Is this where I play the reverse psychology card?!? Seriously, leaving him in looked a lot like leaving him in against the Angels earlier this road trip when he proceeded to give it up and leaving Wandy in last night one inning too long (yes, Wandy had "help" from Luuuuuke, but still....)
Top of the tenth inning will lead to another Garner rant about not executing in crucial situations. I'm sure the team loves hearing that from their manager. I sure hope they pull this one out. If you're only going to win one game in a series, make it the last one. Go stros!
It never fails... another "first HR of the year" by an Astros opponent. So now that White should never see the mound again... should Borkowski (who's been WORSE over the same amount of time) be taking a hike as well?
This team is a joke, what a bunch of losers. I am going Friday and I hope my all time favorite baseball player gets his 3000th hit. After that I might go on a 2 for 2 Tuesday if Roy is pitching or if I get great free tickets. Go Texans Go Rockets! Astros trade away everyone not named Roy O, Lee, Berkman, Pence, Sampson and Backe (no value for him and he has a chance to help). Roy, Lance, Pence and Lee are your cornerstone potential all star players every year. Sampson and Backe are two young guys on the cheap that can help fill the rotation for years to come. Ok, Loretta, Jennings, Lidge, Wheeler, Burke, Qualls and maybe Lamb can fetch you some decent prospects to help rebuild the farm system. Scott is probally worth keeping and the rest of the garbage aint getting us anything in return.
I hate this team more after every game. I think I'd take the "Bad News Bears" over this team. We could use that chick pitcher and Kelly...the biker dude...to crank some balls. LOL.
actually, that was pretty merciful. time to just enjoy baseball sans the pennant chase, i think. i'll love chasing 3,000...and always love a day at the ballpark, in general.
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/...t_id=2052161&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou MILWAUKEE -- Manager Phil Garner described his closed-door meeting with general manager Tim Purpura and the coaching staff Wednesday morning a "good, open exchange of ideas." But clearly, they weren't sitting around talking about how neat it is that Carlos Lee is on the cusp of becoming the all-time home run leader among Panamanian-born players. No, there are bigger issues to deal with. The team entered Wednesday's series finale in Milwaukee with a 32-45 record, good for fifth place in the National League Central. Purpura finds all of this "unacceptable." And changes are coming. Soon. "With the way we're going?" Purpura said. "Certainly. This is unacceptable. You can't keep going like this." Changes may not be made as early as Thursday, when the team returns to Houston for an 11-game homestand, but Purpura isn't ruling that out. And he shouldn't, considering the team is nearing the halfway point of the season and hasn't come close to establishing itself as a contender. "We're sorting through the possibilies," Purpura said. "I'm not going to stand around and watch us play this poorly. It's not right to the club, it's not right to the fans. "But what you can do? I don't know. You look in the [Minor League] system, move some guys on, try to make some trades. We'll look at all of that and see what's possible." The biggest issue currently plaguing the Astros is the bullpen, which allowed 32 earned runs over 20 1/3 innings, for an ERA of 14.19, in the first eight games of the road trip. Purpura is clearly dismayed by the recent results, but in some ways, he's not all that surprised that the bullpen is struggling. "I still go back to the loss of [Brad] Lidge being a key component to what's going on here," he said. "Guys are forced into different roles, roles they might not be familiar with. I think that's a big part of it." Lidge was placed on the disabled list last week, not long after he regained the closer's job he lost to Dan Wheeler early in the season. Lidge's injury forced Wheeler back to the closer's role, while Chad Qualls, Rick White, and, in Garner's words, "et al," were expected to share the setup duties. Simply put, the disarray has created somewhat of a mess. "[Lidge is] a guy that we counted on in the seventh and eighth innings for the better part of two months," Purpura said. "He did his job tremendously and he worked himself back in the closer's role. [His absence] hurts us a lot, whether he's the ninth-inning guy or the seventh-or-eighth-inning guy. It's a loss." Purpura also hinted that Chris Burke will be worked into the mix once Craig Biggio reaches his 3,000th hit, which should arrive in the next few days. Purpura senses Biggio's revamped playing schedule will be a transition, but it's somewhat obvious he's going to play less in the second half of the season. "We'll play it as he goes," Purpura said. "If he's contributing to the club, he'll play. If he's not, he won't -- at least, not as much. Everyone realizes we need to find out what Chris Burke can do at second base, what our options are in the future. [Biggio will] be in the mix, but I would think it won't be to the same extent. "It'll be a transition. [Biggio] is a guy, too, that if he's on the bench and you need a pinch-hitter, he's a pretty good pinch-hitter to have." Speaking of Lidge: Lidge threw aggressively during a long-toss session prior to Wednesday's game and will throw a bullpen session Thursday. The closer is hoping to come off the DL prior to the All-Star break, but he also understands it wouldn't make sense to push himself just to have an appearance or two prior to the four-day layoff in mid-July. "If I'm feeling pretty good but not great, it probably doesn't make sense," he said. "But if I'm feeling really good, then it might not be a bad thing to get in a game or two before then, be able to rest for four days and come back full strength. We'll have to wait and see." Coming up: The Astros will return home Thursday to begin an 11-game homestand that will take them into the All-Star break. Right-hander Roy Oswalt (7-5, 3.55) will take the mound for the Astros in the series opener with the Rockies, who will counter with right-hander Aaron Cook (4-5, 4.93). Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Don't mean much when you're lacking in offense and/or bullpen. Obviously, if I had to choose one, I'd choose top-notch pitching from top to bottom. If Tim is serious about change, I assume that means calling up some of the guys in AAA who may (or may not) do a better job than the guys here right now. I'm talking mainly about Estrada. Similiar circumstances (being nearly dead in the water) are what led to the club calling up guys like Qualls, and trading for Wheeler, in the first place.
If you can't enjoy a day at the ballpark, regardless of how your team is doing, you just aren't alive. I look foward to nothing more that a day at a Round Rock game or the occasional Astros game that I get to make. I wish I could be there this weekend to see Biggio's 3,000th in person. I'm still hoping to make it for Bagwell's jersey retirement. I'm just not harboring any hopes of a 2nd half come back like the previous few seasons. There is just something missing from this team. Go Astros!
