Yeah, that's some good managing right there. (Me giving Coop props after criticizing him for not pinch hitting Towles for Ausmus in game 1.)
Great win.....we'll be seeing alot of these kind of games this year (as long as guys like Peavy and Young aren't pitching). Lance has really come to play so far vs. last year's dismal start.
Berkman gave Valverde a high five! Berkman gave Valverde a high five! Berkman gave Valverde a high five!
The good that came out of this game: clutch hitting Berkman is making 07 look like a fluke Geary is looking solid Blum is looking like a solid bench player Wandy had 6 Ks and 1 BB the bad that came out of this game: Wandy 4 ER and 8 H in five innings Valverde gave up a run in a tie game Towles and Borne havent gotten their groove at the plate yet
Valverde's pitch is laser-like. It just zips on a straight line. Good job by him tonight. He turned it up a notch when he had the lead. Jose Cruz, JR. was a great pickup. He's got power and discipline at the plate that is everyday starter worthy. What better place to rejuvinate his career? Let's hope this gets the offense going.
You missed one of the bad things: The Astros can't get rid of Bumkowski fast enough. He is a guy where you don't even need to look at the stats to know that he sucks. As bad as our farm system is supposed to be, I guarantee there are 4 or 5 guys that would be better than him in relief. I can't wait to see him gone. I actually hope he is terrible for the first couple of weeks instead of fooling anybody. He sucked last year and he still sucks this year. He will always suck.
I was about as pissed as I could possibly be when I was sitting there and they played those the damn Trevor Hoffman "DONG ..... DONG" with 2 outs. Man am I glad the good guys pulled this one out. I feel so much better going into the game tomorrow and it makes going back to work oh so much easier. Thank you Big Puma!
Interesting to note that Geary's appearances Monday night and tonight were eerily similar. 3/31 - 1 IP; 2K; 14 pitches; 9 strikes 4/2 - 1 IP; 2K; 14 pitches; 11 strikes
I couldn't agree with you more. A couple of years ago he had one or two really great 5 or 6 inning long relief performances in some insane extra inning games after we had used all our other pitchers, and he's been overrated ever since. He never really has pitched well consistently the last couple of years.. He should be the pitcher of last resort/mop up guy. Instead he gets thrown out there during meaningful situations. It frustrated me when Garner continued doing it. I just hope Cooper doesn't do the same thing.
