on Izturis how is playing really close to 3rd. If he was in normal position this would have been a standard 6-3 put out... No throw, single for Towles.
Go 'Stros!
Chacon
Bunts right to Pujols who barehands, turns and throws to 2nd to get Towles off.. throw then comes to 1st but Chacon is safe with a FC
Go 'Stros!
Pence
now batting .162 on the season...
more breaking stuff that he can't hit, but tries going 0-2 quickly. Now 1-2 and then strikes out on another breaking ball..
Go 'Stros!
Chacon at 60 pitches through 4...
the last inning really helped his count. Radio guys talking about some weird shift for Towles... any comments?
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
yeah, sounded like they're playing him to pull in the IF
I usually just put it down to typical TLR overmanaging
Didnt notice much
But Izturis was playing way closer to 3rd than normal... HUGE hole to the left of 2nd.
Go 'Stros!
Thank whoever the radio guy is...
Dave? I dunno. I'll never get them straight.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Barton
in to pinch hit for Thompson.
Swings at the 1st pitch and flies out to Pence in RF.
Go 'Stros!
Thompson done...
4 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 2 BBs, 5 Ks (mostly Pence)... 87 pitches. On the hook for the loss right now.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Izturis
Nice hair on Barton(dreads).
Thompson on the day went 4 innings, with 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO and 87 pitches for a .253 ERA on the season now.
Reyes up in the pen for the Cardinals.
Izturis lines out to Lee in LF who decides to sit down right as he caught the ball. Ball looked like it dropped about a foot more than Lee expected.. Lee kind of squatted and then fell on his caboose.. no harm done
Go 'Stros!
Schumaker
Flies out to Pence for another quick inning.. JD mentioned 8 pitches, so we'll go with that.
Go 'Stros!
Yahoo! says 68 for the game...
not bad, especially the last 2 innings going so quick.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Hunter Pence says
He always starts the season slow. He said he was batting .150 this time last year in the minors. If that's true, why is he batting second?
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on Apr 8, 2008 8:31 PM CDT reply actions
Hopefully he doesn't
implode... He's already struck out twice.. My bro (Tim) just commended me on my nice prediction for Pence... jerk..
Go 'Stros!
Berkman
Reyes in to pitch for the Cardinals. Comes into this game with a 10.80 ERA.
Berkman flies to CF on a 3-0 count. Looked like it jammed him.
Go 'Stros!
Says they remind him of the Stan Musial Cards...
kinda aging himself there.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
I'm partial to the
white sox with the single vertical stripe down the side that we wore in little leagues...
Go 'Stros!
Duncan
singles to right for their 2nd hit of the night.. not normal to have 2 runs and 1 hit... but the Cards pulled it off with some help from Chacon.
Go 'Stros!
Pujols
Count 2-2 and then strikes out on a nice slider by Chacon.
Pujols now 0-3 on the night.. I like it!
Go 'Stros!
Ankiel
Single between Loretta and Berkman to move Duncan to 2nd.. runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. FSN just showed 77 pitches for Chacon at this point.
Go 'Stros!
Glaus
Count quickly 0-2 on Glaus who fouled off the 1st one, then tries to send the 2nd one to Crawford street, swings at a slider int he dirt to finish off the K. Out 2
Go 'Stros!
Kennedy
Takes the full before hitting the ball up the middle to bring in Duncan from 2nd to tie the game.
Go 'Stros!
LaRue
Geary in the pen now for the Astros
Runners on 1st and 3rd, ball in the dirt and Kennedy takes off for 2nd, Towles gets up and firest to Loretta who fires it back to home to tag out the runner coming home. Inning over.
Go 'Stros!
Bottom 6th
If Chacon is going to get a win, the Astros better score now.
Astros have Blum, Loretta and Towles due up in the inning.
Go 'Stros!
Blum
JD mentions that Wright is now warming up in the Pen as well.. Looks like Geary has now sit down.
Blum seems ahead of everything tonight... He's hit at least 6-7 foul balls in the 1st base area. Blum then flies out to left field(slowed it down too much?)
Go 'Stros!
Radio guys talking about...
Joe West's country songs on the interwebnets...
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
They say they like it...
but I'm not convinced. They said something like country joe west... maybe dot com?
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
LaRue(cont'd)
Wright is now pitching for the 'Stros.. Strikes LaRue out on some 92 MPH heat.
Go 'Stros!
Radio guys raving about Wright's
precision, especially with the fastball.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Reyes
Seriously?? No pinch hitter for Reyes who bats with a .91 career average. Reyes didn't bat last season.
Reyes works the count full before striking out on a 90 MPH fastball.
Go 'Stros!
Cruz
Pinch hitting for WRIGHT, not CHACON.
Cruz goes 2-1 before flying out to CF for out 1.
Go 'Stros!
Bourn
Grounds sharply to Izturis who fields and throws to 1st to get Bourn by about 3 steps. Bourn makes every day ground outs close.
Go 'Stros!
Pence
COME ON! 1st pitch.. bet you can't guess... Slider in the dirt, swung, missed, strike 1. Next pitch, another slider, this one hung though and Pence drives it to DEEP center field. Ankiel tries to play it but dives and misses it by about 5 foot. Pence stands up at 3rd for an easy triple. When Lance comes up, I heard MMP play a cougar roaring sound... So I guess no more buzzing.
Go 'Stros!
Chacon finished with...
6 IP, 3 ERs, 4 hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks... That's a quality start, isn't it?
3.75 season ERA. All the starters outside of Roy have been better than expected.
Phear T.S.'s Crawdaddies...
Exactly what I was thinking
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on Apr 8, 2008 9:15 PM CDT up reply actions
"That'sWhy"
is exactly what I was thinking.
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on Apr 8, 2008 9:16 PM CDT up reply actions
Top 8th
Game still tied 3-3 as the Cardinals have Schumaker, Duncan and Pujols due up in the inning.
Go 'Stros!
Schumaker
Geary in to pitch.
1st pitch strike and then forces a ground ball to Loretta at 2nd for out 1.
Go 'Stros!
Duncan
Geary hitting 93 on the fast ball. I didn't realize he threw that hard... Duncan runs the count full before walking on a fastball inside. Geary missed the target by about 3 foot on that one. Towles was sitting outside and had to reach far inside to catch that.
Go 'Stros!
Pujols
Not exactly who I want to see up in a 3-3 tie in the 8th inning with runners on.
Come on Geary... Pujols grounds sharply up the center, Tejada runs and dives stops the ball but during the dive never really gets a handle on it. Both runners safe without a throw.
Go 'Stros!
Ankiel
Runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out.
Tough break.. if Tejada fields that cleanly we may be out of the inning. Now we are in a tough situation. Tejada was not charged with an error and I think that's fair.. it would have been a tough play.
Ankiel quickly behind in the count 1-2 and after fouling off a few balls, strikes out on a low slider.
I was just thinking... I wonder if there has ever been another player(assuming Ankiel stays where he is now) that has pitched for an entire season and also batted cleanup for an entire season.
Go 'Stros!
Glaus
Hits a line drive to right center off the wall scoring 2 runs. Cardinals now up 5-3.
Go 'Stros!
I wonder
if Petey Faggins is really the one behind all this?
Ya
So far I like Double W and Valverde and that's about it lol.
I miss the days of Lidge, Dotel, Wagner or Qualls, Wheeler, Lidge :(
Maybe Paulino and Nieve can come become solid bullpen arms.
Bourn to Run!
lol
I'm a sucker for guys who throw hard. Plus I'd bet on him to have a good season over Geary or any of the other guys.
Bourn to Run!
Bottom 8th
Lee, Tejada and Blum due up in the inning.
Franklin in to pitch for the Cardinals.. Cardinals also made a few defensive subs, but I doubt any of you really care to hear that.. Pujols is still in...
Go 'Stros!
Lee
Hits a line drive to right field that Schumaker runs down. Well hit, but pretty close to Schumaker for out 1.
Go 'Stros!
Top 9th
Okay, the Cardinals moved Miles in to play 2nd and bat for Reyes in the 8 hole and Franklin in for Kennedy (who was at 2nd) who was batting in the 6 hole. That brings up Miles, Schumaker and Duncan in the inning.
Go 'Stros!
Miles
Villareal pitching to Miles.
Miles on the 2nd pitch, grounds to Loretta for out 1.
Cards have Izzy in the pen.
Go 'Stros!
Izturis
Stupid Larussa got me to mix up my due up in the top of the 9th.. It shoud have been Miles, Izturis and Schumaker.. my mistake..
Izturis takes a 1-2 count and grounds out to Lance who handles it himself easily.
Go 'Stros!
Towles
The Yogi Berra Aflac commercials are still funny :)
JD mentions that Izzy is 3/3 in saves this season. No better time to end that streak than the present.
Towles wearing Under Armor cleats.. I think Puma does to... I dont' understand why they would call them Under Armor if you wear it over your socks..(Ok, I really do... )
Towles goes 2-1 and then flares a pop up to right field for out 1.
Go 'Stros!
Erstad
In the hit for Villarreal
Erstad strikes out on 3 pitches... the last one way outside.. pretty nasty breaking ball though.
Go 'Stros!
Bourn
Fastball and then Breaking ball, 1st called, 2nd swinging. Down 0-2.
Now 1-2 as Bourn checks his swing on a breaking ball in the dirt. Isringhausen then pulls the string on another breaking ball that Bourn swings on and misses to end the game.
Astros lose 5-3
Go 'Stros!
not as much drama as last night
still disappointing we couldn't do more against the Cards craptastic pitching. Offense still not carrying the load.
disappointing crowd
last night. yeah, it's a Tuesday, but only just over 30k for the 2nd home game of the season? pretty weak. and we were making fun of the San Diego fans last week.
disappointing loss as well. we have to win these games where a guy like Chacon goes six innings with 2-3 runs. Thompson is no Peavy or Chris Young. of course there were a lot of hard hit balls right at people last night. Hunter needs to break out of this funk. Hopefully the triple portends good things, but I'd like to see him take a walk or two at some point. Bourn is also starting to worry me a little.
well, we can still win the series tonight. let's hope Sampson can bring some of the same mojo he was working against the Cubs tonight.
Offense
Scott Barzilla's recent article at Astrosdaily.com points out some of the offense's early problems. I think he has a good point that the team's K/BB ratio is holding down the offense. The Astros have struck out 40 times and walked only 22 times. Pence, alone, has 10 K and 0 BB. It is something to watch.

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