Winnable Game Slips Away

A game that the Astros could've and should've won went by the wayside. Arias' poor defense lost it, pure and simple. There's not a whole lot more to say about it.

Not the Worst of Losses

As anemic as the Astros offense was against Clayton Kershaw, the result should come as no surprise. Kershaw is nasty and could be poised to be a pitcher in the same vain as a left handed Josh Becket. You know the Astros offense is going good when a 5-0 eighth inning deficit turns into a 5-2 loss where the final batter was retired as the potential go-ahead run.

Tomorrow is the day. Going up against Hiroki Kuroda (who hasn't had the best of seasons) is the perfect opportunity for series clinching win. Baseball is amazing: even though they play 162 games, the difference between a 2-2 split and and 3-1 is night and day, especially on the road. Win or lose this has been a successful road trip, and coming out of it at .500 is perfectly acceptable.

Following tomorrow's matchup (is it considered a rubber game if one team is playing for the tie?), the Astros will have 70 games left. As of today, 33 of those games are against teams they could possibly be competing with in the Central Division (I am considering every team within 6 games of the lead to still be alive). Of the 70, an astonishing 61 games are against teams within six games of the wild card; the lone 'cupcake series' left on the schedule are against Arizona and Pittsburgh. Not only is this a comment on the tough schedule the Astros have left, the point is to illustrate the mediocre majority that is the National League.

One game at a time has to be the motto, however. A win tomorrow would feel especially nice.

Game of the Year

Against one of the league's tougher pitchers, and with the team's best slugger out with a bad leg, the Astros got off to their best start of any game this season. Perhaps even more amazing, the entire 1st inning rally started after two extremely quick outs. The first two batters were retired in five pitches. Six hits and seven batters later, Chad Billingsley had thrown 33 pitches.

Tonight was the best played game of the season. The offense clicked like never before, Roy Oswalt was as nasty as ever, and everyone contributed to the firepower. Astros fans have to feel good about where this team is at this point in the season. With two games left in LA and series against contenders St. Louis and New York, now is the time for the Astros to exert their will.

Great Start

Do you think Wandy likes the role of staff ace? It sure seems so. The lefty was efficient, tough, and composed throughout facing the league's best team. It's very rare for a pitcher to make Manny Ramirez look bad, however Wandy dazzled the big hitter (as well as the rest of the Dodgers in his 6 innings). For the first time in Wandy's career, he can be trusted not to give up the big inning, even on the road.

Offensively, how about Q? His job as the backup catcher looks as though it could be in jeopardy, and the man responds. That 5th inning bomb wasn't just the difference maker, it was the game. It's rare for a team to carry three catchers, but with Coste's supposed versatility, it could just work. Quintero has hits in three straight games with a double and a bomb since Coste joined the club. Probably not a coincidence.

In the 14 games that are left in July, the Astros would definitely be happy with a 7-7 or 8-6 record. Tonight was a huge start in that direction, and with a little momentum the team could be at, or around first place once play begins in August.

As for that midseason report card, it's still being worked on. Keep your panties on, it'll be out soon. Be happy with what you get.

Squeaking Into .500 With a 5-0 Win

This one didn't feel much like the score. Just as an ugly 13-2 blowout is equal to a 3-2 barn-burner, a not-so-great 5-0 shutout is exactly the same as an extra-inning walk off win, when it comes to the record. What does matter? Your Houston Astros are even after 88 games, tied with the Cubs for 3rd place and just three-and-a-half games out of first place.

With half as many hits as the Nationals had today (11-yes, 11 hits and they still were shut out), the 'Stros somehow managed to win one that they probably didn't deserve. Moehler was as crafty as could be. Despite not having given up a run, it was a good move to pull him when Cooper did. Alberto Arias continues to be the 2009 version of Octavio Dotel (as a set-up man), and Jose Valverde was solid.

There's not a whole lot to say about the offense today. Aside from Matsui's three run bomb (if you can even call it that), the Astros offense was stagnant all day. Kaz's home run shows the value of a veteran presence; he knew to guess fastball, and was able to catch the rookie pitcher, Zimmerman, in a mistake. This website is by no means the Kaz Matsui fan club, but I will give the man credit for coming through with a huge knock. However, the other two runs that came across the plate came after mental mistakes by the Nationals. Had Michael Bourn not come across in the first, we might have seen a five-nothing game with the road team as the winners.

Ugly or not, as an Astros fan, you have to be happy with where the team is at this point. Multiple real tests from contending teams come immediately after the break, but this is as about as good of a situation as you can expect, with 74 games left in the season. Over the next four weeks of the season (12 at home and 11 on the road), the 'Stros have series against nothing but contending teams. We'll know by early August whether this team has a real shot at a playoff birth.

Since neither The Houston Chronicle nor Astros.com seem to want to do a full player-by-player first half analysis, look for that in the next day or so on the site. Be ready for that soon.

After Blowout-Back to Below .500

Being .500 was nice while it lasted, right? While tonight was an especially bad game, the Astros have to keep their eyes on the prize. We said from the beginning that winning a 3-2 series against the Nationals would be considered a successful outcome... happy the team would be at Even McStevenson going into the break. As rough as tonight was, an L is an L. Win tomorrow and everything is fine.

There may be just one single quality that gives this team a fighter's chance to make the post season: the ability to forget one night's result and start fresh tomorrow. It's what you saw in Roy Oswalt during Game Six of the 2005 NLCS. It's what you saw in Geoff Blum the night after being on the receiving end of the very rare (reserved for the likes of Jimy Williams) Houston hometown boos. It's the contributions of guys like Chris Burke, Orlando Palmeiro, Jeff Keppinger, and LaTroy Hawkins. Guys that other teams would have/actually did give up on, end up being the keys to the team's success. Somehow, despite regular turnover of the roster, the veteran attitude of 'one game at a time', remains year to year. Normally, losing leaders/organization heroes the likes of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio would leave a vacuum in the clubhouse. Instead, the new leaders are picking up the slack. As shitty as diehard Astros fans felt after a game like we saw tonight, my guess the attitude in the locker room is just fine. I believe this team understands the big picture.

As much as I just talked up our favorite sports franchise, the fact remains, tomorrow is a very important game. Sure, if you lose tomorrow then sweep the Dodgers coming out of the break, everything is fine. That ain't happening though. A strong finish to the first half would feel really nice and go a long way towards the future of this season. Even and 2-under are two totally different situations.

Blum Hits Back at Boo-Birds

The story around Houston today and during the Astros broadcast was that Geoff Blum was booed last night for not hustling on a possible triple (full disclosure: I didn't see the play; I was drinking). Well Blummer (as everyone seems to call him) answered his critics tonight with a huge walk-off single that finally got the hometown team over the .500 hump. Had the Astros stranded the runners and not scored, I very much doubt they would have won the game. Odds are the game would have gone the way of last night's resumption of the suspended game-which was obviously not good.

Speaking of last night, it was huge to come back and win the 'night cap'. Losing on a flukey error by Tejada really hurt... as did getting behind 2-0 before coming to the plate. But, as seems to happen fairly often, the Astros head into the break as a hot team. It's getting to be a familiar feeling wishing the All-Star break could wait a few weeks while the team rides out the hot streak. The fact is, if you told any Astros fan that the team would be at .500 with two games left before the break, a half game of the Cubs in the division, all the while not hitting well as a team, that fan would take the deal, no questions asked.

As for the heat thats been out there looking to see Cecil Cooper out as manager, it's all a bunch of shit. These media guys aren't happy with the fact that they can't buddy up with the coach and get lots of great quotes. I'm not saying the guy is the second coming of Casey Stengel, but that's beside the point. I am sick and tired of the Astros firing managers in the middle of the season, giving the job to somebody on an interim basis, then eventually keeping that guy because he wasn't terrible. Cooper should probably lose his job, even if he gets this team to the post season, but if it happens, it should wait until after the season. Yes, either he needs to change, or the team needs to make a change. Just let it wait until this season plays out.

Should've Had a Sweep but They'll Take It

With five contests to be decided in the next 4 nights, the Astros have an amazing chance to make up some serious ground in the Central Division. A 4-1 series win leaves the team games over .500, however a 2-3 series leaves them two games under .500. When you get a chance to rack up as many as five wins against baseball's worst team, you have to capitalize. In previous years, whenthe Astros have made late season comebacks to make the playoffs, they've gone into the break as one of baseball's hottest teams. Do it again this year and my playoff prediction just may come true.

Big Homestand Starts Strong

It's always nice when the Pirates come to town. It's especially good when you're only 2 games below .500 and overall the team is playing well. Hampton took care of early first inning trouble, then cruised to his 10th consecutive win against the hapless Buccos. Miguel Tejada continues to play All-Star baseball (he needs a fan club, by the way. I'm thinking Miguel's Amigos.), and as good as things are, it's not to say things can't get even better. A 6-2 final homestand before the break, and the Astros would be in good shape for the second half of the season. Now's the time for this team to make a run.

Right Now, This is a Bad, Bad Team

I haven't posted in over a month because of travel, work, and life in general, but since I knew no one was reading the blog, I figured I would wait until my life settled down and really begin to devote myself to this thing. But that's enough with the sad-sack stories.

But wait, how can I write about the Astros without talking about a bunch of sad-sack stories? Right now this team is awful, full of injuries and holes, and apparently all is NOT well in the clubhouse. In this current 7 game losing streak, they have been swept twice (by two decent teams, but that's beside the point), had two complete games thrown against them, and by and large, stunk up the joint.

It's one thing when a team loses a lot of games while still playing hard, but this is a whole different hot dog. Many in the local media consider Cecil Cooper to be a dead man walking and they may be right. I'm not sure what Coop's new deal guarantees him, but I'm sure Tal Smith, Ed Wade, and Drayton McLane had the foresight to minimize the financial hurt if/when they decide to can the coach. These journalists/columnists/beat writers/talk radio personalities are about ready to call for Cooper's head, and as much as I hate to agree with the guys who get paid to do this, they may be right. I have no access or inside information, but the general attitude of this team (from watching on TV, mind you) is obviously very poor. I have no idea what Cecil Cooper has done so far (the team did have a recent meeting), but now may be the time for a last ditch Hurricane Ike of a clubhouse tantrum, with the expected silent treatment to follow. I'm not sure, but maybe these guys' manhoods need to be challenged--then again that could make things worse...if that's even possible.

As for the positives, there are a few things to be happy about. Miguel Tejada, Hunter Pence, and Michael Bourn continue to have solid games night in and night out, and even Carlos Lee has been hustling from time to time. I am also pleased with Felipe Paulino, who, despite his numbers, is showing that if he can reign his stuff in, he might have the potential to be nasty. There are other isolated bright spots, but I hesitate to praise this team at all, based on recent performance.

As for me? I am going to renew my dedication to this blog...as soon as I get back in town. That's mostly a joke (I will be going out of town for the first week in June, but I will do my best to post based on whatever Astros baseball I can catch). I have been lacking in my effort, just like a baseball team I know, but I promise that will change. This team may end up losing 100 games this year, but I promise to give playoff effort, even if the 'Stros are mathematically eliminated by August. I have big plans for this whole thing, so please bear with me as I get my shit together.

Just When It Looked Really Bad

Last night, health/laziness issues kept me from posting, but if I would've written something I would have said, "The Astros are a Team Without Swagger". After tonight, however, it's tough to write that. There was a bases loaded situation with one out where they came out with nothing, but c'mon, a win is a win-especially against the red hot Dodgers.

To be honest, I didn't get to watch most of the last two games (working two jobs will do that to you), but that loss of swagger column is just gonna have to wait. I will even hold off on the lineup column... at least until they lose the next 2. Michael Bourn should still be leading off, though.

Astros Bats Stay Cold in Sunny Minute Maid

A great performance by Felipe Paulino was wasted by the Astros' bats, as once again the team could not get a clutch hit to save their lives. It didn't help that a blown call on Hunter Pence cost the Stros a run and crucial out. If you leave over 10 men on base, it's a recipe for losing. For the positive, Michael Bourn continues his hot hitting ways. Now that Matsui will be back in the lineup soon, it will be interesting to see whether Cecil Cooper keeps Bourn at the leadoff spot or moves the speedster back down. I don't think Kaz has done anything to stay up top, but then again that's why Coop just got a contract extension and I am blogging for free from my parent's house.

A WANDerful Performance

Wandy continues to have a strong showing. Tonight, he tied his career high for K's in a game, all the while locating all of his pitches in his third straight quality outing. Unfortunately for him, he only has one W to show for it. When Wandy gets early run support, he attacks opposing offenses and can be nasty with that first pitch curveball. You can't help but be ecstatic with the left hander's performance thus far. Plus it's a good thing that he'll get another start at Minute Maid (where he's just about nasty) before having to pitch on the road again. Momentum + run support = lots of success for Wandy Rodriguez. Be prepared for a bust out season.

As for the rest of the 'good guys', how about that offense against the Aaron Harang? Pence, Blum, and Lee all had two-out RBI's. Blum and Lee especially had good nights; Blum had the big two-run double and Lee came through with a 3-3 night. Right now, the Astros have 5 of the top 56 players in the top of the national league in on base percentage. He may be hitting .250, but Michael Bourn has reached safely in every game this season. Keep him at the top of the lineup, Coop, the guy is doing everything he is being asked.

It would be great for Hampy to have another good start. Tomorrow will be my first visit to Minute Maid since 2007, so here's to another win. Just think how good this team could be once they start hitting for power...

Astros Still Struggling to Play a Complete Game

It's been almost almost a week since I last posted, so first how 'bout a quick summary of the last 3 games?

The two wins against the Pirates were solid, if ugly. Mike Hampton pitched very well in his Wednesday night start, and if he can give the Astros a high percentage of quality starts, he could win 15 or more games this season. Hampton looks healthy, and I think has realized that he may not be able to overpower hitters as much as he could when he was younger. One good thing to think about: with Hampton missing a lot of time in the last couple of years, he hasn't thrown a ton of innings. Two of his most recent problems have been a bad hamstring and pectoral muscle. With that being said, if he is able to pitch a full season, watch out.

In the Thursday afternoon win, it was nice to see Lance Berkman hit a big homerun, but Chris Sampson's contribution cannot be underestimated. Most 16 pitch at-bats end in success for the hitter, but the former Red Raider battled and was able to retire potential tying run, Freddy Sanchez (who is also a former batting champ).

A win last night could have been huge. I don't think you can really worry too much about Jose Valverde blowing the save. Teams aren't supposed to win when they only have four hits. The double play killed the Astros again (as it always does), but there is still plenty of reason to have hope. Neither Carlos Lee, nor Lance Berkman has gotten to anywhere near mid-season form, and it looks like Lee's hand hasn't fully healed. But fear not, as soon as they can have a game where all facets of the team are playing to potential, this team can still be dangerous. Let's hope they don't wait until August to get things going.

Listless Stros Lose Again

The best thing that can be said about the team after a poor effort such as today is that at least the losing streak won't grow to 7 games tomorrow (the team is off). The offense looked awful, Moehler had another poor performance before coming out of the game with an injury, and the team looked completely flat.

This season is far from over, but Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, and Hunter Pence better start hitting soon, or the season will be over well before the All-Star break. Things can't get much worse offensively. I guess they could get shut out a couple of more times, but the law of averages has to come into play sometime soon. So, at the very least, I imagine the Astros will be able to manage a couple of sac flies or garbage late inning runs here in the next couple of games.

As I said in the column from earlier today, why did Michael Bourn sit out today. You could've given Matsui a day off (as the team has said it would do many times to help preserve the fragile 2nd baseman), started Kepinger at 2nd, and have Bourn lead off. The guy has hit in every game this season. He is taking more pitches, striking out less, and hitting the ball the opposite way... everything he is being asked to do. Not a lot is working for the team right now, maybe it's time to go with the guys who ARE doing their jobs.

Lohse Lowers Boom On Stros

Struggles against St. Louis continued Sunday, as the shell-shocked Stros looked meek and defenseless against Kyle Lohse. There has never been a better time to travel to Pittsburgh for the club than now. Jim Deshaies said it best during the broadcast: 1-5 stretches will happen for a lot of solid ballclubs, but when 1-5 is all you have to show for an entire season to-date, it feels a lot worse. If you are an Astros fan, you have to hope that Brian Moehler and Mike Hampton can reverse course from their last outings and give the team solid performances and take some pressure off the offense.

Now for the positives. Michael Bourn got a hit in his 6th consecutive game, and looks focused and patient at the plate. I know it's early, but Cecil Cooper needs to think strongly about giving the fleet-footed Bourne, his chance to return to the leadoff role. Kaz Matsui is more suited to hit 2nd, 6th or 7th where he can look to drive the ball and knock in some runs. Why (as pre-game lineups suggest) Michael Bourn is out of the lineup, I have no idea. Bourn is the sole bright spot in the lineup, and if you are going to shift the lineup around for today's game, why not give the guy a shot to be a spark plug.

The offense will improve, mark my words, but as of yet, it's just one of many areas of concern from Coop, Ed Wade, and Drayton McLane. Zach Duke was 1-1 with a 2.91 era against Houston last year and today is Pittsburgh's Home Opener. The Astros will have their work cut out for them, but the task is far from impossible. Get some wins in Pittsburgh and have something to build on for the return to Minute Maid. Seasons cannot be won in the first two weeks of the season, but they certainly can be lost.

Pujols 7 - Astros 2

It's hard to come up with something positive from Saturday's bloodbath. Albert Pujols reasserted himself as the biggest of all Astros-killers, absolutely mashing two balls out of the park, all the while giving himself a career-high tying seven RBI's. After a day like today, I think I have found my angle for this blog... stay positive. Although today's game is a perfect example of how hard keeping it positive might end up being, I will strive to find some sort of nugget or piece of information that might give hope to the most desperate of fans. With the way this team is playing, even at 1-4, the season is far from over.

Before I give the blinders-on homer fan message, I will discuss what went wrong Saturday. Roy gave the offense a solid chance to make something happen, but when a team leaves eight runners on base after 4 innings, pitchers begin to get fed up. A guy like Oswalt needs production from the offense. How is it that Adam Wainwright had thrown more than 80 pitches going into the 5th, yet the Astros had yet to score? I said yesterday that the Stros crush middle relief, and I stand by this statement, but it must be said that it helps if Lance Berkman is facing those guys in a 2-2 game rather than while down seven in the 6th.

Saturday's positive aspect: Michael Bourne continues to hit. I think his time at the bottom of the lineup should be coming to an end soon. He's hitting over .300 and seems to be seeing the ball really well. If he is able to keep progressing, a lineup with him leading off, Matsui hitting 2nd, and Pence hitting 6th, these guys could be nasty. It may be too soon, but still probably worth a try.

Here's to not going 1-5 to start the season....

Double Plays Doom Astros

Do any teams in baseball lose more potential rallies to the double-play than the Astros? Yes, quite a few actually, but it sure doesn't seem that way. According to Baseball Reference, the Astros were actually below the league average for grounding into DP's. However, with the Astros notoriously having a tough time scoring runs, last night was poor timing for hitting into 3 twin-killings. One of the culprits, Miguel Tejada, seems to be working on repeating as king of the double play ball. Last season, Tejada led the majors in grounding into double plays, doing the deed 5 more times (32 of them total) than the next guy, Derrick Lee. To give you an idea how dominant Tejada was in the category, the next highest Astro is Hunter Pence (28th in the league last year), and he only hit into 14 DP's in 157 games. It seems as though teams are willing to allow the Astros base runners and wait for them to kill the rally themselves.

Last night, double plays were a problem, but so was a lack of clutch hitting. The Stros continue to get into the opposition's bullpens, but not early enough, and they aren't working enough counts. The Astros have always been a team that kills middle relief pitching, but in the last 2 or 3 seasons, they have not been able to put themselves into a position where those guys are in the game. I do remain positive however. I believe this is a team that is poised to click soon, and if they are able to start getting some big hits with men on base, this team could rattle off a bunch of wins in a row.

Late 90's AL Baseball Breaks Out at Minute Maid...

Starring Kaz Matsui as Brett Boone, Jeff Kepinger as Matt Williams, Hunter Pence in a touching role as Brady Anderson, Lance Berkman brings out his inner Rafael Palmeiro, and of course Pudge Rodriguez as, well, Pudge Rodriguez in his Ranger days. This is obviously not to say all these guys have decided to start up a juicing regimen. An open roof with the wind blowing out takes Minute Maid back to its Enron days, and with Brian Moehler going up against Ted Lilly, you had to expect that it was going to take a strong offensive showing to win the ball game tonight.

"If we started in the 3rd inning we would've won tonight," said Cecil Cooper in his postgame news conference.

The extent of the Astros scoring tonight came from 5 homeruns. How many runs were produced in the assault? Six. Maybe, I am a hopeless optimist, but for the 3rd game in a row, I think Cecil Cooper has a lot to be happy about even after losing the game 11-6 and the series 2 games to 1. Despite starting off the season with an era just under forty, Brian Moehller wasn't really THAT awful. In scoring five runs over the first inning, the Cubs didn't hit a single ball hard. Tell your starter that he will break 3 bats in the first inning, and he'll take it every time.

"It was one of those nights I couldn't get them to hit it at somebody," said Moehller in post game clubhouse interviews.

Some positives to think about: Michael Bourn with another hit tonight (taking the ball the other way, no less), Russ Ortiz pitching well (solidifying his role), every Astros starter getting a hit, and all but three with RBI's (Bourn, Lee, and Tejada were without, the latter two you have to expect will shake off the rust soon).

Overall, not a terrible opening series for the hometown club. The off day tomorrow lets Cooper have his best two horses (yes, Wandy is one of them) against the Cardinals over the weekend. Winning a couple at Busch could go a long way towards success for this season, but remember it's still early. Right now, it looks as though the early part of the season is especially important because it will get tougher as we get into the summer. I'm not sure that's true, but at this point it doesn't matter. A win in April is just as important as a win in September.

Broken Bat Walk-off Saves 'Stros

Say what you want about these Astros, but the fact is, these are the type of games they are going to play this season. As potent of an offense as they have, you'd think that the best chance for success rides on winning a bunch of slugfests. Not true. Now that baseball has mostly/somewhat rid itself of steroids, teams can't sit around waiting for the proverbial 3 run bomb. The key to winning in today's game is having solid starting pitching, with a lights-out bullpen. Lineups that 10 years ago you could've penciled in for 5 runs a game, are not going to produce that kind of scoring.

As for tonight, I think this was a huge win. As huge as a win on the 2nd day of the season can be, anyway. You get a really strong performance out of Wandy (who deserved a win, by the way), key hits from the guys you need, capped off with the new guy getting the winning hit. And don't underestimate the bullpen's contribution. Without one bad pitch from Hawkins (Oswalt made the same mistake last night), the hometown fans go home a winner after an electric performance by Jose Valverde. Instead it took an extra frame. That being said, a win is a win. Just be happy this one didn't go 16 innings.

'Stros Continue to Struggle on Opening Day

Since 2002, the hometown team is now 2-6 in Opening Day Games. Tonight was no surprise. Roy Oswalt is a notoriously slow starter, and Carlos Zambrano is a cerified Astros-killer. Astros fans can take solace in this however, at least the Z-man didn't go yard tonight (he has 5 career OFFENSIVE home runs against the Astros, 4 of them coming at Minute Maid).

I actually believe that Opening Day was just fine for the Astros. They played the game that they need to play... runners on with nobody out in the 6th, the opposing starter out of the game. Unfortunately, the big hit was not there tonight. When the players that struggle are Carlos Lee and Pudge Rodriguez, you don't worry. When the guys that worry you most about this season (Michael Bourn and Miguel Tejada), go a combined five out of eight, and the team still loses, it's important to realize the potential out there. Imagine a day with the whole offense clicking...

Unless injuries decimate this team (with their combined age, it's by no means out of the question), they will contend. No baseball city in the country should count out the local nine after one game, especially not Houston. We've been down this road before. Honestly, are you really shocked they lost tonight? You shouldn't be, and remember the last two times the Astros went to the playoffs... they lost on Opening Day.

Welcome to The House that Eusebio Built

Hello, one and all. Today, April 6th, 2009 marks the beginning of a new Houston Sports Blog, The House that Eusebio Built. With today being opening day and all, I will start the column off with a bold prediction...The Astros will be a playoff team this year. I don't say this as a eternally optimistic, uniformed fan. I truly believe this team is highly underrated, and will shock all of the 'experts' out there by winning the National League Central.

That's all for now, but stay tuned. In the near future, the site will improve, I will be posting just about every day (at least once), and we will make this the number one sports website in Houston. Heck, it might already be that, considering there ain't a whole lot of competition.