Funny how at the start of the season, Yahoo Sports named him as the "player most likely to disappoint" on the Astros team. Everyone was suggesting that his numbers had dropped because he wasn't on steroids anymore. Great to see him prove people wrong, he ROCKS
I really don't like that Villareal was warming up right there. Bring him in with the bases loaded and a 4 run lead and the game will be tied withing 1 pitch
Backe battled today against a tough lineup. You have to tip your hat to his performance (assuming you're wearing a hat..).
We should see many a game this season where we seem to have a comfortable lead only to let the other team back into it pretty quickly. We got lucky in the top of the 6th. We also got lucky in at least 2 other innings this game. We need to find some better pitchers or this season is doomed.
Did you watch the 1st, 2nd and 6th innings? Backe got lucky or bailed out on several occasions. The Astros are very lucky the Brewers only scored 2 runs. I will not tip my hat to his pitching today. I will tip my hat to his solid at bat that ended with a HR. Unfortunately, that is not what he gets paid to do.
He left the game with a 6-2 lead. He could have allowed big innings, but he didn't. It's not merely that he "got lucky." He maintained his composure and didn't allow a big inning despite not having his best stuff today. Did you see the way that he battled Fielder in the 6th? Compare his performance to Parra's. Parra looked more in command early on, but the wheels came off after the homeruns and he didn't recover.
Villareal has a lot to do with him not giving up any big innings. He helped him out big time in the 6th. Parra is also 5th in their rotation and Backe is our #2. The good thing about Backe is that he can bounce back from bad situations but he did get lucky today. The Brewers hit a lot of balls hard but Tejada and Pence made some great defense plays. There were also at least a couple of fortunate double plays. Backe was bad today. For the third time this season, he walked at least 5 guys. It really speaks volumes about the weakness of our starting rotation that Backe is our #2. On most average pitching staffs, Backe would be no better than a 4th or 5th starter and more likely in the pen.
Wigginton seems to take at least one awful swing during every at bat. He also seems to overswing more often than not. I'm not sure if that is why he always looks off balance at the plate or if he just has poor balance independent of his overswinging.
With a 4 run lead, it is ridiculous to walk a strike out machine like Braun with nobody on. If he hits a long ball, so be it. Don't just give him a base.
