Greetings, Astros Fans. The highlight of today's game was Jordan Lyles pitching 7 strong innings of one-run ball. Lyles has been good since his call-up on May 2nd, pitching 5 quality games and only one blowout. His spring training struggles appear to be in the mirror now as he settles into the season, which is a good sign for his future. His strikeout rate is at 7.2 K/9, which is higher than his average over the last two years, but his walk rate at 3.24 BB/9 is also higher than his career average. Whatever the matter, Lyles hasn't given up more than one run in each of his past three starts and today's game of 7 IP was his longest outing of the year. Hopefully this good momentum will stick as he continues to pitch. I fully expect that 3 more starts from now he'll have a no-hitter. A perfect game? That'll be another 6 starts.
The Astros hitters faced a tough cookie in Jorge De La Rosa, the Rockies' starter. Carlos Corporan came in to score on a fielder's choice hit by Chris Carter and that was the only run. The Astros were only able to get 5 hits off of De La Rosa before Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt hung the roof and shut down the ballroom for the rest of the day. J.D. Martinez played a good bat with a double and a single. The only other player with 2 hits was Ronny Cedeño, while Carlos Corporan had one hit.
With a tied game in the top of the 9th, the Astros' fate was secured when Jose Veras blew the lead. One run was all the Rockies needed as the Astros' bats had already left to go take an afternoon nap. Once the clubhouse manager realized the bats went to sleep before the game ended, it turned out to be too late. The door was locked and the key was hidden. Those pesky bats...
In other exciting news, Jon Singleton will be making his 2013 debut tonight after coming off of a drug suspension. Singleton will be batting cleanup for the Quad Cities River Bandits. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. You can find the boxscore here.