great inning...Ensberg is really in a slump right now. When he's on, that was easily a grand slam. He had some very hittable pitches. He'll get it back soon I hope. Add his production back in w/ Lamb, Berkman, and a hot Preston and we start winning a lot more ballgames.
Great job by Nieve tonight ... Looks like he is well ahead of Buchholz to me for keeping his spot when Clemens returns.
He would be great in the bullpen too.....he had a very live arm. Bucholz looks like he needs another pitch....does he only have 2? DD
Phil said in the post game interview that Ensberg did jam his shoulder on that dive at the foul ball, but that he didn't think it was too serious and that basically they'd treat him as day to day.
Man it's SOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo nice to be winning again. Games are now fun to watch again. Oh, and did I say LAMB IS ON FIRE!
Just got back from the game tonite. What a different feeling when the Astros are winning again. Even everett got a hit.
No, but I have a weird thing where I stay mad when my team is on a losing streak until they get back to .500 again. (From their losing streak) Don't try to rationalize it.
Biggio gets the day off after the night game... Berkman's wife just had a baby (plus, his knee could use the extra rest)... Ensberg is hurt... and Willy T sucks. After considering all of that, this lineup makes some sense.
I'd leave Willy out if he was batting 8th... complaining about Everett, when he bats 8TH but plays GG defense, is a waste of time. I'd also start complaining about Buchholz.... I'd like to say its as simple as the league "figuring him out", but his location is just HORRIBLE on some of these pitches. Its one thing to make subtle adjustments in your pitching patterns to throw guys off, but Buchholz just can't throw the ball where he needs to... that's a problem.
Yeah, he is not close to ready, they need to send him to AAA before it causes scars to his pyschy and delays his development. DD
Well he seems to be doing a lot better today; 6th inning and only 4 runs given up. Considering the lineup he might've been screwed with giving up 1 run. But yeah he's been too up and down. When he's locating his pitches though, he's damn good, but he just can't hit his spots consistantly enough right now. I'm betting he's the odd man out when Clemens and Oswalt return; Nieve and Wandy are too solid to demote. Then again, if you're trying to bolster the bullpen, who would you rather have in there, Nieve or Bucchholz? Mmmmm I still stick with Nieve as a starter. I'd rather have all 5 guys in the rotation that are capable of giving quality starts on a consistent basis. Besides, the bullpen has been quietly improving it seems.
