Happ, Astros Surprise Phillies Yet Again
by David Coleman on Sep 14, 2011 12:07 AM CDT
in Houston Astros News
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The Astros must really, really not want to set that record for losses in the season.
What else can explain being so frisky against the best team in the National Leauge? Well, I guess two great pitching performances from guys who have been bad this season. First, Brett Myers steps up against his former team on Monday and then J.A. Happ continues his nice run since being called back up from the minors.
Tuesday, Happ allowed four hits, four walks and one run while striking out four in six innings. He also outdueled Cole Hamels and led the Astros to another late-season series victory over the Phillies. Unlike last season, this one was in Houston and keyed by an entirely different lineup.
Clint Barmes added a home run, giving him 11 this season and keeping him five behind Carlos Lee for the club lead. In fact, that home run in the fourth inning was a big reason Houston went on to beat the Phillies, as it was part of that big, critical fourth inning where Houston took back the lead after seeing it slip away in the top of the frame.
Don't count out a very big two innings in relief by Fernando Rodriguez, who was dominant in striking out four of the six batters he faced. He needed just 23 pitches to get through those frames and kept the heart of the Phillies order off balance. I know he didn't get a save, because the save stat doesn't account for things like that, but he sure saved this game for Houston, especially when you consider how many times the bullpen has blown late leads this year.
So, a good win. Houston will close out this series tomorrow and may very well get to 98 losses. But that record wasn't set today. I'll take that.
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Surprising indeed
The bullpen should make quite the competition next year in Spring Training. Between Fernando, Lopez and Melancon, we have three mildly proven late inning guys to mix up and with guys like Abreau and Carpenter (assuming he learns how to throw anything other than a fastball), we’ve got several guys capable of multi strikeout innings.
Now, about Barmes, has he set his price tag too high for Houston to keep him next year? Between the pop in his bat and the sparkle in his D, not only do the Astros have to love him, but so does just about everybody else. Anybody who’s serious about competing next year is going to have to take a look at Barmes and that price tag is gonna skyrocket!
by Its Gonna Happen on Sep 14, 2011 1:47 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
He’ll also be 33 next year.
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by Timothy De Block on Sep 14, 2011 7:00 AM CDT up reply actions
That’s younger than Jeter or Scutaro and same age as Rollins though. Good shortstops are hard to find.
I may be wrong, but I think most teams will still view him as a back up shortstop. That may be where the Astros have an advantage in signing him, since they can tell him he will be the starter.
by clack on Sep 14, 2011 8:40 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
The Phillies have not been swept in a 3 or more game series this season. If the Astros can do that, while facing Doc Halliday, that will be quite an accomplishment. Apparently Manuel yelled at his team in private after the second loss to the Astros. I will be surprised if the Phillies don’t come out angry in today’s game.
by clack on Sep 14, 2011 8:00 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
actually the Phillies haven’t been swept in more than a year….the last time was the sweep by the Astros at the end of August, 2010.
by clack on Sep 14, 2011 8:02 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Astros had a good showing at the beginning of the season as well. If Lyon hadn’t blow the first game this season the Astros record against the Phillies would of looked even better.
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by Timothy De Block on Sep 14, 2011 8:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Found this
http://crashburnalley.com/2011/09/13/playoffs-oswalt-or-worley/
The Phillies aren’t honestly thinking of leaving Roy o out of the playoff rotation are they. Don’t know a whole lot about Workshop, but I thought the consensus is he’s been a little lucky. Also Roy always seems to get amped up in playoff starts and has been good in the post season. That would be a huge slap in his face if they left him off the roster.
by conroestro on Sep 14, 2011 8:24 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
They arrived at the correct conclusion (give Oswalt the No. 4 slot) for non-statistical reasons (experience) in that link. And Phillies’ fan comments seemed to agree. Yes, Worley has been somewhat lucky this season. He is perhaps an advanced version of Happ, in terms of benefitting from luck/defense with the Phillies. His LOB rate is high. His x-FIP exceeds his ERA (though less so than Happ in 2010).
by clack on Sep 14, 2011 8:53 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
That is correct. I was just surprised that they were even debating it. I pay attention to the Astros so much that sometimes I don’t know what’s going on with the other teams. Apparently that’s a hot topic in Philly right now, and I was surprised by that.
by conroestro on Sep 14, 2011 9:10 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
These Astros-Phillies games have been odd, in the sense that an Astros loss sets a team record for losses and a Phillies win clinches the division. I don’t know that I can recall seeing that kind of combined “clinching” from both sides of a baseball series.
by clack on Sep 14, 2011 8:56 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
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Current Series
3 game series vs Dodgers @ Dodger Stadium
| Fri 05/25 |
WP: Lucas Harrell (4 - 3)
SV: Brett Myers LP: Clayton Kershaw (4 - 2) |
3 - 1 win |
| Sat 05/26 |
WP: Kenley Jansen (4 - 0)
LP: Wesley Wright (0 - 1) |
3 - 6 loss |
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Houston Astros
Sunday, May 27, 2012, 3:10 PM CDT Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to right field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 75. |
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
26 | 20 | .565 | 0 | Won 1 |
|
St. Louis
|
25 | 22 | .531 | 1.5 | Lost 3 |
|
Houston
|
22 | 24 | .478 | 4 | Lost 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
22 | 24 | .478 | 4 | Won 2 |
|
Milwaukee
|
19 | 27 | .413 | 7 | Lost 1 |
|
Chicago
|
15 | 31 | .326 | 11 | Lost 11 |
(updated 5.27.2012 at 1:03 AM CDT)
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