The Houston Astros had their chances Monday night against C.C. Sabathia and the Milwaukee Brewers but they didn’t come up with the big hits like the Brewers did. The brew crew defeated the Astros 9-3 as Sabathia threw a complete game.

Randy Wolf tossed the first four innings of the game as was pulled after giving up five hits and six runs. Wolf struckout five batters and walked three others. It was not the outing that the Astros were counting on from Wolf that is for sure. The Astros bullpen also had trouble as Doug Brocail, Wesley Wright, Geoff Geary all gave up a run in relief.

Mark Loretta, Ty Wigginton, and Reggie Abercrombie all had rbi’s at the plate for the Astros. As a team however, they left 17 runners on base and struckout nine times. They had the bases loaded late in the game against Sabathia but was unable to come up with a big hit to score more then one run at a time.

All we can hope for now is a win on Tuesday.

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The Houston Astros played another bad game as they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 8-7.  It was the third straight day that the Astros lost the Pirates and they were swept in the three game series.  Now that is a very dissapointing series when you get swept by the Pirates at home.

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.

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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!

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.

RECAP: Just a day after Astros closer Jose Valverde made a gutsy, nail-biting save, Doug Brocail got in on the dramatics. The Phillies loaded the bases with only one out in the top of the 9th inning, and defensive replacement Darin Erstad saved the day by catching a deep fly ball and making a spectacular throw to home to complete a game-ending double play, giving Houston a 4-3 win. Starter Brian Moehler pitched very well, allowing just two earned runs in his six innings of work. Reliever Tim Byrdak pitched another inning and a third of scoreless baseball, bringing his impressive streak up to 13 consecutive scoreless frames.

Michael Bourn served as an igniter, knocking a single and a double, stealing a base and scoring a run both times he got on. Lance Berkman failed to record a hit, but walked three times to help the team’s cause.  Carlos Lee stepped up and had the biggest night, going 2-for-4 and driving in three of Houston’s four runs. Houston’s other run came on Mark Loretta’s pinch-hit RBI single, which turned out to be the winning run. Ty Wigginton continued to smoke the ball as well, chipping in with a single, a double and a walk.

THOUGHTS: The Astros are getting away with a lot of mistakes right now. Despite winning the games, they’ve been leaving too many runners on base. They’ll need to work on stringing hits together if they want to have a shot at taking the final game of the series against the dominant Cole Hamels.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Lee; a single, a double, 3 RBIs and some impressive glove work.

ASTROS RECORD: 29-22 (.569)

Lance Berkman connected for his 15th home run of the season in the ninth inning as the Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants by the score of 8-7.  Berkman has been on fire all season long so far and once again he came up big for the Astros.

Berkman wasn’t the only Astros player that hit a home run however as Carlos Lee And Darin Erstad both hit home runs in the eighth inning.  Lee hit a solo home run while Ertstad’s was a three run shot.

Berkman and Erstad both finished the game with three rbi.  Mark Loretta and Lee both had one rbi as well for the Astros.

Tim Byrdak picked up the win as he pitched in relief.  Byrdak is now 2-0 on the season.  Jose Valverde pitched the bottom of the ninth inning to get his 11th save of the season.  Chris Sampson started the game for the Astros and pitched six innings while giving up ten hits and seven runs.  Luckily for him the Astros came back so he didn’t take the loss in the game.

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The Houston Astros lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Monday night.  The Astros were only able to manage five hits in the game where Daren Haren dominated them.

Chris Sampson tossed 4.1 innings to take the loss for the Astros.  Sampson gave up seven hits and five earned runs.  Talk about a terrible performance by Sampson who but the Astros in a hole that they were unable to get back out of.

Miguel Tejada, Hunter Pence, and Mark Loretta all had one RBI each.

With the loss, the Astros record is now 12-15 on the season.

The Houston Astros pitching staff couldn’t hold down Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night as the Cardinals went on to win 6-4.

Pujols hit two homeruns off Astros pitching and also had a RBI single in the game.  All that came after he and Bradon Backe got into a heated argument about Pujols slide in the previous game.  I don’t think Pujols is the kind of guy that you want to piss off before a game!

Starting pitcher Chris Sampson has had flu-like symptoms all week and only lasted four innings took the loss for the Astros. He allowed six hits and three runs and said he was drained after those four innings.  Brian Moehler, Dave Borkowski, and Oscar Villarreal all pitched in relief and all gave up one earned run.

Michael Bourn, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, and Mark Loretta each had one RBI for the Astros.

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The Houston Astros were on the losing side of a one run game on Thursday as they lost to the San Deigo Padres 3-2.  The Astros record is now 1-3 after the four game series with the Padres.

Oscar Villarreal picked up the loss for the Astros as he gave up an earned run in the bottom of the 7th inning.  Starter  Shawn Chacon pitched six innings while giving up two earned runs.

It was the lack of offense that hurt the Astros on Thursday however.  You would think they could score more then two runs off of Randy Wolf.  But Wolf held down the Astros for six innings and then let the bullpen take over.

Mark Loretta and J.R. Towels had an RBI each for the Astros.

The Astros now travel to Chicago to take on the Chicago Cubs in a weekend series.