Wow... Haren just schooled Berkman. You don't see Lance strike out on 3 straight pitches looking very often.
Yup, 8 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings. We're lucky to have only given up 3. The funny thing is Pence should have caught a ball in the bottom of the 1st that would have saved 2 runs early. That doesn't mean everything else would have stayed the same afterward but it would have kept it 0-0 after 1. Meanwhile, Haren has been nearly flawless other than the Lee homer.
how many freaking double plays is that, for Miggy, this year? always erases Bourn, ridiculous. that is why he should not be the #2 hitter.
Tejada hits into another DP after we finally lead off an inning by getting on base. He hasn't walked in 12 games and has only walked twice in the last month and a half. That's right... twice... in a month and a half. I think at least part of the explanation for both of those things is that he reaches for balls out of the zone regularly. He makes up for some of these issues by hitting for average. The problem is his average is likely to start coming down while his walk rate and tendency to hit into double plays will likely remain constant.
Damn Astros and their double plays...we must be leading the league between Pudge and Tejada. It seems almost all of our players are above average...when it comes to GIDP.
Description of the typical #2 hitter pulled quickly off Wiki: "The second batter, most often just referred to as in the two-hole, is usually a contact hitter with the ability to bunt or get a hit. His main goal is to move the leadoff man into scoring position. Often, these hitters are fairly quick, competent baserunners and tend to avoid grounding into double plays. Managers often like to have a left-handed hitter bat second, due to the envisioned, likely scenario of a gap in the infield defense caused by the first baseman holding the leadoff batter." Tejada can get hits but beyond that, he has no characteristics of the prototypical 2-hole hitter.
He needs to be in the 6 spot in the order, badly. bourn Kepp/Blum Berk(he's hitting like himself again) Lee Pence Miggy Pudge Maysonet -once Matsui is playing again, he goes into the 2 hole, Kepp/Blum into the 7 spot with the catcher 8th.
Backe's just sacrificing himself for the betterment of the team. He wants to give the rest of the guys in the BP a rest so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He's a hero.
How long do you guys usppose this team will keep playing below average? How long will it take to get back to the 2004 and 2005 ways? Chilcutt
Haren continues to punish us. A 2-hitter on 90 pitches through 7. On the bright side, we got 2 walks off him. Not bad considering he had only walked 11 all year coming into day and only 2 in his last 5 starts. I'm reaching, I know...
