Carlos Zambrano Shuts Out Astros 4-0

If I gave you the option to read a recap of today's game or to go frog hunting, you'd probably go frog hunting when all's said and done. Or if you're a vegetarian and/or don't want to harm the frogs, you could always plant lettuce and hurl a lasso and capture your lettuce that way. It's probably an interesting game if you tried it.

So, what went wrong? Well, we know the Astros' hitters are capable hitters when given pitches to hit. Generally this was true for this game. There wasn't a whole lot of abnormalities that stuck out such as swinging wildly. Missed opportunities were very few as Big-Z pitched really well. Sometimes you just have to stick it to the opposing pitcher and give him credit rather than bashing the offense for not hitting.

The Astros only mustered 3 hits against the studly Z. They struck out 9 times and walked only once. Jordan Schafer and Jose Altuve both got hit by a pitch. As a result, the Astros had runners on 1st base 6 separate times. But talking about ralley killers, 4 of those baserunners were erased on 4 different double plays. The only extra-base hits of the game came off of 3 Marlins homers and two Marlins doubles, all against Wandy.

Speaking of Wandy, he pitched 8 innings, but gave up his first 3 homers of the year, giving up 4 runs. He actually went into the 9th inning, but gave up another homer and then was taken out of the game. What happened next was just poppycock. Brandon Lyon struck out 3 batters in a row to end the inning. Just too bad he can't do that in a game that counts. What's encouraging is that his curveball had some good life on it. Maybe he can last out the season or build up trade value. It's certainly possible.

Tomorrow the Astros will face Anibal Sanchez and will call up Aneury Rodriguez to start the game in Weiland's absence. Aneury has a 4.94 ERA in 6 starts, (29 IP total), with 37 strikeouts. What's ugly about that picture is that he has given up 42 hits and 13 walks in that time span, with a WHIP of 1.897. Prepare to brace yourself for tomorrow as the numbers do not look to be in the Astros' favor.