Current Series
3 game series vs Brewers @ Miller Park
Houston Astros Monday, Aug 18, 2008, 7:05 PM CDT Randy Wolf vs CC Sabathia Clear. Winds blowing from right to left field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game Time temperature: Near 85.
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| Tue 08/19 | 7:05 PM CDT | |
| Wed 08/20 | 1:05 PM CDT | |
Well, this is it, ladies and gentlemen. For all of our opinions one way or another, this is the series that will make or break the Astros' 2008 season. Three games that could push the club within 4.5 of the Wild Card, or essentially end their chances at seeing postseason baseball this year. The Astros just came off a series where they lost 2/3 to Arizona. Milwaukee faced the other NL West Contender, Los Angeles, and saw the Dodgers win 2/3, as well.
CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets will throw for the Beermakers in the first two games of the series. Both have been stellar down the stretch for this Milwaukee team, but especially Sabathia. Trading for the big lefty weeks before the trade deadline looks more and more like a shrewd move from Brewer GM, Doug Melvin. It seems like the combination of Sabathia's arrival and the Manny Parra-Prince Fielder bout in Cincinnati has come at the perfect time. They were a club that was slipping towards the end of July. Their defense (which is still bad) was horrendous, they had a questionable bullpen, and their lineup relied very heavily on the home-run. It's funny how a little starting pitching goes a long way towards solving some team issues. With Ryan Braun back, Prince Fielder on a nice little roll and some of the bullpen problems resolving themselves, this will be the truest test of how far the Astros have come since losing 22 out of 31 games in June and July.