Two comments: 1) Please take Bagwell out of the two hole. That's just stupid. He has only one hit batting second and that one should have been ruled an error. I'd rather have anybody on this team except Ausmus hitting second instead of Jeff. 2) Mike Gallo is not a situational lefty. He actually pitches better against righties. He should never ever be brought in to just pitch to a left handed batter. Unfortunately, that's how Jimmy has been using him of late.
How about Kent not being able to grab a ball between himself and the bag. Thought he was supposed to be leading the charge. Clearly this team doesn't care anymore. Someone needs to come in and clean house. What's Davey Johnson doing??
Just think as terrible as the Astros have played in the first half they are still only 4 games out of the Wild Card. The division title is gone but they still have a shot at the Wild Card.
I disagree. At this point in his career, Bagwell is ideally suited for the 2-hole. He draws a ton of walks - even with his batting average dipping, he is still maintaining a near-0.400 OBP. He's nowhere near the power hitter he once was, but will still get 50 extra-base hits this year. The only mark against him is that he strikes out an awful lot, which I still would take given his other numbers. Theoretically, this team should be scoring runs in bunches. After a hot couple of weeks, Biggio's OBP is up near 0.370. Combined with Bags' 0.390, Beltran, Berkman, & Kent should continue to get ample RBI opportunities.
a) Those throws, especially the first one, were dying by the time they got to Viz; b) Ausmus is horrible at blocking the plate, seems like he fears contact at times; c) It's Ausmus's job to tell Viz whether to cut it or not.
Downright sad. Our offense tonight consists of Beltran, Ausmus, and Pettitte. We need this all-star break to start fresh, hopefully. Pettitte is pitching extremely well, I hope we can reward him for this...to their credit, Weaver can have pretty nasty stuff.
An 8th inning run? Palmeiro bloop double, Biggio bunts him over, and Viz drives him in with a single. Nice execution. Lidge in for the 8th/9th (we hope)...Bagwell in as a defensive replacement for Lamb, and Beltran out(?!?!) with Lane in center. Beltran apparently has stiffness in his knee from fouling a pitch off.
Lidge IS our bullpen.... Lidge IS our MVP so far.... Lidge has all the guts of the warrior that Dotel (see tonight's game: Oak vs. Cleveland) never had. Lidge... Love it.
That DP was THE play of the year...and judging by the players reactions that could (hopefully) turn the season around...
While that play was amazing (my heart is still racing from it)... you can't overlook Pettite's best start of the year tonight. Until that homerun, he was flat-out dealing to the hitters... and hopefully this will help propel him into his much needed routine, and he can finish out this season strong. Let me say it again, though... Lidge is amazing. why he'll revolutionize our closer position: a.) he WILL start to pitch 2 innings if he has to... wagner was never effective at that. b.) his unhittable slider. c.) he's shown more guts and moxy in his first few save opportunities than any other first-time closer I've seen in the modern era.
Pettitte was fantastic...I'll go to war with him, Roger, and Roy. Lidge is gutsy...I don't like the idea of the guy going 2 innings consistently (you can't ask a guy to go 2 innings 3 nights in a row), but it's good to know he can. The announcers talked about what a nice play Bagwell and Lidge made, but man, the footwork by Everett on that DP was absolutely fantastic. Shawn Green is a pretty speedy guy- 30/30 a couple years ago, and with lame shouldered Bagwell starting it, it was not an easy play to turn. And kudos to Viz for hanging onto the ball off that absolutely PERFECT throw by Ausmus...Bradley went in cleats up- didn't look like the cleanest play to me. I wonder how things would've happened if that had been Kent taking that throw- words for sure. Huge, huge, huge.
I was behind home plate. I thought Lidge was going to blow it for sure. Alot of the Dodger's fans were booing the strike calls during the bottom of the 9th as well. To be honest, as feral as LA fans are, there was some merit to their complaints. Some of those strikes could have easily been called balls and a run might have been walked in. Also, I booed Ventura when the Dodgers trotted him out. I'll never forget when he charged Ryan on the mound. Glad to have the Dodgers fans jeering at my stros hat as I walked to the car but man...I'm missing Wagner...
