Oh no, don't get me wrong - the entire staff does scare the crap out of me. When I wrote that post though I was only looking as far forward as tonight.
Come on Stros. Dang, Ensberg is just something. I really wish Bags will wake up and be like he was the first few weeks into this season.
was at the game last night, 16th row, directly behind the plate, AWSOME seats, could throw a empty $7 beer plastic cup and hit Drayton if I wanted to.. the combo of Lidge,Dotel,Wager to close out games, gotta be the best combo in the MLB, D-backs didnt even get close to hittin anything they threw.. BTW, how do the d-backs win any games with the lineup they throw out? you got Gonzo, who isnt the Gonzo of old, and a bunch of no-bodies!
Lidge needs to be starting. Having a great bullpen is overated...STARTING pitching and closing are the 2 most important things. We already have Dotel as a setup man...we do not need a hoss like Lidge in middle relief. DD
normally, i would agree entirely...i'm not so sure...this astros team is WEIRD! i mean the leading pitcher in wins is Dotel, the setup man! that's just freaky. starting pitching hasn't been very good...or very consistent...and yet we're 1/2 game out of first. I'm not sure that having a bullpen isn't every bit as important as having a solid starting rotation...particularly given that so few teams do have solid relievers. I'm still working through this idea...the current Astros have my baseball logic going screwy.
Having a good bullpen may not be as important as good starters, but having a dominant bullpen is. There is no way to know how Lidge would fare as a starter at this point (actually, you could probably assume that he wouldn't do as great due to both conditioning and him only having two pitches at this point...which has been pointed out ad nauseum everytime someone brings up Lidge starting), whereas you know that keeping him in the bullpen essentially turns the game into a six inning one (you can't expect Dotel to go in there and pitch two innings every night). It would be downright idiotic to mess with our bullpen right now.
I have to disagree, for one reason only: Jimy Williams. Captain Hook is so quick to pull his starters that a dominate bullpen is a must. Dierker was just the opposite, and could get by with just Dotel and Wagner.
What is the deal with this chick in the booth? We have to listen to her yack on and on about marathons, t-shirts...etc. Couldn't they do this crap before games?
That stuff is annoying, but it's pretty funny listening to Milo tune up his "dirty old man" routine every time a young lady appears in the booth. Dude completely takes his focus off of the game to get his flirt on.
Why the hell was Wags pitchin!!!! He just had a daughter born im sure he was up all night.Sometimes wait ... all the times (Just Kidding) Jimmwy makes me wonder
Sigh. Villone comes out of nowhere (New Orleans) and gives us the best start we've had in awhile, and our offense can't do better than a Jeff Kent solo HR. Wags could not get a break. Gonzo chipped an 0-2 pitch into the front of the Crawford Boxes. Then a broken bat double that barely hits chalk. Then a broken bat single, a near perfect throw from Hidalgo, and Ausmus didn't block off the plate.
On the replay it looked to me like Ausmus didn't get a glove on the ball. I think he trapped it between his arm and chest protector, knew he didn't have time, and tried to bluff it. It didn't work. If I was Wagner, I wouldn't even be at the park tonight.
Well my plans got changed, I am going to the Thursday game instead. I'm not sure where I am sitting but it will be in the section behind the D-Backs dugout.
Villone had a damn good night of pitching and then Wags comes in and gets hammered. Damnit.....I thought we were going to win this one. Oh well, I guess Wags cant be mr. automatic when it comes to saves...he is human.
Not to toot my own horn, but I was right. Diamondbacks rough up Wagner Two-run 9th spoils shutout, mars closer's eventful day By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Billy Wagner could have remained at home with his two boys or at a local hospital with his wife, Sarah, who gave birth to the couple's first daughter Wednesday at 12:50 a.m. His in-laws arrived in Houston at about 6 p.m., so he handed off his two young sons and headed to work. Wagner arrived at Minute Maid Park in the first inning Wednesday night, and when they called him in the bullpen eight innings later, he requested the ball. On the mound, however, the proud papa was shaky. Called in to preserve a shutout, Wagner blew a save for only the second time this season as the Astros suffered a 2-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, evening their three-game series heading into the finale tonight. "It's my job to come here," Wagner said after giving up a leadoff home run to Luis Gonzalez, a double to Robby Hammock and an RBI single to Quinton McCracken. "It's my job to close out games. There's nothing I can do at the hospital." For the record, Olivia Wagner, who weighs seven pounds and five ounces, and her mother were in good condition. Wagner, who had converted 16 consecutive save opportunities since April 19 and 20 of 21 tries overall this season heading into Wednesday, took over with a 1-0 lead in the ninth. "He wanted to be in the game, and he was the right guy to be in there," Astros manager Jimy Williams said. "They're human beings. He gave up an opposite-field home run to tie the game. You tip your cap to them. They swung the bats today in the ninth and got the hits. It's a one-run game, and anything can happen." Gonzalez greeted Wagner by depositing an 0-2, 100 mph fastball into the Crawford Boxes. "Gonzo hasn't hit (57) home runs (in 2001) because of luck," Wagner said. "The guy can hit. The ball I threw him was down the middle, and a home run is a home run. Whether it's 450 feet or 316, it's a home run." Hammock followed Gonzalez with a double down the left-field line. Wagner struck out the next two batters, but McCracken drove in the go-ahead run with a single to right field. Richard Hidalgo's throw to the plate beat Hammock, but Hammock got his foot in safely before Brad Ausmus applied the tag. "He was safe," Ausmus said. "He was safe mainly because I never had control of the ball. It was caught between my forearm and my chest." The blown save wasted a strong start by lefthander Ron Villone, who was called up from Class AAA New Orleans on Monday. Villone limited the Diamondbacks to five hits and two walks while getting six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings. Brad Lidge added two-thirds of an inning of relief, and Octavio Dotel retired the side in order in the eighth to hand Wagner the 1-0 lead. Until then, the leadoff home run Jeff Kent hit to left in the second inning stood as the only run before a crowd of 30,031. With the loss, the Astros fell 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. The Astros just couldn't muster much offense against rookie righthander Brandon Webb, who gave up only three hits and one run with a walk and five strikeouts over six innings. "Their guy pitched a hell of a game," Jeff Bagwell said after going 1-for-3. "It's the first time we've seen that kid. He has good stuff. He has a very good sinker, and he throws a lot of strikes. "We had a 1-0 lead going into the ninth, and that was the good thing. But Wags is human, and Gonzo's a pretty good hitter. So these things happen every once in a while." Lidge relieved Villone after Lyle Overbay's single put men on first and second with one out in the seventh. Arizona manager Bob Brenly responded by sending in Dave Dellucci to hit for Chad Moeller. Dellucci flied out to left-center field, putting the ball just deep enough for Hammock to tag up and advance to third. After McCracken drew a walk to load the bases, Lidge struck out pinch hitter Carlos Baerga. The Astros countered with their own unfulfilled threat in the bottom of the inning against reliever Mike Koplove. Hidalgo hit an infield single to third, and Jose Vizcaino followed with a single up the middle. The threat stalled with Ausmus' fielder's choice grounder to short and died on Orlando Merced's grounder to third. Two innings later, the Diamondbacks jumped on Wagner. And he refused to make excuses a day after he collected a save in a 4-3 victory over Arizona before rushing to the hospital. "Actually I felt worse (Tuesday) than today," he said. "I think it's an excuse to say you're tired, because there's not a guy out here that's not tired. Really, I just made a couple of bad pitches. "There's nothing I can do at the hospital. My in-laws had my other two boys. There's really not much I can do. My job is here. That's what puts food on the table, and that's my obligation." With that said, Wagner rushed back home. ----------------------------------------- Too bad.
