Astros @ Pirates 7/21~7/22 Probable Pitchers 7/21 T. Redding at Pit (Fogg) 7/22 J. Robertson at Pit (Benson) Astros bats have really been swinging well. WL Hope the Astros manhandle the Pirates.
LOL...you got me there. I was watching a movie on my computer and typing. I guess i was not paying that much attention to realize that was a game against the Brewers....oops..
Actually, we're worse against the Brewers. We're 9-5 against the Piroots, 3-4 against the Brewers. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/schedule?team=hou&season=2003&seasonType=2&half=1
uh, i wouldnt classify us as being hot, or "swinging the bats well". we've been beating up on the REDS, possibly the worst team in the NL right now.. wait and see how we fair after this next stretch... The Astros have YET to prove that they can beat the teams they "should" beat....they always play down to their competition...
Beating up on the likes of Jimmy Haynes, Ryan Dumpster, Paul Wilson, et al. is a good way to pad your stats, but doesn't really prove anything. Let's see how this team performs against guys like Schmidt, Prior, Wood, and Ortiz.
Uhh... actually, that's really all they've been doing this year (beating the teams they should beat). Look at the early season sweeps of the Marlins and the Pirates. Then, they took part in the Interleague joke, by sweeping the Orioles, Devil Rays, and Rangers. And now, their play culminates in sweeping the Reds twice. If you take away their play against the Cardinals (which, is no small deal), the 'Stros have struggled against the good teams, fairing poorly against the Braves, Giants, Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, and Diamondbacks. In fact, the only bad team they've really struggled against is the Brewers... and they're 3-4 against them. Luckily, this is baseball... and it all depends on how hot you are at any given time. Thus, beating these teams will give the Astros confidence heading into their late season series against the better teams. As I see it, if they can win 1 against the Braves next week, split their 6 game set against the Dodgers, and avoid getting swept in Colorado later this year... all this while not completely falling apart against the Cardinals/Cubs.... then this is the Astros' division to lose.
6 of those 9 wins are from playing in houston. we only have 3 wins in Pirate country. CHeck this out, how we really own the Reds...something they should do anyways, since its a bad team. But anyways... Pouring it on A look at how the Astros have dominated Cincinnati this season: · Won 10 of 11 games. · Have two four-game sweeps. · Outscored Reds 25-2 in first inning. · The starters (Jeriome Robertson, Roy Oswalt, Ron Villone and Wade Miller) in the four-game series at Cincinnati are a combined 20-0 vs. the Reds.
Prior was just placed on DL. He may come back for a Sunday start against us, but it's unlikely. But if he did, what a matchup, eh? Prior v. Robertson! Hopefully Prior will still be on DL though.
Actually, the Astros are the one team that Prior's struggled to beat in his career. We rocked him earlier this year at MMP for 5-6 runs, and he faced us fairly often last year in his debut season, only winning 1 of those starts. Then again, maybe he's "due". Nonetheless, the Astros will be worried about the Cards more than the Cubs.
Astros @ Pirates 7/21-7/22 Let's see if we can keep this train rolling Astros report: Inside pitch July 21, 2003 The Astros took control of the NL Central race with their dominance of the Cincinnati Reds. They won 10 straight against the Reds, including four in a row over the weekend at Great American Ball Park, and scored their eighth series sweep of the season. They also took care of business in other ways Sunday. 1B Jeff Bagwell got the 399th and 400th home runs of his career Sunday. 2B Jeff Kent, who had come off the disabled list four days earlier, hit a home run. And RHP Wade Miller looked sharp, allowed three runs (two earned) in 5 1/3 innings and striking out nine. He is 5-0 lifetime against the Reds. The Astros would appear to be in position to add to their lead this week. They have two-game series at both Pittsburgh (which just traded its closer, Mike Williams) and Milwaukee (suffering through another long season) before heading home for a three-game showdown with the Cubs. Kent's homer Sunday was his first since June 18. He was out of the lineup with tendinitis in his left wrist since from June 19 until he returned from the disabled list Thursday, started two consecutive games, then took Saturday off. In his first game back, Kent went 0-for-4 and made a diving catch on a grounder that took a wicked break on him in the eighth inning. "It went all right," Kent said. "Everything went well. I didn't hurt it today. I thought I swung the bat well. I'm anxious to play again. I was anxious to get back out there. I was a bit anxious in some of my approaches, but that's to be expected."
Tonight's starting lineups: For the Stros: Biggio CF Blum SS Bagwell 1B Kent 2B Berkman LF Hidalgo RF Ensberg 3B Ausmus C Redding P For the Pirates: Lofton CF Kendall C Giles LF Ramirez 3B (I HATE this SOB) Stairs RF Sausage Whacker Simon 1B Wilson SS Nunez 2B Fogg P Go Stros!
He's played SS several times. I guess Jimah is maximizing the healing time for Everett's hand, and it's a good way to keep Ensberg's bat in the lineup without benching Blum. Edit: Am I the only one who saw this coming? Any time anyhing goes wrong for Redding, be it an error, a bloop hit, or a ball bouncing off his foot, guy goes into a meltdown. Down the stretch, a guy with that mentality is just frightening.
Munro looks decent, except for one thing, the way he brings his arm behind his back before he delivers the pitch. I see arm trouble in his future. BAGS-401!!! 5-2 the comeback is on!!! Put on those rally hats!!! Kent hits one out, back-to-back!!! 5-3!!!
