Outstanding play by Sanchez to turn 2, particularly given that he doesn't have the quickest release or strongest arm.
That's twice Bourn has hit the ball hard with two outs and a runner in SP and nothing to show for it.
Yup, 2 or 3 inches higher and it's 5-1 with Bourn on 3rd. Pence ripped a ball even harder in the previous inning but right at McGehee.
They ran a stat earlier that in his last 11 starts his ERA was 4.32 but lately it has to be better then that. His last two road starts where shaky but his last 5 or 6 home starts have ranged from really good to dominating.
Bad luck and some bad ABs have prevented us from extending the lead. The Brewers' offense has been struggling but they are always dangerous. Failing to take advantage of all these opportunities may prove costly.
Yep, the worst was this last inning, you get a runner on second with no outs and can't score him or even move him?!? That is one thing I want to see Pence improve on, he often fails to move the runner over. I want to see him be aggressive and a run producer but not sacrifice opportunities like that.
I wonder if my perception that the Stros strand more than their share of runners is indeed fact. Perhaps someone can dig that one up.
Even with the improvement since the break, it's likely that we're at or near the bottom in just about every offensive category so, without looking it up, I assume that your perception is reality.
That is good news. Wandy had the crazy home/road split just a few years ago. Hopefully, Norris can gain that same consistency the next 2 seasons... right in time for an Astros playoff push.
Actually, if you are talking purely about stranded baserunners, we leave the fewest on base in the entire league: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/stats/teamsort/regularseason/yearly/NL/HIT/EXT?&_1:col_1=12&_1:col_2=11 Unfortunately, that's probably not because we are constantly knocking in those runners. It's because we have had a bad overall offense this season and are the 2nd worst in the league at getting on base: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/stats/teamsort/regularseason/yearly/NL/HIT/EXT?&_1:col_1=11&_1:col_2=10 If you are asking specifically how we perform when we do get runners on base or in scoring position (as opposed to purely total LOB), we don't do well in those areas: With runners on, we have the 2nd worst OPS in the NL: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/38/league/nl/sort/OPS/order/true With RISP, we have the 3rd worst OPS in the NL: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/39/league/nl/sort/OPS/order/true
I know Q is slow but I'm surprised he didn't beat that out. My guess is that he didn't run hard out of the box. We've been horrible tonight at capitalizing on our scoring chances. Hopefully a 2-run lead is enough.
That's two night in a row that Mills let Q bat in a key situation, I know he provides great D but you HAVE to pinch hit there.
