Astros win the most uncomfortable 6-3 game—ever
by Stephen Higdon on Aug 19, 2009 10:35 PM CDT
in Events
5 comments
After being way prematurely yanked to satisfy whatever rumbling was occurring in Cecil Cooper's gut, Yorman Bazardo was removed and lost a shot at being the pitcher of record. I was looking for Bazardo's start to make me feel good about our prospects in 2010 and Yorman did little to let me sleep well tonight: 4.2IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 1K, 4BB using 95 pitches (maybe 98, there's some controversy). That's a 1.93K/9, 0.25K:BB, and a paltry 1.05K/100. Not exactly what I was hoping for.
To say that Bazardo lacked control would be an understatement. At times he flashed crisp fastballs and an excellent slider/change-up combo and others he had an inability to keep his fastball down and his breaking stuff in the zone. The one positive I can laud Bazardo with is that he managed to work his way out of jams and limit the damage. In fact, he should have been able to complete the full 5IP were it not for Kaz Matsui bobbling the ball on the exchange of botched GIDP. Coop went with Tim Byrdak who managed to continue not being effective against lefties without Coop catching on. Instead of allowing Byrdak to pitch to RHBs, who he's actually more effective against, Coop went to Samuel Gervacio who needed five pitches to collect the third out...something that would earn him the pitcher of record nod (reason #583958277134 that wins are meaningless).
Jeff Fulchino, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Valverde all combined to finish off the Marlins, who still collected over ten hits for the fifteenth consecutive game. Valverde, however, continued his streak of having a total inability to just go get three outs without giving an entire city a collective heart attack. With two outs, Valverde decided to walk two batters, then hit Wes Helms. After an eleven pitch battle with Chris Coghlan, Valverde recorded the K and the final out. He has got to stop doing that.
Here are the positives from the offense:
- Michael Bourn did it all: bunt hit, stolen bases, advances on errors, ridiculous plays in centerfield, and he clocked a 3B. Ridiculous night.
- Lance Berkman had a multi-hit night.
- Humberto Quintero crushed a homerun off the Conaco porch in left center.
- Carlos Lee, after looking his weight in the first inning, made two "amazing" defensive plays in the 8th and 9th innings.
- Hunter Pence collected a hit and a walk, but also two SB. Between Pence and Bourn, the Astros were 4/4 on the base paths—it's a miracle.
- Miguel Teajda broke out of his 0/19 streak with a 2B. He then GIDPed in his next AB.
- Jason Michaels contributed a PH 2B.
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now you know why he was traded
he was literally killing the fan base, it was like watching Chiller theatre each time he came to the mound, the retirees hearts simply couldn’t take it, so he was unloaded for the good of the community. ;-)
I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused....
valverde
Right now I’m happy we have a closer. Things will get a lot less clear when Valverde goes to the free agent market expecting what Cordero got from the Reds.
Recommended reading
From Astros.com:
He tripled and scored in the seventh after he couldn’t put down a sacrifice bunt, and he ran down every ball hit his way in the gaps.
something in that article I found curious. Asked about Valverde’s difficulties, Cooper said he may be throwing too many splitters, and with a 97 mph fastball, he doesn’t need to throw anything else.
That is different from what I saw in last night’s game. Valverde had trouble consistently throwing his fastball for strike, which accounts for the walks.. And in the final at bat against Coghlan, the splitter got the out for Valverde. Valverde tried to throw the fastball past Coghlan with pitch after pitch, and he kept fouling it. As I said in the game thread, “throw the splitter.” Shortly thereafter, J.D. said the same thing….you have to throw the splitter. Coghlan fouled off two splitters, and then Valverde put the final one nearly in the dirt and Coghlan swung and missed.
Valverde couldn’t get the low outside calls on his fastball and batters didn’t swing at it. As JD noted, the high fastball which Valverde threw can be more easily fouled off. My thinking: changing speeds with the splitter will cause more batters to be tardy on the fastball.
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3 game series vs Cubs @ Wrigley Field
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Monday, Sep 6, 2010, 1:20 PM CDT Wandy Rodriguez vs Casey Coleman Sunny. Winds blowing out to left field at 15-20 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 80. |
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| Tue 09/07 | 7:05 PM CDT | |
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
79 | 57 | .580 | 0 | Lost 1 |
|
St. Louis
|
71 | 63 | .529 | 7 | Won 1 |
|
Houston
|
64 | 72 | .470 | 15 | Won 2 |
|
Milwaukee
|
63 | 73 | .463 | 16 | Won 1 |
|
Chicago
|
59 | 78 | .430 | 20.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
45 | 91 | .330 | 34 | Lost 2 |
(updated 9.6.2010 at 5:46 AM CDT)
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