Well the computer ain't done and neither is the Astros' road losing streak.
If you got to take a look at our esteemed skipper sometime during Thursday night's blowout at the hands of the Braves, you saw a fairly preoccupied, maybe even haunted, Phil Garner.
It's kind of how I'm looking these days, too, as the extenuating circumstances with the computer get longer and longer, so I recognize the visage: it's the look you have when you start suspecting this thing might be bigger than you.
After a short spike and a plateau with the full-time insertion of Mike Lamb in left, the Astros have been laid bare across baseball as a team that doesn't even have the bats to support outstanding pitching.
If Phil Rogers' deprecatory story on ESPN.com wasn't enough, you could listen to Pete Van Wieren and Don Sutton caterwauling about the sad results brought forth by the sorry Astros offense all night, as Houston brought out pitcher after pitcher with decent ERA's but lousy records.
Well, I guess pitching but no hitting beats the opposite, over the long haul. Perhaps the Astros have as their ace in the hole five low scoring shutout WINS in July. And Berkman returns Friday. So perhaps this haunted look on my face and Phil's will be relieved shortly. In the meantime I've got to say my thoughts are more than a little scrambled, to wit:
- Ryan Langerhans, wasn't he the one who homered to end that Clemens-Hudson thang?
- Sometimes I think it looks like the Astros are trying to pay Roger back for failing to protect that 2 - 0 lead in Game 7.
- Backe. Backe Shellacky. . .
- How come Eric Bruntlett gets to skate free? He's 0 for 9 on the year with a walk after that weak tapper in the eighth of Thursday's game.
- It's getting to the point where, forget actually watching him, it's actually becoming painful to merely consider the sad decline of Jeff Bagwell. . .
- Langerhans. . .I'm beginning to hate Langerhans
Bought my tix today for next Tuesday and Wednesday's contests vs. the Marlins
. . .might be fun, although right now I gotta bet that the over/under on runs scored by the 'Stros during that series probably stands at 3-1/2 right now. . . .