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September 2007
Saying bye to Bidge
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Five random thoughts from Astros’ 3-2 win over Braves
- A couple months agao, I had tried to get tickets to Craig Biggio’s last game of his career, which will be Sunday. I wanted to see him play at catcher, which was the plan. But the game had sold out so I settled for his next-to-last game, which was tonight. Then I found out he decided to catch tonight so I was very pleased.
- Biggio did alright behind the plate. Nothing got by him. It was really weird to see him with the equipment on again but I’m glad he got to do it. The Braves had a couple runners on in the first two innings but didn’t try to run on him, probably more out of respect than fear for his arm.
- Brandon Backe was pumped for this game, and when he’s pumped it usually means trouble for the opposing team. He lasted six innings and gave up just one run. Here’s hoping he has more to get pumped for next season.
- Backe wasn’t too shabby at the plate either. He fouled off several pitches in the fifth inning before connecting on a right-center shot to for a home run. That run ended up being the winning one.
- Lost in everything else was that Brad Ausmus got the start at second base, his first start at a position besides catcher in his career. I wonder where Ausmus will be next year. I’m pretty sure he won’t be the starting catcher for Houston. I can see him maybe signing with San Diego in a back-up role.
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Brewers beat up on no-names
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Five random thoughts from Astros 14-2 loss to Brewers
- This was like a spring-training game. When Matt Albers is one of the more familiar faces on the team, you know something weird is going on. Problem is I’m spoiled because these call-ups never have a major role on the team unless the team is out of contention. This is the first year in about five years that that’s the case.
- Cecil Cooper is basically playing for a full-time job, yet he’s asked to put these youngsters in the lineup. It’s a tough predicament for him for sure. I don’t know how this season can be a good barometer for him on whether he can lose the “interim” tag.
- Some guy named Cody Ransom started at shortstop for the Astros. He was 0-for-4 but made a tremendous jumping catch in the second inning.
- Luke Scott broke up the shutout in the ninth inning with a two-run blast. He had another hit and was robbed of another hit by an unnecessarily great play by Gabe Gross. I say it was unnecessary because the score was only about 11-0 at the time.
- I don’t know how Hunter Pence isn’t hitting at least .500. Every time I check his line, he goes 2-for-4.
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Backe loses in return
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Five random thoughts from Astros’ 5-3 loss to the Brewers
- Brandon Backe made his first start of the season and didn’t do so bad. He lasted 5.2 innings and allowed three earned runs, eight hits and three walks and didn’t strike out anyone. But he was on the road and he’s known for not pitching well on the road so if this is the worst he’ll do then that’s not bad.
- Chris Burke had a great game going 3-for-5 with a homer. He really stepped up in the ninth inning with Hunter Pence on first base and got a hit to give Lance Berkman a chance to give the Astros the lead.
- But Berkman struck out on three pitches and Carlos Lee was retired to give Milwaukee the tough win. The Brewers had a 4-1 lead and almost blew their 16th three-run lead of the year.
- Congratulations to Jason Lane, who was called up from Round Rock today. Did anyone know he was ever gone?
- Mark McLemore pitched a scoreless eighth to keep the Brewers close. His ERA is now 3.38.
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Astros take back-and-forth encounter
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Five random thoughts from Astros’ 9-7 win over the Brewers
- I wonder how much of a chance Houston would have had if Hunter Pence was healthy all season. He was already 2-for-3 when he came up to bat in the eighth inning with two outs. The Astros were down by two and Pence hit a triple to tie the game and later scored on a passed ball. An outfield with Carlos Lee, Pence and Luke Scott should be more than enough offense next year. Any manager would be stupid to mess with it.
- Cecil Cooper did some thinking outside the box today with his relief staff. Brad Lidge came in for the eighth inning, where he had to face the tougher part of the order then Chad Qualls got the save in the ninth inning. It seems Cooper’s not so concerned with the numbers and more concerned with getting the win. It’s an interesting concept and it will be even more interesting to see how it plays out the rest of the season.
- Roy Oswalt got the start and looked good for a few innings but gave up five runs in less than six innings. It was his first bad start in over a six starts.
- The Brewers blew a three-run lead, and have lost a major-league worst 15 games when holding that large of a lead. That’s really going to weigh on them in the off-season knowing that’s what cost them a playoff spot.
- One good thing about the rest of the year is we have September call-ups to watch. Guys like Josh Anderson. I was able to get his T-shirt for five bucks in Corpus Christi. And now Brandon Backe is with the squad and will be fighting for a spot in the rotation next season.
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