Definitely a weird game... only two hits were from the first two batters of the game, their SP leaves with a shoulder injury that was causing him to pitch differently (weird changeups, palmballs, and pseudo-knucklers) that may have actually thrown the Astros' lineup all out of whack, and has them struggling in a 2-1 "pitchers duel". At least Wandy has another quality start (which is very impressive against this Brewers team in their park).
Man, our bats have been pretty quiet lately. They need to wake up. This isn't how we need to start May.
I like the move by Gar. He gave Wandy a chance to get through 7, but he gave up a hard single and took him out. Wandy will stay at 4-0 with another quality start. He didn't have his best command, but battled through well.
Biggio just can't get it going on the road... and only Berkman is still swinging a good stick in this lineup right now (he provided nearly all our runs in that Cincy series). All year, they've had somebody hitting along with Berkman... whether it be Wilson or Ensberg. The x-factors (Willy T and Lane) also still need to be more consistent. I'm still far less worried about the offense this year... they all know their roles so much better.
Outside of the 10-0 pasting they put on the Dbacks & the Dojers game (he left leading 6-2), his other 4 starts have all been 1-2 run games while he was in. Jobu, Dakota, Jobu. Must respect the deity.
Biggio FINALLY gets an extra-base hit on the road, and he gets thrown out stretching a double to a triple in the 8th inning... go figure.
I've been disappointed in Lane. Whenever you think he's going to turn a corner, he ****s it up, and begins his blazing streak of batting in the low 200's :|.
Damn... looks like the Wheels are comin off... but pitchers should get B. Hall out of his comfort zone by rattling his cage a little bit. Looks way too comfortable in the box.
The power will be there... and the encouraging thing is the amount of walks he's already drawn (only 10 away from the total he reached last year).
I'm starting to buy more and more into the WBC theory. All these "lapses" in control shown by Lidge, and now Wheeler, clearly show that these guys don't have anywhere close to the sort of groove they normally would have had if they had gotten regular work in ST (instead of the random appearences they got in the classic).
