Today was a bad day all around for the Astros tonight. First, Roy Oswalt left the game after the first inning with his hip bothering him again. Then, the Astros got pummeled 10-0.

Right after Oswalt left, Chad Paronto came in and gave up a two-run homer to Ron Belliard of the Nationals. He gave up another run in the 3rd inning to end his night.

After a couple strong showings, Dave Borkowski went back to his old ways. He gave up 7 runs in only two innings. Just when you think our bullpen could turn into a strong point, they blow up.

There wasn’t too much on the offensive side of the game for the Astros either, the only strong points were Carlos Lee and Kazuo Matsui each had 2 hits.

I wish there was more to write about on this game, but really it’s embarassing to even write this entry. I hope this game sends a strong message to Ed Wade to wake up and realize this team is not built for the playoffs. I know that Oswalt got injured and that had a lot to do with the loss, but something needs to change. On the radio this morning Wade said he doesn’t think the Houston fans want to start rebuilding. News flash Ed, it’s not up to the fans, it’s up to you. Rebuild and be competitive in a couple years and you will have more fans. Right now people are just losing interest in this squad, and rightfully so.

Maybe we will wake up tomorrow and find a headline about some major roster moves. Atleast we can dream…

Well Oscar Villareal has been placed on waivers with the intention of giving him his outright release. This bothers me in so many ways.

We traded for this guy over the winter, and before he even threw a pitch for us we signed him to an extension worth over 3 million. He comes in and pitches horrible for us, and we kept him on the roster until July with an ERA over 5.00. Ed Wade wanted him to go down to the minors to work on his stuff so he could come back and help the team later. Maybe he just didn’t like the Astros organization, and if that is the case he never should of agreed to the extension. Players like him make me sick. he got paid millions even though he couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark half of the time. Has anyone seen the amount of homeruns he gave up for us? If you didn’t know, it’s 12 HRs allowed in just over 37 innings of work. And this guy thinks he deserves to be in the majors right now?

Now the Astros are forced to pay the remainder of his contract even though he will not fulfill his contract with the Astros. Seems ridiculous. In my opinion if you are performing that poorly and the team asks you to go down to the minors to work on your mechanics, you should not be able to refuse that, no matter who you are. Much less if you are Oscar Villareal. Which what has he ever done so great to get this attitude?

How does everyone else feel about this guy?

There are some rumors out there that some teams are inquiring on the availablilty of Mark Loretta and Darin Erstad. In my opinion I wouldn’t mind giving up either or both of those guys if we got some pieces that could help us next year. It would take a miracle for the Astros to turn things around this year, although it is possible, so I would like to see some young guys come in for our veteran players.

I have also seen some stories about the Angels scouting Miguel Tejada. I don’t know if there is much truth to that rumor, but it would be odd to see Wade give up on Tejada so soon. Of course, the Angels are loaded with prospects, and getting some of those instead of paying Tejada’s hefty contract could be nice. I still like all the intangibles that Tejada brings to the team.

Some other good news is that Ed Wade has said that the team has put an offer on the table for first round pick Jason Castro. It would be nice to get him signed and in the minors. The guy I really hope we can sign is high school pitcher Ross Seaton. I think he is a great prospect, and from what Wade is saying, both sides want to work a deal.

Our first round pick in 2005, pitcher Brian Bogusevic out of Tulane, has been converted to an outfielder. He got sent down to Salem from Corpus Christi to work his way up. He just could never get it going as a pitcher. Brian was surprised by the move, but evidently the front office has been thinking about making the switch for awhile. So far so good though, as he went 1-1 with an RBI and a walk in his first appearance as an outfielder.

Since his arrival as GM, Ed Wade has never been one to wait to make his moves. I would bet that we could see some minor trades in the next week or so, so stay tuned!

Well the Astros pulled one out against the Pirates tonight after disappointing losses in the first two games of the series.

Before the game the Astros activated Kazuo Matsui from the disable list by designating Chad Reinke, who was only called up for barely a day.

Now on to the game…The night started off great with a three-run homerun from Geoff Blum, who was starting at shortstop to give Miguel Tejada a day off. Brad Ausmus provided an RBI single later in the first to make it 4-0 after the first.

Brian Moehler had a decent start, giving up 4 runs over 6 innings. Pitching through the 6th inning gave the Astros exactly what they needed. The Astros rewarded Moehler with 2 runs in the top of the 7th on a Hunter Pence groundout and a Kazuo Matsui double. This proved enough to give Moehler the victory, as he moves to  5-4 on the season.

Chris Sampson had another strong showing out of the bullpen, pitching two scoreless innings to get it to Jose Valverde for the save.

Another good sign from the game is Michael Bourn went 2-5. If he can start hitting with some consistency, this offense could really pick it up. When this team hits, there is no doubt we can contend. With our pitching. though, we need the offense to be rolling all the time, which is hard to expect.

Some other news is that Oscar Villareal does not want to accept his assignment to AAA Round Rock. The Astros have until Friday to either release or trade him. We’ll see what Ed Wade will do about that.

Everyone say a prayer to the basball gods that someone sends us an ace for our rotation…

The Astros lost 4-3 tonight in a 6 hour game, which over 3 hours of it was waiting out the rain.

Brandon Backe had a strong start, allowing no runs over 4 innings before the rain started. In the top of the fourth Hunter Pence smashed a homer over the center field fence to go up 1-0. After coming back from a two and a half hour rain delay, Carlos Lee hit a 2-run homerun in the fifth inning. Unfortunately, since the long delay, Backe was unable to continue pitching. As far as offense, that is all the Astros would muster.

The Pirates got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Nate McLouth hit a homer off of Dave Borkowski. Then in the 8th inning Doug Brocail came in to try and get the hold, but could not finish the inning. He gave up a solo homerun to Adam LaRoche, and then lost the lead by giving up a bases loaded single to Nate McLouth. Jose Valverde had to come in the finish the inning. In the ninth inning the Astros couldn’t do anything to save the game when Miguel Tejada grounded out to the pitcher with Michael Bourn on second base.

It was tough loss to swallow for the Astros, as they had a lead the whole game and through all the rain delays. This team needs some sort of shakeup, because these kind of losses add up and take a toll on a team. I know winning makes a lot of people happy, but what happened to the happy-go-lucky Astros of May? They used to look like they enjoyed every minute of their job, but not anymore. Let’s hope Ed Wade can do something in the next couple of weeks to get this team going in the right direction.

Two days after Milwaukee acquired C.C. Sabathia from the Indians, the Cubs have traded for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from Oakland.

The Cubs sent Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, and Josh Donaldson to the A’s in return for the two pitchers. I don’t know too much about Donaldson, but he is supposed to be a quality catching prospect. I think this trade is pretty lopsided in favor of the Cubs, with the only risk the Cubs are taking is that Harden stays healthy. I’m surprised Oaklands GM Bean would take so little. I thought he wanted a bounty almost as much as he got for Dan Haren. If Harden can stay healthy the Cubs have a great 1-2 punch in him and Carlos Zambrano for the next 2 years at least.

The recent trades of the Brewers and Cubs has to make the Astros think about their plan going forward. The Cubs will stay good for awhile, but the Brewers seem to be trying to win this year, even if they lose Ben Sheets and Sabathia next year. In my opinion, I believe we should stop thinking about this year and focus on building for the future. Even if we made the playoffs this year, and that’s a big if, I can’t see us making it deep.

The Astros need to do something to keep up with their division rivals because the Cardinals are still good, and the Reds are only getting better. It would be nice to see some good trades before the deadline. We made some this winter to try and win now, and that hasn’t worked. It is time for plan B.

Hopefully I’ll have a nice game review to write tonight, stay tuned…

On a day when the Astros needed a big start from Runelvys Hernandez , because of the 17 inning game on Sunday night, they got just the opposite. In only 4 innings Hernandez gave up 10 runs on 13 hits and 4 walks.

In the top of the first Carlos Lee hit a 2-run homerun, followed by an RBI single by Ty Wigginton that put the Astros up 3-0 early. That lead did not last long as Hernandez gave up 4 runs in the bottom half of the first on four straight singles. After giving up two more runs in the second inning it looked like the Astros were done. In the top of the fourth the Astros came roaring back with four runs to take a 7-6 lead. Hernandez helped himself out with an RBI bunt single and Lance Berkman came through with an RBI double to headline the inning. What little hope that inning brought was crushed mintues later in the bottom of the fourth when Hernandez gave up another 4 runs to end his night.

Neither offenses did much after the first four innings. Recently called up Chad Paronto came in and threw four shutout innings in relief, giving up one hit and issuing one walk. If there is any positives to take away from this game it would be the strong showing of Paronto.

Kazuo Matsui should be coming off the disable list today, and my best guess would be that Runelvys Hernandez will be sent back down to AAA. He has shown some good stuff, but he needs to work on being consistent. His fastball has reached 96 mph on the radar, so I hope he can get it together and be a solid back-end rotation guy for us sometime.

Here’s to hoping Brandon Backe can come through tonight with a good start, because if he doesn’t, his future doesn’t look to bright either…

The Houston Astros ran into a buzz saw in the name of Hiroki Kuroda on Wednesday night as Kuroda pitched seven scoreless innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Astros 4-1.  The Astros just couldn’t get anything going against Kuroda.  When they did score a run in the bottom of the ninth inning it was a little too late to make a difference.

Cliff Lee hit a solo home run in the ninth inning for the Astros only run.  There really isn’t anything else to blog about on the offense.

Runelvys Hernandez dropped to 0-2 on the season after pitching five innings and giving up six hits and four runs.  Hernandez struck out four batters but gave up a two run home run as well.  Dave Borkowski pitched two scoreless innings while Tim Byrdak and Chris Sampson both pitched one scoreless inning each.

The Astros will need to win on Thursday to salvage a split in the series with the Dodgers.

Astros Blog

The Houston Astros lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 in 11 inning of action on Tuesday night.  Astros relief pitcher Wesley Wright gave up a solo home run to Jeff Kent that proved to be the game winning hit and run for the Dodgers.  Wright took the loss for the Dodgers and is now 3-3.

Wandy Rodriguez started on the mound for the Astros and pitched five innings.  Rodriguez got the no decision after giving up six hits and five runs while walking four batters and giving up one home run.  Oscar Villarreal gave up one run in the sixth inning as he pitched in relief of Rodriguez.  Tim Byrdak and Geoff Geary pitched three combined scoreless innings after Villarreal left the game.

Ty Wigginton had the big hit for the Astros as he hit a three run home run in the sixth inning.  Hunter Pence had a rbi single in the first inning that scored Michael Bourn.  Carlos Lee got into the rbi column with a rbi double in the seventh inning but that would be the Astros final run of the game.

Astros Blog

The Houston Astros only had six hits in the game but they made sure that they all meant something as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers by the score of 3-1.  Roy Oswalt pitched six innings and limited the Dodgers to only one run in the game and the offense did just enough to get the victory.

Oswalt gave up a rbi sac fly in the first inning to James Loney of the Dodgers but after that he settled down and when he had to he worked his way out of all the jams he got himself into.  Oswalt struck out nine batters over six innings of action.

Chris Sampson, Wesley Wright, and Jose Valverde all pitched in relief of Oswalt.  Valverde ended up picking up his 22nd save of the season.

Brad Ausmus led the Astros at the plate as he delivered in the fourth inning with a two run single.  Prior to Ausmus’s two run single, Mark Loretta had a rbi single in the fourth inning.  Lance Berkman hit his 22nd home run in the first inning when he took Eric Stults deep.

Astros will now try to go up 2-0 in the series on Tuesday night.  Astros Blog

** We should mention that Roy Oswalt left the game after six innings, but no reports have been released as to what kind of injury it is **  Let’s hope it isn’t to bad and he can make his next start.