Houston sends Brian Moehler to the mound for his first start back from the DL.
Stros starting 9:
Matsui
Bourn
Berkman
Lee
Tejada
Pence
Rodriguez
Keppinger
Moe
Hopefully by some miracle Brian Moehler can go deep in this game.
Houston opens up a 3 game series with Atlanta today.
Here is your starting 9:
Matsui
Bourn
Berkman
Lee
Tejada
Pence
Blum
Rodriguez
Hampton
Should be interesting to see what kind of reception Hampton gets in Atlanta.
Let’s go Mike!
Let’s go Stros!
Let’s go Lance!
Houston will start a 3 game series with Atlanta starting tomorrow afternoon.
Here are the probable pitchers:
Game I
Mike Hampton LHP (1-1) 3.86
vs.
Derek Lowe RHP (2-1) 3.10
This should be a good pitching match up. Hopefully Hampy can have a solid start and our offense will kick it in to gear.
Game II
Roy Oswalt RHP (0-2) 3.94
vs.
Jair Jurrjens RHP (2-2) 1.72
I’m calling it right now. Roy O will get his first win.
Game III
Wandy Rodriguez (2-2) 1.69
vs.
Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1) 4.26
Can Wandy keep up his torrent start?
We win the series if: Lance Berkman finally remembers how to hit. If their pitching keeps doing what they are doing then it is pretty much up to our offense.
We don’t win the series if: our offense doesn’t support our starting pitching. With Valverde out for possibly three weeks, Houston needs their starting pitchers to go deep into games and try and minimize the bullpens activity. The best way for this to happen aside from their starting pitching throwing well is Houston’s offense to put some runs up.
My prediction:
Houston takes two of three. Hampton will toss a good game but I don’t think our offense is ready for Lowe right now. However, Roy and Wandy are going to pitch well and our offense is going to hit well enough to get 2 wins out of the series.
Houston 9-13
Atlanta 10-11
Alyson Footer gives some personal insight to the game against the Braves today in her blog, including photos of Jeff Bagwell in uniform chatting with Lance Berkman and John Kruk.
She also talks about Roy Oswalt and his future battery mate Brian McCann on Astros.mlb.com.
Jose de Jesus Ortiz writes about the pressure on the shoulders of Michael Bourn.
Finally, Big League Stew asks where in the world is Craig Biggio.
The Astros fell to the Braves today 8-7 after their bullpen coughed up the lead.
From Astros.com
Stros at the plate: “Jason Michaels and Miguel Tejada recorded doubles off Jorge Campillo in a three-run first inning. Chris Johnson produced a third-inning sacrifice fly and then added an RBI double off Mike Gonzalez in the fifth inning”
Stros on the mound: Pretty much, Roy: “Oswalt made a successful exhibition season debut, allowing two runs and one hit in three innings. Two of the four strikeouts he recorded came at the expense of reigning National League batting champion Chipper Jones. ”
I caught some of this game in between classes at school today. When I tuned in, the bottom of the 7th or top of the 8th, Houston was up 7-2 and Arias was on the mound. He pitched really well and had a 1-2-3 inning. Apparently after that Atlanta scored four off of Sergio Perez and two off of Gilbert De La Vara.
Jose de Jesus Ortiz has some nice insight to Roy and Brandon Backe’s performance: ”
“Oswaltstruck out the side in the first inning and gave up two runs over three innings with four strikeouts Thursday against the Braves. At a time in camp when starters are limited to one or maybe two innings, the veteran righthander tossed three innings and 53 pitches.
“I’m ahead of last year by a lot,” he said. “Everything feels pretty good. The ball was a little slick today. But everything felt pretty well. I’m way ahead of schedule from last year, for sure. I think I started earlier and it helped out a lot.
“To go out and throw 50 pitches your first outing is pretty good, especially getting up and down. That’s the biggest thing. You can throw 50 pitches before you come, but if you do it consistently it’s a little different than getting up and down, getting up and down, getting up and down. Today was good. You get to go out there three different times and get loose. I felt pretty well.”
In his only start before heading to the World Baseball Classic, Oswalt held the Braves to one hit, a two-run home run by David Ross in the second inning.
He walked one batter, hit another and threw 34 of his 53 pitches for strikes, finishing with a 94-mph fastball for a called third strike on Chipper Jones. He also struck out Jones in the first inning on a changeup, a pitch he has worked on this spring.
“It’s feeling better,” he said. “I’m getting a little more confidence in it.”
Jones was impressed with the changeup, saying, “The bottom fell out of it.”
That is exciting stuff about Roy.
Coop on Roy, Backe, and Arias: “Roy and Brandon both looked very, very sharp,” Cecil Cooper said. “Roy in particular was crisp. I saw a lot of life on his fastball. He actually threw some very good breaking balls too. He had some pretty good motion. And he looked like he was pretty close to midseason form.
“I thought Brandon pitched pretty well. He kept the ball down and he used his changeup. He was just going to throw fastball, changeups today. I thought Brandon threw the ball pretty well too. I was impressed with Arias too.”"
Stros at the plate : “Jason Smith put the Astros on the board first, driving in Darin Erstad with an RBI triple in the fifth frame. Michael Bourn knocked a double in the sixth to drive in Drew Sutton. Mark Saccomanno tripled to lead off the seventh and scored when center fielder Roger Bernadina overthrew home plate after fielding Humberto Quintero’s fly ball. Reggie Abercrombie drove in two with a double later in that inning, and Chris Johnson knocked a solo homer in the eighth”
Stros on the mound : “Mike Hampton turned a rough beginning into a solid outing, allowing no runs over two scoreless frames. He hit the first batter he faced and walked the next two to load the bases, but he struck out Austin Kearns and coaxed a double play from Jesus Flores to end the inning. Russ Ortiz, a fifth-starter hopeful, allowed one hit over two innings”
Sounds like Hampton got off to a shaky start but settled down. From JJO of the Houston Chronicle, Hampton on his own performance and Cooper on Hampton:
“My arm felt good,” Hampton said after throwing two hitless innings. “My body felt good. Obviously location wasn’t where it needs to be, but all in all I felt good out there. Pitches and location will come. I got through with no hits, no runs. It wasn’t pretty at times, but I got there.”
“Mike seemed to be just a little bit tentative early, missing the zone a little bit,” Cooper said. “But then after … the first three (guys) he started to pitch a little bit and was real sharp. Russ, I thought, threw the ball really well.”
Apparently Hampton’s start was delayed due to the governor of Florida running late.
Houston’s Spring Training Record 1-0-0
So far so good.
Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence all sat out of today’s game. Berkman, Tejada, and Lee will all play tomorrow.
Here is the lineup Cooper used for the game today:
Matsui 2b
Bourn cf
Pence rf
Blum 3b
Michaels lf
Erstad dh
Boone 1b
Smith ss
Towles c
Houston will play the Atlanta Braves tomorrow at Disney starting at 1:05 ET. Roy Oswalt will make the start.
