Norris, Astros Bullpen Lose It Late In 6-4 Loss to Mets

by David Coleman on May 13, 2011 11:33 PM CDT in Houston Astros News

Who do you blame this one on? Do you blame Brad Mills for leaving Bud Norris in too long? Cudly Budly wasn't bad, striking out eight, walking three and allowing three hits before the eighth. He gave up a bad home run to Fernando Martinez, but the final run charged to him was more on Jeff Fulchino.

Which brings me to the second point. Can you blame Mills for not trusting his bullpen and seeing how long Bud could carry him? How unreliable has that 'pen been this season? Are there two guys Mills can trust outside Melancon, whos' a rookie?

Do you blame the hitters for not scoring more runs? They certainly staked Bud to a lead early and extended it later on. Chris Johnson finally had a decent game, but there still wasn't much power. So, do you blame the hitters for not hitting the ball once the pitchers gave up the lead?

I think it's all of the above. I think Mills is to blame, but he's only to blame because he doesn't have a bullpen right now. Norris is to blame, because he gave up that gopher ball and tired late. The hitters are to blame, because they didn't get more than five hits off Dillon Gee or a mishmash of bullpen guys.

Oh, and blame em and every other fan, who has chosen to put up with this team. We bring this misery upon ourselves. Following a team that can't even beat the Mets is tough. I'm going to hope tomorrow is better, knowing it probably won't be, but for that, I can only blame myself.

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Mills is in a situation where almost every reliever, pinch hitter, starting line up decsion

is rife with bad choices, more likely to fail than to succeed. He must choose his best option and hope.

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on May 13, 2011 11:41 PM CDT reply actions

Drayton McLane confirms deal to sell Astros to Jim Crane et al

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/05/13/mclane-confirms-astros-have-deal-to-sell-team-to-crane-led-group/

Papers should be signed next week.

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on May 13, 2011 11:42 PM CDT reply actions

I would like to say the sooner this gets done, the better..

But what does Jim Crane bring to the table? I don’t really know the guy.

by entropic soul on May 14, 2011 12:38 AM CDT up reply actions

David

I thought you were going to make it over the fence.

How much was bail?

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on May 13, 2011 11:45 PM CDT reply actions

That streaker was awesome.

Gets on the field, goes up Tal’s Hill, then climbs over the fence and into the bleachers in center, climbs on to the grassy knoll up there to get away from the cops, and eventually made it over the camera well in left-center. I was impressed.

- Rivers McCown, From Mom's Basement | Twitter | SB Nation Houston | Battle Red Blog

by riversmccown on May 14, 2011 12:23 AM CDT up reply actions

Yeah

I kind of hope he didn’t get caught, with a world class effort like that, he deserves to get away.

by Bobbythegreat on May 14, 2011 12:14 PM CDT up reply actions

Jeff Fulchino is starting to look a lot like David Weathers to me.

Follow my ramblings on Twitter .

by Timothy De Block on May 13, 2011 11:45 PM CDT reply actions

Say it ain't so

but it may be

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on May 13, 2011 11:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Interesting comparison. I can see it, except Weathers actually had a better pitching resume than Fulchino.

by clack on May 14, 2011 12:06 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Excellent post.

by entropic soul on May 14, 2011 12:37 AM CDT reply actions

There really wasn’t any warning signs to pull Bud before the eight inning. The only thing that could have possibly been done different is to pull bud after the homer and go with Lopez instead of fulchino. Still don’t know if that would of helped because Lopez was shaky also. Melancon is the only mr dependable right now. Hopefully Mills can resist the temptation of overusing him.

by conroestro on May 14, 2011 2:44 AM CDT via mobile reply actions

Is Lopez’s pitchng back to normal? I am bit concerned that his first two outs in this inning were well hit flyballs, to be followed by the run scoring double. Lopez is not pitching normally if he getting flyballs instead of ground balls. I sometimes wonder if we will ever see the Lopez of 2010. Hopefully that fear is wrong.

by clack on May 14, 2011 8:05 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

this has happened so often this season

and hey its not all Mills’ fault. As someone said in the gamethread after those two solo shots against Wandy tied the game at 3 against the Reds, Mills trusts his starters when they are tired more than his bullpen.

Still, it sucks for Budley. Nothing more you can do when your gassed.

by AstroB on May 14, 2011 4:16 AM CDT reply actions

The Astros’ bullpen depth turned out to be terrible. The downside of putting Melancon into the closer spot is that he doesn’t get into the game without a lead in the 9th, and the gap he leaves in the 7th and 8th prevents the bullpen from keeping a lead for him to protect.

by clack on May 14, 2011 8:08 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

I'll say again what I said before the season started

We’re rebuilding. We are going to have to deal with the team not doing well for several years. We have a lot of young players. Young players often make mistakes. As far as leaving Norris in too long, I truly truly hate when people do that. If Mills takes him out and we lose, people scream that Mills is an idiot for taking him out when he was doing so well. It’s like a coach in football going for it on 4th down. If the team converts, he’s brilliant. If it doesn’t, he’s obviously an idiot for going for it. Sometimes you have to ask your players to step up their game. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.

by SubCrim on May 14, 2011 9:07 AM CDT reply actions

Astros missed opportunities

The biggest problem with this game is the two outs at the plate. We are killing ourselves on the basepaths and that is one of the easier parts of the game. I have no idea what Dave Clark was thinking by sending Carlos Lee in the first inning. Hall grounds out to the SS and we get the run in regardless. Also why Hall wasnt moving on contact on Bourns groundout in the 7th is just unacceptable for Hall and Dave Clark. Very poor base running last night. I think you leave Bud out there to start the 8th but think they should have come out and calmed him down after the walk. His legs were tired and just to tell him to concentrate a little more think he would have not given up the HR.

by Nado2036 on May 14, 2011 11:13 AM CDT reply actions

Melancon

I think you run Melancon out there in the 8th let him get 5 outs and rest him the next two days.

by Nado2036 on May 14, 2011 11:13 AM CDT reply actions

That picture reminds me.

We never did hear from Its gonna happen, did we?

by MadMartygan on May 14, 2011 8:19 PM CDT reply actions

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