Dodge This! Astros fall 6-2
by David Coleman on May 18, 2010 12:04 AM CDT
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PrintWhen Geoff Blum starts at shortstop, it's going to be a bad game. One of the comments in Monday's Wandy post talked about the defense behind him (I believe it was Joe in Birmingham that brought it up). Certainly, the Astros did him no favors by trotting out Blum and Keppinger up the middle.
The most damaging hit against Wandy came on a two-run double in the first inning. Casey Blake hit a ball down the line, scoring Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp and pushing the score up to 3-1. Wandy was noticeably upset after the inning ended. Of course, both runs were unearned thanks to errors by both Blum and Kepp. Wandy wasn't bad, allowing four runs in 6 2/3 innings while striking out one and walking two. As I said, only one of the runs was earned.
Wandy's frustration can certainly be felt by the fans watching games too. No one blames him or Roy Oswalt for being snippy about the offense or the defense. Both have let the Astros down this season. Still, it's not a great sign that the team is gaining that divisive feel that was so counterproductive at the end of Cecil Cooper's run. Brad Mills will be really tested behind the scenes until this ship can be turned.
What happened with the offense? It was the same story as always. The Astros saw a new pitcher and were totally shut down by him. Joe Ely struck out eight Astros in seven innings. None of Houston's hitters had extra base hits. Michael Bourn once again scored one of the Astros' only runs. Carlos Lee, Humberto Quintero and Geoff Blum were a combined 0 for 10 with two strikeouts and one GIDP. Not one Astro took a walk. It's like these hitters were put on this earth to frustrate the crap out of me. I'm not even to the point of being morbidly curious to see one of the worst offenses in modern history. Not yet, anyways.
Oh, and did I mention Brandon Lyon also gave up two late runs, turning a relatively close game into one that's basically out of reach? Just when Lyon was winning some subdued respect, I have to go back to feeling ambivalent towards him.
At least there's a chance for splitting the series Tuesday...
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I have a different take on the defense.
On the defensive side, I thought Blum had a terrific game. He didn’t commit an error. And I recall three or four very good plays by him at shortstop. In fact, on the play that Keppinger made an error, Blum’s part was outstanding. Keppinger’s error was costly, but it turns out on replay that the umpire was wrong. The two Pence defensive misplays were the critical difference in the game. And those seemed to be caused by bad positioning, since he had to run a long way in each case to get to fly balls to nearly straight away CF. However, if he can get his glove on those two balls, he probably should have caught one of them.
See, and I missed the first inning. Probably read it wrong, since it said fielder’s choice and error (shortstop) in the game log. Pence’s misplays hurt. Remember when Bobby Meachem was going to change the Astros defense for the better through positioning? When is that supposed to happen?
by David Coleman on May 18, 2010 12:55 AM CDT up reply actions
On the play which gave Kepp an error: In the first inning, Blum went deep in the hole at short, dived to stop the grounder, then got up and threw a strike to 2d base. The ump initially ruled out, and then changed the ruling, claiming that Keppinger didn’t stay on the bag long enough. Mills came out to argue. The replay showed that Keppinger has his foot on the bag throughout the play. Mills said after the game that it was probably the most critical play of the game.
like clack
i though tthey did a real good job…wandy has only 2 ppl to be upset with after the 1st…
1. The 2nd base umpire
2. Himself
Had the umpire made the correct call, then the inning would be over with no runs scored.
THough let’s say he still made the bad call, wandy on the double decided to cutoff a throw that should not have been cutoff casuing the next runner to score. The ball looked like it had lots of steam on it and if wandy lets it go, i believe the runner is out…
thats my take of the first inning
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on May 18, 2010 11:32 AM CDT reply actions
so that was the first
I thought that this game was a game that was classic astros this year. Besides for the bad offense, it was a case of very bad luck. Pence made 2 attempts that I believe he would normally catch. This game was just a very bad luck game, which is classic astros this season
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on May 18, 2010 11:34 AM CDT up reply actions
Perhaps Coleman wrote this bog without watching the game.
Blum had a great defensive game.
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
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Chicago
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0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
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Cincinnati
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