Paulino responds to Wade's ultimatum; Astros fall to Cubs

by Stephen Higdon on Sep 2, 2009 4:21 PM CDT in Events

6IP, 7K, 2BB, 4H, 2R (both earned), 99 pitches (61 strikes). If Ed Wade was looking for a sign that Felipe Paulino wasn't going to go quietly into AAAA purgatory, he can't miss the one that Paulino made for him this afternoon. A truly masterful performance, even at the advance stat level: 10.5K/9, 3.5K:BB, 7.07K/100.

For the third straight day, however, it wasn't the pitching that didn't give the Astros an opportunity to compete, it was the dismal, anemic offense. On this nine game road trip the Astros mustered an average of 2.45 runs per game (22 runs, 9 games).

As far as the game's feel good story line, Aaron Boone played solid defense at 1B, with one spectacular play, but like his peers in the lineup, Boone was foiled by Lilly. Still, just getting to see Boone pretend to shield his eyes from the "bright light" and check his pulse in the dugout overshadows and oh-fer at the plate.

via www.fangraphs.com

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Paulino's control was good.

He was hitting the spots Q set up for him, getting strike calls, and his breaking stuff was crisp. I really liked the way he threw because he seemed to be utilizing knowledge of hitters and playing crafty, instead of just relying on his heat. He only pumped a fastball down the middle a few times (the worst being that Derek Lee home run, obviously).

by OremLK on Sep 3, 2009 3:58 AM CDT reply actions

If he got away with that pitch

Maybe it would have been extra innings. For some reason guys see the ball well off him though. He doesn’t get away with much. You would think his power would allow him to get away with more mistakes, but it seems like he pays for every one of them.

by OremLK on Sep 3, 2009 3:59 AM CDT up reply actions

Bourn ended his 26 game on base streak....

because Coop didn’t start him in the game, but decided to use him in the 9th inning as PHer. Cooper said he tried to explain it to Bourn:

I’m going to do my best to not put him in a difficult situation unless it’s just game-winning and I got to have it. Then I got to have it. I explained that to Michael. I got to do it if I got to do it.

by clack on Sep 3, 2009 8:42 AM CDT reply actions

I really hope it's Coop who gets fired today

I can’t discern real reason in that quote.

The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.

by Stephen Higdon on Sep 3, 2009 9:09 AM CDT up reply actions

the rationale is old-school baseball

You try to keep a pretty decent level of competition, even when you’re out of the race yourself, especially against teams that still have a shot. Also, there’s probably a bit of the no-“I”-in-team attitude, where personal accomplishment is subordinated to the team getting a W. And it’s not like Bourn was just a few games away from a record…Ted Williams went 84 games, DiMaggio went 73.

by AstroAndy on Sep 3, 2009 10:19 AM CDT up reply actions

yeah, I understand all that...

and it’s probably the reason I posted it as a factual statement without giving my opinion (feeling like my opinion might be unfair). But, heck, how much more could you go out of your way to stop his streak…you don’t start him and then give him his one chance against Carlos Marmol. Bourn has improved his hitting against LHP this year, and Cooper said “I really didn’t want to sit Bourn” (Oh? then why did you? You ARE the manager). When I saw that Bourn wasn’t starting, my immediate thought was “well, I hope he doesn’t have to PH and risk his streak.” Replacing Bourn with Michaels because a LHP was on the mound really did work out well, right? Michaels went 0 for 3 and never got on base. Yes, that’s hindsight, and (as I said) it’s probably unfair. But at this point in the season, all matters Cooper tend to irritate me.

by clack on Sep 3, 2009 12:49 PM CDT reply actions

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