Game Hero, 29 - 39

Craig Biggio

1 for 5, 2 runs, 3 RBI 5th homer of the year, 286th of his career 2989th hit, now has Sam Rice by two, and Clemente in his sights Stays tied with Nap Lajoie, though Hitting .428 and slugging .762 on this homestand

I was kinda tempted to go with Dave Borkowski on this one. His WPA at Fangraphs wasn't much, but his leverage index was through the friggin' roof for a game of this nature, at 2.50. The game hung in the balance as Super Dave threw that 3 - 2 pitch to Guillen, But Borks had the balls to throw a strike, and the clearly flummoxed Guillen flied out to Hunter.

So Dave got some consideration, but on the other hand, one of the reasons the game hung in the balance for Borkowski there was because he had walked Vidro.

And just like you can't put yourself into a save situation, you can't put yourself into a Game Hero moment. So bye bye Dave, we love you, but not tonight.

bwhite was writing this morning about Earl Weaver and the three-run homer. No arguments this evening as Biggio--who did little else besides reach on an error and score--kept the fans happy early, and provided the only margin we had midgame until closing time.

Lee, Loretta, Lamb and Ausmus had multiple-hit games. Lamb is in a different zone than everyone else right now, and Ausmus clearly had the smiles of the baseball gods upon him Saturday, with three hits that if laid out end to end, still may not have left the park.

But all that's color commentary. Without Biggio's long knock, it would have been an entirely different contest.

It's supposed to be Game Hero, not At-Bat Hero, but sometimes the one at-bat means more than everything else put together, and that was certainly the case tonight. Biggio gets the award for one lousy AB, for one pitch, when it comes down to it.

One pitch he saw should be turned on, and crushed.

The award's not all that surprising. Though not in the same league as Lamb, Biggio has clearly caught fire as he's come home. Ryan at Killer B's Blog, an adjunct of Fangraphs, notes that Bidge had a positive WPA in each of the games in the Oakland series. And then Bidge had the three hits yesterday.

I guess it's a pretty good bet that he'll play well tomorrow, too.

It's Monday that's the question. As the Astros start a nine-game road trip at Anaheim, the safe bet is that Bidge will revert to road form out on the left coast.

It's not a new thing. Biggio's road home splits have been drastic for a few years now, but take a look at them, and think whether you don't start Loretta or even Burke at second a few times during the road trip, especially if Bidge collects two or three hits tomorrow.

	Biggio Home and Road 2007
	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Home	141	25	38	16	2	15	5	26	.270	.297	.454	.751
Away	108	12	21	4	3	8	9	26	.194	.256	.333	.589

Garner's got the out he needs, since all of Craig's fans in Houston want to see him hit his 3000th at Minute Maid, right?

You'd sure hate to see number 3000 come in Milwaukee.

Plus you'd sure hate to see your leadoff hitter go 1 for 22 on the trip.