When the Miami Marlins came to face the Houston Astros I was on a fan-high. You know what I’m talking about right? Nobody expected the Astros to sweep the Mets or take two of three from the Cardinals. I felt as if the Astros could do anything, beat anyone, conquer the world.

Turns out, they couldn’t and didn’t. When the Astros fell in 12 innings last night I felt a tremendous let down. The thing about a much improved club like the Astro is that they mess with your emotions. We go from unexpected tremendous highs to disappointing losses in a matter of a handful of games.

There are still reasons to be optimistic. The Astros are driving in runs like no tomorrow. In fact, they’ve driven in 138 runs this season, enough to land them in the 9th spot in major league baseball. Not too shabby.Overall batting average? They’re 12th with a .255. The not so good side of their hitting? Only 22 homers so far (22nd in baseball) and only 46 doubles.

When this club hits for extra bases, they win ball games. When they don’t, well, they don’t. That Mets series they won? They seriously out homered the competition. So as long as these guys figure out how to hit for extra bases they’ll find themselves in it to win it every game.

Am I disappointed that last night wasn’t a win? Absolutely. Do I think this is a team that can’t win ball games? Absolutely not.

Yep, one out of three….but what would that have been last season?

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

A note from Terri: if you sit near Greis at a game, you will know at all times who her favorite Astro is and where he is on the field, in the dugout and in the lineup. And if you let her near your daughter, she will convince your daughter to join in. But never fear, she’s no cleat-chasing fangirl….this chick knows good baseball. Consider yourselves warned! 

Recently, while talking to a friend about something sports related, he said, “Wow, you really do know your sports!”. My initial thought was “Do you know nothing about me at all?”, because obviously, and then I died a little because HELL YEAH I DO!! I was raised right, yo!

I’m a sports fanatic. I take pride in my sports love. It’s one of those pieces of me that will never change, but don’t worry, we can still be friends if you don’t like sports. However, I can’t date you if you’re a fan of the Baby Bears, the Red Birds or that NY team…I do have standards.

When it comes to my favorite teams (Astros, Texans, Longhorns)  I’m as loyal a fan as you’ll ever meet. I root for them in the best of times and I’m still there cheering in the worst of times. I live in Houston, let’s be honest, there have been a LOT of bad sports times here.

My first true (sports) love is baseball. I haven’t missed an opening day in over 20 years and most seasons I make it to more than 60% of the home games (there are 81 total). Minute Maid Park is one of my “happy places”. It’s where I feel most content and stress-free, unless the Astros are in play-off contention and then I’m a big ball of nerves. I go watch the game and forget about life for a few hours. It truly is one of the few things that makes me really happy!

As a fan you become connected to the players. You grab hold of one or two that you deem your “favorite” and you hope that he sticks around for a very long time. Sometimes your favorite will stick around forever (Craig Biggio) and other times (Lance Berkman) you’ll find yourself crying in the middle of Target (true story) as the news that he’s been traded makes its way to you.

The Astros are in a re-building stage right now. They are a “young” team, of relatively unknown players, that is still trying to find its groove. They’ve been a whole lot of fun to watch, just one month into the season, already exceeding a lot of people’s really low expectations for them. At the start of the season, last month, I was content to not have a “favorite” player. I was ready to take on all the new faces and cheer for them all equally.

My root for everyone equally mindset lasted all of one week, because that’s when I found my new “favorite” player, or as I like to call him on Twitter, #MyBaseballBoyfriend. His name is Travis Buck and I think I may have a slight obsession with him now. I was immediately drawn to his smile and his good looks, but as I’ve watched him play more intently I’ve fallen in love with Travis Buck the baseball player.

Travis is not just a pretty face. As a pinch hitter off the bench he’s contributed his fair share this season, hitting .714 in those 7 PH at bats. His overall BA is a respectable .297 and he’s a reliable outfielder whenever anyone needs a day off.

And then this happened…

and I fell in LOVE with him even more.

I’ve met a lot of ball players in my 33 years. Only a few have made me nervous. Travis can now be added to that list. You can’t tell from the picture but I felt like a giddy 13 year-old, racing heart and shaky hands included. I can only assume it’s the same way I’ll fee, times 100, if/when I ever meet Justin Timberlake.

Mark my words, Travis Buck will be a household name in Houston by seasons end, and I just hope that he always remembers the fan who loved him FIRST!

Greis Perez (AmazingGreis), pronounced Grace, is a lifelong Astros fan and contributor for Aerys Sports. You can email her at amazing_greis@yahoo.com, or follow her on Twitter, @AmazingGreis, where she professes her undying love for Travis Buck (#MyBaseballBoyfriend), Justin Timberlake and all things sparkly!

Last night I walked into Minute Maid Park to watch the first of three games between the Astros and the Cardinals excited, but nervous. There’s the deep seated rivalry that makes me yearn for a win when the red birds are the opposing team, but there was also the great desire for this Astros team to earn a little respect.

Prior to first pitch, I said to my friends sitting with me, “If we can just get through this game without embarrassing ourselves against Lohse on the mound, I’ll consider it a success.”

Turns out, even I was selling this Astros team a bit short.

In a  game full of ups and downs, home runs and errors, Jose Altuve stood out as the leader and superstar. Many will say that he won the game with his game saving double play. Many a second baseman would have just caught that ball, but not Altuve. He let it drop. Yes, let it. By letting that ball hit the ground he set up and executed the double play that set up Brett Myers to get one strike out to finish off their long time rivals.

The Astros won 5-4 and I screamed like I haven’t screamed at an Astros game in year.

Today Bud Norris takes the mound in an attempt to lead this club to their second series win in a row and a most meaningful series win against this long time rival. The Astros keep proving they have all the pieces they need to get it done, including a very intuitive infielder named Jose Altuve.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Most of the city has tuned out on the Astros this season. They are still licking their wounds from 2011 and weren’t ready to put their full heart into the team this year. Well, if you are part of that group, it’s time to tune in. While you weren’t paying attention, the Astros have gotten themselves off to a decent start.

I think what I love about Houston baseball so far this season is that it’s been impossible to predict what these Astros will do. One day I have them pegged as completely unable to hit for power and then the next….well, they’re out homering the Mets 5-0 to sweep a series. At least we can’t say they’re boring!

When 2012 kicked off its season, I said the Astros wouldn’t be dead last in the NL Central. I felt certain that the Cubs or maybe the Pirates would implode and the little team that could from H-town would sail past them.

I was wrong.

I know it’s only May 3rd, but that “little team that could?” They’re now tied for 3rd in the NL Central behind only the Cardinals and the Reds. Who would’ve guessed? I suppose Jeff Luhnow. He said early on that he thought this ball club had enough talent to win a decent amount of ball games. Looks like the hashtag #inluhnowwetrust will become a regular on twitter.

It’s only May, but this group of guys is demanding the city pay attention. The Astros, 25 games in to a 162 game season are 11-14 and seem to be gaining ground.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

If your Monday is feeling a bit drab, I have just the cure. Take another peek at the Houston Astro’s Jordan Schafer as he hits his 2nd homer of the year and his first career Grand Slam during yesterday’s game against the Dodgers.

Click it....you know you want to see it again.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Last season I bitched and moaned on and on all season long about how the Houston Astros pitching just plain stunk. Even when the offense managed to get something going and put runs on the board, the pitchers, starting and bullpen alike, just seemed to give away ballgames. I swore that if the team had good pitching, they could win ballgames.

Fast forward to present day and what do we find? We find that the pitching for the Astros has vastly improved. It’s not the best pitching in baseball, but it’s better than mediocre and it’s leaps and bounds above what lost them 106 games last year. So why are we suffering through watching loss after loss lately? Lack of run support.

The Astros have routinely been unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities. In addition, as @AstrosCounty keeps pointing out on twitter, the Astros haven’t hit one out of the park in 328 plate appearances. Sigh. Depressing, isn’t it? It’s as if once this team gets one thing going, the others fall apart.

I don’t think fans should lose hope yet. It’s still pretty darn early in the season and there’s a LOT of baseball left to play. And you have to admit, with the vast majority of losses being by only one run – this team is a hell of a lot of fun to watch. They’re “in” every game.

They’ve always got a shot….well, except last night when they hung poor Kyle Weiland out to dry. I  mean, Weiland pitched a great start (until that Matt Kemp homer) and he went longer than he ever has before, and what did his team do to thank him? Oh yeah, they stranded the bases all loaded up and primed to put them back in the game. That is a hard thing to watch.

Are they great? Hell no. Are they better? Absolutely. Will the season see more ups than downs? Yep, I think so.

Perhaps it’s time to sacrifice a live chicken to Jobu….or at least make a quick run to KFC for a full bucket.  Wait….has someone been drinking Jobu’s rum? “Hey bartender! Jobu needs a refill!”

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

The Astros baseball season has been in full swing for eleven days. It’s been eleven days of wins (4), losses (6), hits, strikeouts and everything in between. The boys from Houston have definitely kept the past eleven days very interesting and it’s been a lot of fun watching this young team play (except for the one game that wasn’t televised!) .

One thing that wasn’t so much fun? Watching the team struggle at the plate with the bases loaded. Through Sunday the Astros had come to the plate 11 times with the bases juiced and they failed to get a hit each of those 11 times. When games are being lost by one or two runs you can’t help but look back at all of those wasted opportunities and wonder “what if.”

On Monday night the tide began to turn. In the top of the sixth Jordan Schafer and Jed Lowrie both singled to start the inning and JD Martinez followed with a walk. Perfect, right? No outs, bases loaded and your clean-up hitter is approaching the plate, it’s the scenario fantasies are made of, unless you’re the Houston Astros and then it’s just scary given their recent bases loaded track record.

The scene began to look eerily familiar when Carlos Lee logged the team’s first out of the inning with a fly ball to center and Travis Buck (my baseball boyfriend) followed with a strike out swinging. Just like that there were two outs, the bases were still loaded and the Astros bases loaded hitless streak rose to 13.

They were down to their last out of the inning and the collective hope of all Astros fans lied in the hands of Chris Johnson. With a 1 – 2 count Johnson hits a line drive single to center scoring Schafer and Lowrie to tie the game at 2 and the curse of loaded bases was broken. Hallelujah!

If only the final score had been something to rejoice about as well.

Greis Perez (AmazingGreis), pronounced Grace, is a lifelong Astros fan and contributor for Aerys Sports. You can email her at amazing_greis@yahoo.com, or follow her on Twitter, @AmazingGreis, where she professes her undying love for Travis Buck (#MyBaseballBoyfriend), Justin Timberlake and all things sparkly!

As the Astros take on the Washington Nationals this week in D.C., I’ve got to wonder what it will be like for this young crop of players to take on the pitching rotation that currently has a combined ERA of 1.99, by far the best in Major League Baseball. It’s a series that I certainly don’t want to miss a moment of, do you?

The thing about a four game series is that you face all but one of the opposing team’s starting rotation. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, but when that rotation includes ERAs of 0.69, 0.90, 1.29, 2.57 and 3.38 I’m not sure there’s anyone that you look forward to hitting against.

Compare those ERAs to the Astros ERAs of 2.38, 3.27, 3.75, 4.15, and 7.20 and you’ll likely guess that this series doesn’t looking like a pitching duel. Nope, not one bit.

But there’s a silver lining to all of this. Houston’s team BA is a bit higher than the Nationals. Could that make the difference? Absolutely. Over on SB Nation Houston today I talked about the problems the Astros are having with hitting when the bases are loaded. That’s a hitting problem that the Astros HAVE to address.

But that scenario aside? The Astros bats have been pretty darn reliable thus far. With a team BA of .255, 5th in the NL, they’ve not been too shabby. Compare that to the Nats who aren’t basement dwellers either, with a .247 that puts them 7th in the NL.

This could very well come down to a series about whose bats are hot and whose aren’t.

A couple of the Houston Astros have had slow starts at the plate this season. Brian Bogusevic who was a rockstar hitter in the second half of 2011 hasn’t quite found his groove yet this season. Jason Castro has struggled at the plate as well after a pretty nice Spring performance. If either of these guys find a way to turn it back on? And if we can see Matt Downs bring back his clutch hitting prowess of the past off the bench? Watch out, because aside from the #9 pitching spot, the Astros lineup could be a serious threat to any pitcher.

Now, I’ve got a few members of the Aerys Writing Staff poking me in the eye over this series. Taunting me with the Astros of the past. Of course I find it interesting when fans of the Phillies or the Cubs are calling the Astros terrible when, if the numbers don’t lie, the Astros have had better to equal starts compared to either of their clubs.

Am I feeing a bit defensive of the Astros as they seemingly walk into the lion’s den against the Nationals? Absolutely. But remember boys and girls, this is baseball and anything is possible. We’ve seen crazier than splitting a series against the Nats. And frankly, I don’t think that’s crazy…I think it’s likely.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

You’ve seen five games of the 2012 Houston Astros now, so it’s time to start predicting the season, right? Maybe not, but it’s fun to see what you guys think.

So tell me, how many games do you think the Houston Astros will win in the 2012 season? I think you know where I stand and it isn’t with answer one or the last answer.

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Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

I want to scream “I TOLD YOU SO!” really loud from atop of Union Station, but I fear that is a bit premature. What we’ve seen of the Houston Astros is real, there’s a definite improvement in the baseball we’re witnessing at Minute Maid Park this year. I dare say this team is inspiring….hope.

At the pace they’re at now, they’d finish the season 121-41, so I it’s safe to say that the Houston 9 can’t keep THIS up, but I think the type of game we’re seeing….that will stick all season long.

What is it we’ve seen? Reliable starting pitching? Check. Relief pitchers who get the job done? Check. Consistent offense? Check. Solid defense? Check.

Have there been mistakes? Absolutely. The error-fest on Saturday night comes to mind. I think it’s to be expected that this team will see a bit of that from time to time. They are young, after all. They need to learn some lessons still and anyone over the age of 35 knows what that’s like – we learn better through suffering.

After the 2-1 series win against the Rockies I figured the pitching demise would come with the start of J.A. Happ last night. When I glanced at my scorebook during the 5th and realized that Happ hadn’t walked anyone, I could hardly believe it. I apologize to all of you for that, because I mentioned the anomaly to my dad and Happ promptly walked Matt Diaz. I take full responsibility for that one.

But that’s not to say that Happ’s start was solid. The second inning saw 4 consecutive hits resulting in 2 runs before a popup to the infield by Michael Bourn ended the suffering. Beyond that inning, Happ found a way to successfully shut down the Braves offense. With fives strikeouts during his six innings pitched, he got the the job done.

I almost don’t know what to say about this team. There’s little to gripe about which makes me have to rethink the way I write about this team. It’s a dilemma I welcome, however. It’s nice to have a smile on my face leaving the ballpark. It’s nice to wonder what the magic is that has this team of kids and castoffs playing so well.

I’ll take it. So Houston, keep Root! Root! Root! -ing for the Astros and let’s see how long they can keep this up!

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.