Wow. For those dogging Beltran, they should've seen this game. He was able to cut off Bell's double and not let it roll past him to the wall- if that ball gets by him, Thome scores, and they're still playing right now. In the first inning, Beltran broke for second and on a grounder to the SS by Bagwell, the Phillies only play was at 1st. Rather than an inning ending DP, Beltran scores on a single by Berkman. On top of that, he makes a big catch at the wall. And then he delivers a 2 out bases loaded double to take the lead. Beltran's batting average may be low, but the guy is a playmaker. He just makes things happen. Playmakers in baseball are very hard to find.
You were obviously channeling Gagne. Impressive, but wrong nonetheless. Next time you get one of these premonitions (and it arrives before the game), do let us know.
Right about Gagne, wrong about Lidge, good job overall... I don't mean to come across as snotty, and a quick second read of my post leaves me in doubt about that.
To be fair, the entire outfield was playing deep just for that very reason. It was expected that he cut off that ball, not really a great play. I'm not dogging him -- every play is huge, but that wasn't one that really stood out. Garner had them setup to stop the run.
Beltran is awesome. But one game isn't enough to show me we should commit max dollars to the guy. He's having a hard time hitting in our ballpark...it just works that way for some players in different parks around the leauge.
All Systems Go played today at the end of John and Lance's show... Stros gotta pull it out this afternoon!!
I hate to do this- but Biggio playing CF doesn't cut off that ball even while playing back at the depth. It absolutely split the gap. Bell hit it on the screws right to the gap. I'd say a little under half the starting CFs in baseball today are able to cut it off, and have enough of an arm to prevent the 3B coach to even think of sending the runner. OTOH, Wily Taveras would probably make that play with ease. Max- Beltran's home/away splits are something to behold. He's hitting .208 at home (including KC stats) vs. .316 on the road. Nearly 2x the HR on the road, an OBP of .289 (home) vs. .414 (road), and an OPS of .695 at home vs. 1.076 on the road. It's particular funny, considering when you look at the 3-year stretch, he's a slightly better hitter at home. For just the Astros at home, Beltran is hitting .175. Interestingly enough, Adam Everett hits .322 at home with a .380 OBP, and Bagwell's hitting .288 with 13 HR in 212 ABs at home. As you can imagine, their road numbers aren't pretty.
Carlos' velocity not very good so far in the 1st inning... 84-85 mph. Maybe he's just "loosening up"... no harm though, he gets out of the 1st inning with one hit given up, getting Thome to ground out weakly to 1st on a nice curveball.
Bruntlett (I think) was stealing second after Chavez struck out, and Lamb ran home. The ball bounced off the SS's glove allowing Lamb to score.
Everyone has to get off Weather's case now that he has shown the rest of the team how to throw a triple play pitch.
Carlos should go back down to AAA ball where he can pitch effectively. He's had the whole season down there to tune his stuff and he comes back up only to pick up in his awfulness right where he left off.
Nice! Astros exploded with three homeruns in the inning capped off by a Bruntlett 3 run homer. We may have a 4 game win streak. I cannot remember the last time we had one of those. Knock on wood.
And Kent with an 2-RBI, 2 out double. 12-7! Did the Astros find their offense again, or is the Phillies' pitching this bad?
