The Astros were able to knock out Pirates starting pitcher after only three innings but they just couldn’t take advantage of the Pirates bullpen. Mark Loretta led the Astros at the plate with two rbi and then five others had one rbi each. Kazuo Matsui, Lance Berkman, Hunter Pence, Brad Ausmus, and Geoff Blum all recorded one rbi in the game.
Brian Moehler started the game for the Astros and really sucked it up as he only lasted 2 1/3 innings. Moehler gave up nine hits and six runs and got a no decision in the game. Geoff Geary ended up taking the loss and is now 2-2 on the year after he gave up three hits and two runs in two innings of action.
So now the Astros will be off on Thursday before they start off weekend series with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers have been playing some great baseball, so the Astros are going to have to bring their “A” game if they want any chance at winning a game.
]]>Valverde gave up two home runs and two run single in the ninth inning. He was also charged with two more runs when Freddy Sanchez hit a three run inside the park home run off of Tim Byrdak. It sucked that Valverde sucked it up so bad when the other pitchers didn’t throw the ball that badly.
Runelvys Hernandez pitched the first 5 1/3 innings in the game and got the no decision. Hernandez gave up two runs on eight hits while walking two batters and striking out three others. Geoff Geary tossed 1 2/3 innings while Doug Brocail tossed an inning of relief. Geary and Brocail both did not allow a run score as they threw the ball good.
Carlos Lee led the Astros at the plate as he had two rbi singles in the game. Brad Ausmus also had a rbi double to contibute. The Astros just didn’t get the big hit at the plate as they had plenty of base runners on in the game. The Astros stranded 30 runners on base and struckout nine times. That is just not getting the job done when you need to come up with a big hit.
]]>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…
]]>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.
]]>However, the Brewers managed to rough up Brandon Backe early and send him to his third strait loss. Backe has been hit extremely hard in his last three starts, going 0-3 with an 8.40 ERA. The Brewers combined for a total of 5 homeruns against the Astros struggling pitching. The Astros now lead the league in surrendering long balls to opposing teams.
Wednesday’s game also feature some fireworks when both Cecil Cooper and catcher Brad Ausmus were tossed from the game for arguing a series of very questionable calls from first base umpire Angel Campos.
Note: The Astros most recent call-up Reggie Abercrombie took advantage of his first time being inserted in the starting lineup going 2 for 4.
Next Up: It doesn’t get any easier for the Astros as they go up against Milwaukee’s ace Ben Sheets (6-1) in Thursday afternoon’s rubber match. The Astros will be sending Brian Moehler to the hill (3-2) to counter.
]]>Besides Tejada’s two rbi, Lance Berkman and Brad Ausmus both had two rbi as well. Berkman and Ausmus both hit two run home runs in the game to account for their rbi’s.
Brian Moehler started the game for the Astros and tossed five innings. He allowed eight hits and three runs to get the no decesion in the game. Oscar Villarreal pitched 1/3 of an inning to record the win and Jose Valverde notched his tenth save of the season when he shut the Giants down in the ninth inning.
Giants Homeplate is currently seeking a Giants fan that would like to write game recaps for the games. Recaps can be done right after the game is over or the next morning. If you are interested be us the contact us link at the top of the site to email us. Giants Blog
]]>Jose Valverde blew the save and took the loss for the Astros as he gave up all four runs in the bottom of the 9th. Pinch-hitter Chris Snelling hit a leadoff homer in the 9th, and Chase Utley was hit by a pitch. After Ryan Howard struck out, Pat Burrell tied the score at 3 with a two-run homer to right.
Geoff Jenkins then struck out but made it to first as Brad Ausmus wasn’t able to control the ball. Pedro Felix then hit the game winning double that score Jenkins from first base. Just a terrible way to end the game for the Phillies.
Starting pitcher Shawn Chacon had pitched eight strong inning of scoreless baseball and was in line to pick up the win before all hell broke lose in the 9th inning. Great performance by Chacon, hopefully next time he will be able to get the victory.
Miguel Tejada, Geoff Blum, and Hunter Pence had the three RBI’s for the Astros.
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