Astros @ Padres

[Castor27]

Pitching Matchups:

7-5 -- Roger Clemens (10-2, 2.63) vs. Brian Lawrence (9-5, 4.00) 9:05 on KNWS/ESPN2

7-6 -- Pete Munro (1-1, 3.76) vs. Ismael Valdez (6-5, 5.06) 9:05 on KNWS

7-7 -- Roy Oswalt (7-6, 3.76) vs. Jake Peavey (5-2, 1.98) 9:05 on FSSW/ESPN2

[codell]

WWL

we could sweep though

[Nick]

Expect a ruthless road-trip. 6-0. Beltran likes the road better.

[Jameson Paulz]

Onmy way to SD in a few hours>

WWW

[fatman510]

WLW

Munro hasn't impressed me at all his last couple of starts. Peavy just returned from the DL, so dont expect him to be sharp.

[Uprising]

We will win this series, I don't know if I want to saw sweep. Mainly because we haven't swept anyone since the Pirates which was back in May IIRC.

ALthough, now would be a good time to start sweeping people again. The Padres have been a suprisingly good team. But the Astros seem to have turned it aroudn, even after the ass whooping they were served last night. I am loving how Ensberg has foud his groove, and Beltran does seem to love the road.

Go Astros! WWL.

[Groogrux]

WWW. Like I said Friday, we'll be in the wild card position this time next week. And a certain streak will be stopped this weekend.

[DaDakota]

LLL

Trying to shake things up....I have been wrong so much recently....maybe that will continue.

:D

DD

[red]

WWW
get angry team...get angry!

[rockets-#1]

The Astros should win this series. Then again they should have won every series they've lost in the past month. :) All I know is, the last game will be a good one. Roy has been dominant lately, and Peavy is on my fantasy team and has been a stud this year. Roger should have had 11 wins a long time ago, lets get him the win tonight, Astros.

[RocketManJosh]

I can hardly wait for this one ... I'll be going to the first two games of this series.

You might see me up the first base line near the bullpen in my bright orange retro shirt!!!!!

WWW baby!

[Harrisment]

LLW

I just really have no faith in this team lately :(

[biggz]

WWW

The last game should be a good one.

[JPM0016]

This series should tell us if the offense is back on track or not

WLW

[Lil Francis]

Originally posted by JPM0016
This series should tell us if the offense is back on track or not

WLW That might be the hardest stadium in baseball to hit a homerun in so don't expect alot of fireworks.

[Nick]

Originally posted by Lil Francis
That might be the hardest stadium in baseball to hit a homerun in so don't expect alot of fireworks.

That's fine, because this team has a hard enough problem hitting HR's in the park that's one of the easiest.

We do give them up there though... thus, we're already at an advantage.

[rrj_gamz]

We should win 2 of 3, or else...

[Mr. Mooch]

LEAD OFF HR BIGGIO!!!!!!!!


GREAT WAY TO START A GAME FOR CLEMENS!!!


:D

[JPM0016]

i just hate those pitchers parks :)

1-0 Stros

[BobFinn*]

Spillman has done a wonderful job on Biggio's hitting:D

[francis 4 prez]

we are the most epic bases loaded and no outs team of all time. how can any other team even be close?



i stay to watch ensberg not drive in a run and then flip to baseball tonight real quick for the worst plays of the year (with ken harvey pulling a classic) and by the time i get back they're already to the next half inning and i couldn't have been less surprised.

[Nick]

Originally posted by francis 4 prez
we are the most epic bases loaded and no outs team of all time. how can any other team even be close?



i stay to watch ensberg not drive in a run and then flip to baseball tonight real quick for the worst plays of the year (with ken harvey pulling a classic) and by the time i get back they're already to the next half inning and i couldn't have been less surprised.

To their credit, it was bases loaded 1 out.

Also, Beltran should have scored on Berkman's hit, but he lost the ball when it went behind Long, and just stuck to the bottom of the wall. (tough play to read... probably should have been lookin at the 3B coach).

[francis 4 prez]

Originally posted by Nick
To their credit, it was bases loaded 1 out.




double edit: i stand corrected, there was one out.


however, we are still the most epic bases loaded and no outs team ever. i do not back off from that.


actually, lets just make that bases loaded, any number of outs. maybe i'm just permanently scarred by the 10th inning against the braves all those years ago.

[Nick]

Originally posted by francis 4 prez
double edit: i stand corrected, there was one out.


however, we are still the most epic bases loaded and no outs team ever. i do not back off from that.


actually, lets just make that bases loaded, any number of outs. maybe i'm just permanently scarred by the 10th inning against the braves all those years ago.

No argument there... that game 3 of the 99 series will always haunt me, and every other Astros fan in here.

If we had won that game, who knows... out of all the playoff series we lost, THAT was clearly the most winnable (even though it wasn't neccessarily the best team).

Big play by Berkman and Ausmus... game still tied at 1.

[BigCountry132]

Our baserunners arnt having a very good game today, to pivitol mis reads on base hits.

[Nick]

That's two base-running mistakes by the Astros tonight.

First Beltran loses the ball on Berkman's double, and doesn't score.

Then, Everett fails to advance from 2nd to 3rd base, on a SINGLE. How the hell does that happen... Payton was not really that close to the ball to deke him.

That, and Clemens inability to bunt (which he makes up for by his pitching) has us in a tie game when it shouldn't be.

[hjg877]

I hope Williams chokes on a ham sandwich. Idiot ****.

[bigtexxx]

This game is killing me. Clemens pitches a gem and we score one sorry little run for him. Then Micelli gives up a run the next inning after Clemens leaves. Urghhh. What bugs me is that I can confidently go to bed now, knowing there is no chance in hades we score a run to tie it in the 9th.

[DaDakota]

The Astros are just not very good.

Their offense is HORRIBLE now and it is letting the pitching down.

Very frustrating to watch.

As I watch Miceli give up yet another run in a tight game...

But to only have scored 1 run and it was the first batter of the game....disgraceful.

DD

[JBIIRockets]

What makes it worse is how Miceli dominated the Astros in the 98 playoffs with SD, and then now, he pitches for the Astros and blows it for Clemens against the same damn team.

The astros are a cursed franchise. Just the way it is.

[Nick]

Sure Miceli didn't pitch that well... but do you guys know how many tight games these guys have been forced to play in the past month due to our inept offense?

Miceli's arm is near about to fall off... and as will every other member of this bullpen if this team doesn't start blowing some teams out.

Tonight was the perfect example of the Astros failing to jump all over a pitcher who didn't have his best stuff. Of course, baserunning errors and some lout-out-double plays contributed to it as well, but no team will be successful in the long run if every win is only decided by 1-2 runs.

It has definitely been a while since the Astros last won a game comfortably.

[Do WHAT?]

17 ml a year... WOW Nice to see Bagwell earn his paycheck this year.

[hjg877]

As Kenny Thomas once said:

"Man, **** Houston."

[DaDakota]

Nick.

Exactly....the hitting is awful...but what can you do? I think it is time for a shakeup in managment.

Fire Jimy.

DD

[RocketManJosh]

Man this was one tough game to sit in the middle of all those Padre fans

Revised Prediction

LLL only because they seem to do the opposite of what I tell them

[rrj_gamz]

This season is going downhill fast...We're only a couple couple games back, but still, the freakin' Padres...:mad:

[Lil Francis]

Originally posted by JBIIRockets
What makes it worse is how Miceli dominated the Astros in the 98 playoffs with SD, and then now, he pitches for the Astros and blows it for Clemens against the same damn team.

The astros are a cursed franchise. Just the way it is. Thats not saying much. Everyone dominates the Astros in the postseason. Hitchcock, Hamilton, and Brown did whatever they wanted to them in that series.

[gunn]

The ultimate Astro killer strikes again.

Did anyone really have any doubt that Klesko would not come through?

[JPM0016]

Bagwell has had 2 great rips tonight. This one pays off

3-2 padres

[PhiSlammaJamma]

Every team we play ends up in first. Is it us, or them? This is ridiculous. But the trend is a bad one.

[Surfguy]

I've all but thrown in the towel on this season. These guys on our squad can talk a good game but they cannot play a good game with any consistency. I don't care how many stars we have on our team. Their playing uninspired baseball and they flat out stink on a lot of nights. I don't know what happened to that team that started out with so much promise but their all but gone.

It's going to take a hell of a lot more than talking a good game in interviews to get us into the playoffs. I just don't see it happening. The second half would have to be really strong for us.

I would say the winning the division is out of the question now. And, I believe getting in as a wildcard is going to take a strong second half with a lot of luck. I just don't see it happening.

Our offense just flat out stinks to high heaven. And, worse, our pitching is not getting the job done. Our bullpen is the worst bullpen that I can remember the Astros having. The only pitchers who I have any faith in at the moment are Clemens, Oswalt(who has been suspect at times), and Lidge. Pettitte is in spring training mode due to injuries. The rest of these guys...you don't know what their going to pitch like until their in the game and you see what you have. It could be good...it could be bad. :confused: It certainly won't be consistent.

I will still watch the games in the hopes that they do somehow make it but this team has no chance in my opinion. I am so pissed off at our ballclub that this is all they have given us so far...an average record with an underperforming, overpaid cast. All that talk about World Series and this is our best chance. Yeah...right...

We are a joke and I'm tired of the excuses or lack thereof.

Yes, and if we do somehow manage to pull off a miracle and squeek into the playoffs...then all you can retrieve this thread and rub my face in it all you like. I think we should make major changes to the squad after this season is over and get some younger players in here...i.e. start the re-building cause this squad isn't going anywhere as is. I would be very surprised if Roger came back and Bagwell should seriously think about hanging it up along with Kent. Maybe we can re-sign Beltran with those two guys gone but he probably will want to play for a team with a winning chance which probably won't be us for a while to come. I would be very surprised if we see this same ballclub come back next season to attempt another run.

We stink!

[rrj_gamz]

All of this losing is getting me worried...here we are, trading away a prospect and Dotel to rent Beltran, and it doesn't work...We need pitching and hitting, but with only one being addressed, we're toast...

Now I'm starting to believe the folks at ESPN and trade Beltran while we can...

[leroy420]

We need a 14-0 blowout of someone. A game that we score in every inning, not just 5 runs in one inning. Something like what the Rangers did to us on Sunday. I don't know if it will turn the season around, but it can't hurt. At worst, confidence comes back, pressure is taken off of the bullpen and the starter, and us fans quit bashing the team for a day.

[Groogrux]

We were about a foot away from turning the season around last night. Had that Bagwell bomb cleared the fences, I think that could've done it.

I'm forever the optimist, but I think tonight's the night we turn it around. They had an extra long closed door meeting where Kent apparently had some words for the guys.

[Surfguy]

Can I get a transcript from that team meeting? LOL.

[Castor27]

Originally posted by Surfguy
Can I get a transcript from that team meeting? LOL.
I'd give it to you but the filter would make it all *'s

[red]

2-0 good guys...go viz...

the turning point of the season has officially begun...

[Surfguy]

Can we have a team meeting every night?

Vizcaino 2 run homerun in the first!

[JPM0016]

Viz hits a 2 run shot into the Petco Porch

2-0 astros!

[Surfguy]

Just to be clear...that's 2 - 0 Astros.

Yep...1st man single....2nd man homerun.

The big two - zero.

Yep. Two - zip.

Two.

[red]

surf...so you're saying...two to nothing in the astros favor?

[Surfguy]

Originally posted by red
surf...so you're saying...two to nothing in the astros favor?

I can't believe it either. :eek: :D

[JPM0016]

astros bat around in the 1st inning after having Jeff Kent light into their ass yesterday. Bagwell's swing looked great last night and even though he's only had 1 at bat tonight, his swing is looking much better. Lets keep the pressure on Peavy

[hjg877]

OH MY GOD!!! THIS TEAM HAS A LEAD!!!


They're going to the World Series now!!!

[PhiSlammaJamma]

I'm just happy I can watch sportscenter again. Finally, a damn win

[Buck Turgidson]

Dammit Jimy!!! Why in the world would you start Viz at second last night? VIZ SUX!!! He shouldn't even be on the team! You've got to play the young guys, Burke is the future. Let them play!

Fire Jimy!

[DaDakota]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Dammit Jimy!!! Why in the world would you start Viz at second last night? VIZ SUX!!! He shouldn't even be on the team! You've got to play the young guys, Burke is the future. Let them play!

Fire Jimy!

LOL,

He has been playing Viz for most of the games that Kent is out.

Buck....Jimy is not necessarily to blame, but the team needs a shakeup.

Heck, look at Hidalgo...he leaves and he goes off....why didn't he do that in Houston? You have to think something was keeping him from succeeding.

I think Jimy undermines players confidence...especially pitchers.

Just my .02.

DD

[leroy420]

Can't really complain about Viz last night.

[rockets-#1]

Originally posted by hjg877
OH MY GOD!!! THIS TEAM HAS A LEAD!!!


Yeah, amazing, and the only time this seems to happen now is when Roy-O is pitching. At least him winning his last 4 starts shows something is going right. This team has gotta stop underachieving....I get so much crap for there subpar play everyday...

[rrj_gamz]

Good win...after reading the talk, I hope this is the turning point...All things considered, we're only 9 back, 3 back of the 2nd place Cubs...

[rockets-#1]

Originally posted by rrj_gamz
we're only 9 back

I don't think 9 is too bad either, but if you really think about it, it kinda is. If the Cards remain just above .500 for the next couple weeks and go say, 11-9, the Astros would have to go 20-0 to catch them! Of course the 'Stros have the second half of the season to make it up, but they're gonna have to start winning 3/4 and so on all the time. AND SOON!

[Groogrux]

Originally posted by rockets-#1
I don't think 9 is too bad either, but if you really think about it, it kinda is. If the Cards remain just above .500 for the next couple weeks and go say, 11-9, the Astros would have to go 20-0 to catch them! Of course the 'Stros have the second half of the season to make it up, but they're gonna have to start winning 3/4 and so on all the time. AND SOON!

Instead of worrying about the division at the moment, they should focus on the wild card which is only three games out of reach.