The rivalry between the Astros and the Cardinals runs deep. For many years these two teams dominated the NL Central. This season, there’s been no doubt which team has taken the lead as the Astros have struggled. But tonight the ‘Stros seemed to find steam in that old rivalry and pulled off a 10th inning 5-4 win to keep the Cardinals chasing the Braves in the hunt to see postseason play.

Matt Downs, who had another outstanding night at the plate, contributing a 2 run homer in the 4th, said after the game, “There’s more Cardinals fans here than Astro’s fans. It’s good to shut them up.”

Indeed it was good to stun the numbers Cardinals fans. But it was a night of back and forth with St. Louis getting on the board first in the third inning when Matt Holliday singled to send David Freese across the plate.

The Astros countered quickly when Barmes scored on Wandy Rodriguez sacrifice bunt. And then the Astros followed that with Jason Bourgeois doubling to left to send JR Towles home to put them up 2-1 at the end of 3.

The bottom of the fourth would see Downs 2 run homer putting it at 4-2 until in the 5th John Jay scored on a GIDP by Freese. Astros still led 4-2. The scoring went quiet until the top of the eighth when Albert Pujols singled, Matt Holliday walked then stole 2nd base and Lance Berkman came to the plate. He was set to bat left, so onto the mound came Wesley Wright, forcing Berkman to bat right. The switch hitter proved his dominance in Minute Maid Park by doubling to shortstop sending both Pujols and Holliday home. The game was tied at 4.

The next inning was scoreless and sent the game into extras. The top of the 10th saw Adron Chambers line out, Yadier Molina double on a fly to center, Theriot singling, but with Molina being thrown out at 3rd and finally, Theriot was caught stealing second to send the Astros to the plate.

Brian Bogusevic hit a well placed fly to left giving the Astros a lead-off double to start their 10th. Jason Bourgeois with the sac bunt was able to get on base thanks to an error by pitcher, Octavio Dotel, as Bogie advanced to third. The Angel Sanchez gave a walk-off bunt to seal the game 5-4.

Oh what a night! The excitement off a walk-off (the Astros’ 8th of the season), the ability to make the postseason a bit further away for an old rival, and a win to guarantee no sweep in their last home stand were all highlights.

On a pitching note: Mark Melancon pitched two amazing innings in the 8th and 9th despite knowing his wife was being induced at 10:30pm local time. He headed off to the hospital as soon as his 9th was over. We wish him and his wife, Mary Catherine all the best for a healthy and happy baby.

What a great night of baseball. Does anyone remember a last week of the regular season that was quite this exciting???

One final note – If you go back one post, you’ll see that Drayton McLane thinks Astros fans have no objection to moving the team to the AL and how you can contact him and let him know what you think about taking the Astros out of the NL.

Friday night the Astros fell apart against the Diamondbacks leaving hope-filled fans devastated. Losing a 6 run lead was a painful thing to watch and losing that 7-6 crushing. Follow that with a painful beating where the fans had no hope from almost the very start. Saturday night’s final score? Diamondbacks 11 and Astros 3. Yep, painful.

Is Sunday the day that the Houston Astros find a little balance? After going out Friday night with guns blazing they fell apart. On Saturday they were stagnant until a too-little-too-late rally in the ninth. I’m hoping that today is the day they figure out that slow and steady wins the race. Pitch like we know you can, hit consistently, stop ground balls when they come right to you, make good throws, run the bases aggressively, and please-oh-please could someone hit a long ball? » Continue reading “Astros Sunday – Is this the day?”

I could have imagined the Astros getting a win thanks to several batters, but J.R. Towles would not have been on that list at gametime today. After a 0-32 slump, Towles proved to everyone today that the slump is over. He went 3-4 at the plate this afternoon at Minute Maid Park, the final hit being a walk-off  single to lead Houston to it’s first back to back series win. Congratulations, J.R. Your timing is impeccable!

My favorite part of the scene at the end of the game was that the first person to reach Towles on the field was Batting Coach, Mike Barnett. I’m sure the encouragement and excitement in that exchange was fierce!

There were other great plays in the game – » Continue reading “0-32? Not Anymore! JR Towles Comes Alive to Give the Astros Another W”

It’s been about eighteen hours since the devastation the Astros experienced in Atlanta yesterday afternoon. I’m still not over it, but I’ve calmed down enough to at least talk about it. Okay, scream about it really. If nothing else came out of that game we learned one thing, this club has problems top to bottom.

I propose that with all areas falling apart that the Houston Astros get back to basics. Perhaps we should all start at page one in Baseball for Dummies? Don’t worry, skipper, there’s a book for you, too- Baseball Coaching for Dummies is also available. Now, I don’t really think these guys are dummies, but I do think it’s time to revisit the basics.

Wandy pitched a beauty yesterday, proving that he’s settling into this season and is becoming a dependable guy to start games. In 8 innings pitched he allowed 5 hits and no runs, walking two. Wandy deserved a win.

A win was not to be, however. Everyone’s been blaming the bullpen, and they have often deserved the blame. You can make an argument that Melancon let the game slip when he was one strike away from ending it and instead took a homer off the bat of McCann. But I think the offense blew the game. » Continue reading “Astros Bookclub? A little light reading.”

This morning someone asked me, “Can the Astros be fixed?” It’s a good question. The club is going on a handful of years of less than stellar performance, so it stands to reason that some repairs and renovations are needed and I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone. But can it be done? I think it can. Will it happen soon? I don’t think so.

Why do I think the Astros can be fixed? There are several reasons.

#1 -The farm system has been struggling in recent years and although it’s not in tip-top shape as of right now, there are indicators that things are moving in the right direction. If you look just at AAA OKC, you’ll find a few pretty decent players. Jordon Lyles is the guy that’s gotten the most press and he definitely has big league potential. There’s one heck of an arm on the RHP and he’s been performing rather well in OKC (with the exception of yesterday’s rather rocky start). As April ended he was 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA with 19 Ks and 6 BBs in five starts. He threw 13 consecutive scoreless in innings in just two of those starts and he leads the club in innings pitched. Then there’s Koby Clemens. Koby’s .284 BA, 5 2B, 5 HR, 18 RBI in 20 games in April are nothing to sneeze at. He leads the Redhawks in homeruns and RBIs while playing mostly at 1B this season. Then there’s Carlos Corporan who has managed to throw out 7 of 12 attempted basestealers and has only had 1 error in 17 games that he’s caught this year. So there’s some talent up the road in Oklahoma. And if you know anything about minor league ball it’s that talent in the farm system is imperative if you want your big league club to improve. So although there needs to be more money siphoned into the draft budget and it still needs building, the farm system is improving. This is a great indicator that the Astros can and will improve with time.

#2 – Brad Mills and Ed Wade are not afraid of making changes and making them quickly. We’ve seen it all season as he keeps tweaking the lineup, the starting rotation and the bullpen. For example, Angel Sanchez is still getting playing time even with the return of Clint Barmes because Sanchez earned it while Barmes was on the DL. Also, despite Mills’ hopes that Nelson Figueroa would improve on last year’s reliever stats when moved to the starting rotation, he didn’t and Mills didn’t hesitate to move him back to the bullpen. After a couple of poor showings as relief, the team designated Figgy for assignment yesterday and is bringing up Sergio Escalona to fill his void. Escalona will join Abad as the only other lefty in the bullpen. The bullpen will, I’m certain, see more changes in the near future as it’s been a major downfall in recent weeks. At least 8 games have been lost specifically because of the failed efforts of relief and closing pitchers. This is an area that needs major renovation and fortunately is an area that is relatively easy to change on the fly during the regular season, so there’s potential improvement that can come from the bullpen.

#3 – Completion of the sale of the team is reportedly imminent. According to KTRK, the ABC Houston affiliate, all that’s left for Drayton McLane and Jim Crane to do in order to finalize a deal that will result in the Astros selling for an estimated $680 million is to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Bear in mind that even when that part’s over, the MLB owners will have to approve Crane, and the word on the street is that it won’t necessarily be smooth sailing. We can anticipate a couple more months with McLane at the helm. But, a sale is still on the horizon. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – with a new owner will probably come big changes. Will we see those this season? It’s not likely as I expect he’ll get some input from Ed Wade as far as any acquisitions Wade’s wanted but hasn’t had budget approval for, so we’ll likely see a small amount of movement in the 2011 season, but I think if Crane’s in place before the draft we could see aggressive spends in that department. It won’t result in overnight wins, but will effect the longterm health of the club.

So be patient Astros fans. The team will get there. It won’t be this season and it may not be next season either, but there’s change a-coming. The Astros can, and hopefully will be fixed.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Reporter for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Some days I feel like all I do is complain about the Astros. I suppose I’m entitled since they’re off to a rough start this season (12-17) and odds are it will be a long season for those of us who still consider ourselves fans. So, it seems that while they finally managed their first series win against the Brewers and with last night’s 10-4 win v. the Reds they have a 3 game win streak going, it’s a good time to reflect on what we, as fans, can cheer about this season.

#1 – You get your pick of seats at Minute Maid Park this year and there are great deals to be had. Since the club is struggling, there are great ticket deals being waved in fans faces, ie All You Can Eat Tickets, $2 Powerade Tickets, Price Matters Days and the like. I don’t remember there ever being a better season to get deals good enough to take the whole family to enjoy the National Pasttime. And no matter how badly the Astros are doing, no one can question that MMP is a beautiful ballpark to spend an afternoon or evening with your family. Nothing is more fun to me than spending a day with the weeone teaching her about a sport I love. She’s come to love it too and has formed her own opinions. There’s nothing quite like your nine year old telling you what she thinks Brad Mills needs to tweak in the lineup for a professional baseball team to have success. Those are the fun moments as a parent.

#2 – Brett Wallace. Seriously, did anyone expect him to hit the way he’s hitting? During Spring Training he tied for 2nd in the Grapefruit League for RBIs (18) so we got a little taste of what this boy could do, but since 4/7 of this year he’s leading the NL batting .463. He started out batting 6th, then Mills moved him up to 5th and last night while Carlos Lee was still nursing rib contusion from Sunday’s collision with Angel Sanchez, Wallace batted cleanup. Now, many questioned whether such a green player would cave under the pressure there, but Wallace rose to the occasion going 2-5 with 2 runs and his 2nd homer of the season. He’s now on an 11 game hitting streak. I wouldn’t call that caving under the pressure. Now, we’ve seen a month of baseball at this point and the sample size isn’t so small that we can’t start to see trends and although I don’t expect him to keep hitting over .400, I think B-Dub will be quite the spectacle to watch at the plate this season. Kudos to Mills for pushing him up the order.

#3 – The team will likely get a new owner before the All-Star Break. It’s no secret that there’s one bidder for the ‘Stros and it’s Houston’s own Jim Crane. Crane was the guy who tried to buy the Astros once before and then tried to buy the Rangers with Mark Cuban, so he’s a man on a mission. It’s been revealed in recent days that he’s the only one currently in negotiations. I say this is something to cheer about not because Drayton McLane’s a bad guy, but because he wants to sell. A guy who wants to unload a team isn’t going to be as interested in said team. A new owner is going to want to put his mark on the organization and although the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know, in this case, can it get any worse than the situation the club is in right now? Losing team, not a ton of talent in the farm system, no influx of good pitching. Change can sometimes be a good thing, so let’s embrace it.

#4 – Bud Norris. Pitching is not the Astros’ strongpoint, but this guy has great potential and seems to just keep getting better. The 26 year old right handed pitcher has 6 starts this season with a 3.03 ERA which is one of the best in the National League. In his 35.2 innings he’s thrown 43 strikeouts and hitters are only managing a .237 batting average against him. He keeps improving and I think we’ll see some amazing games from him this season. I think this is a guy we’re going to see in an Astros uniform for quite some time to come and I really look forward to it.

#5 – Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence in the outfield and at the plate. All it takes is one game at MMP to discover that these two outfielders are crowd favorites, and for good reason. Michael Bourn is a two-time Gold Glove winner and plays his heart out. He goes hard in the outfield for every ball, climbing Tal’s hill when needed – a feat that should be commended. And he’s not too shabby at the plate. With a .274 BA and 11 stolen bases, he gives fans the excitement they crave at a ballgame. What’s better than a stolen base? It’s just plain fun to see. Pence gives the team the same consistency at the plate (.292) and he leads the club in RBIs with 21. To answer what’s better than a stolen base? Seeing a player run home. Hunter Pence at bat is the Astro’s best chance of that. So whether they’re diving for balls in the outfield or holding a bat, these two guys are a joy to watch.

And if none of that is enough, just remember you can always enjoy the Taco Bell Sauce Packets racing around the infield – Go Fire!!!

***As this is posted, Aneury Rodriguez (who HAS to have the nickname The Aneuryism) has completed his first major league start. Remember when I recommended Mills use him as a starter instead of Figgy? He completed the 5th inning with the Astros  leading 2-0 and he looked pretty darn good. 83 pitches, 5.0 IP, 1 H,0 R, 1BB, 3 SO -4.15 ERA – Keep it up Aneury and you just might be another reason for Astros fans to cheer.

Go ‘Stros!

We’ve all had a night we wish we could forget. Last night was one of those nights for the Houston Astros. No matter how hard they fought to get themselves back into the game (and fight, they did) nothing was good enough to get anything going leaving them at the end of 8 1/2 innings with a 7-13 record. Tonight, they hit Miller Park again in the hopes of turning things around in this series. This particular ballpark has been trouble for the Astros for sometime. Today, word has it that the weather has improved and the roof will be open for gametime at 6:10pm CDT.

On the mound for the Astros, Brett Myers (1-0, 2.39 ERA). It’s worth mentioning that the Astros are 2-2 in games where Myers was the starter but both of the losses should have been wins – the bullpen let him down. The Brewers will send out right handed pitcher Shaun Marcum (2-1, 1.90 ERA). This should be a great duel of pitching and I don’t expect we’ll see the innumberable hits and runs that came out of last night’s game.

Here’s the rest of the Astros Lineup for tonight:

CF Michael Bourn

SS Angel Sanchez

RF Hunter Pence

LF Carlos Lee

1B Brett Wallace

2B Bill Hall

3B Chris Johnson

C Humberto Quintero

RHP Brett Myers

To have any hope of survival tonight, the Astros will have to play infinitely better than they did last night. They need to be firing on all cylinders.

1- Brett Myers will need to pitch the way we have consistently seem him since he came to the Astros and the bullpen has got to settle down. Last night the bullpen allowed 11 hits, and 8 runs, 7 earned runs. That’s just not good enough to win ballgames. The good news is that with Brett starting, odds are he’ll go well into 6 innings and we’ll see less of the bullpen.

2- The lineup is going to need to be more productive at moving runners around the bases. The 14 hits they acheived last night would have been a lot more impressive if they hadn’t only gotten 7 runs out of those hits. Marcum’s a tough pitcher to come up against and so far this year, batters are hitting only .209 against him. With only a handful of left handed batters in the Astros lineup (Bourn, Wallace, Inglett) right handed pitchers usually have the upperhand.

3- The middle of the lineup – Lee, Wallace, Hall – need to hit with power tonight. The fact that the Astros have fewer home runs (9) than anyone else in the MLB is the direct result of the power hitters not performing to date this year. Playing small ball has gotten them nowhere. It’s time for the bats to come alive!

4- Fielding has to be perfect. Error-Fest 2011 needs to come to an end. The Astros have had 21 errors so far while opponents have only had 10. Making bad plays and bad decisions results in bad endings.

Can they fix those four things tonight? Yes. Will they? That remains to be seen, but I sure as heck hope so!

The game’s not even over as I write this. The Astros are down 14-6 in the top of the 8th and you may say I’m a naysayer for deciding this game is over, but I like to live in the real world. The Astros don’t recover in 2 innings from an eight run deficit. Not this year’s Astros, that’s for sure. *** And sure enough, no recovery happened as the ‘stros lose it 14-7.

This game has not just been painful, it’s been long. Nothing like a horrible game that will not end, but I suppose if you’re a Brewer fan it’s a great game that keeps on giving. The list of things that went wrong tonight for Houston is long, too long. I’m not even sure where to begin. The pitching was bad. The hitting was bad. The defense was bad. There were times when I wondered if I had accidentally changed the channel and was watching a little league team. Oh, and “the Brads”, Arnsberg and Mills, were both ejected in the 2nd inning when Arnie made comments about the homeplate ump’s calls and Mills trotted out to defend Arnie. I had hoped that Mills’ absence would be as helpful as it was when he served his 1 game suspension and the Astros won, but alas that would not be the case.

Remember when I said that Angel Sanchez should stay around a while? I stand corrected. The way he’s been missing double plays and having his own little “Error-Fest 2011″ (he’s managed 5 already this year), coupled with the fact that his hitting is declining as the season progresses (.274) makes me long for Clint Barmes’ return. Fortunately, Barmes is going to start rehabing in the minors on Monday, so we won’t have to wait long to hopefully see some better defense played at the middle infield. Although Sanchez didn’t have an error tonight, both Bill Hall and Carlos Lee did. There were missed opportunities everywhere.

Shall we talk about the pitching? I know I keep railing on Figueroa, but tonight’s 6 earned runs (2HRs) in 4 innings along with 5 walks just proves my point. Mr. Mills, how long will you let this continue? The bullpen wasn’t any better allowing an astounding 11 hits and 8  runs. It was just ugly all around. The Brewers were hitting hard and consistently, scoring in 6 of 8 innings they took the plate.

Michael Bourn hit well tonight, going 3-5 with 1 Run and 1 RBI. He’s now at .319 on the season. Bourn also added a stolen base to take his season total to 9. Brett Wallace (.313) is finding his groove going 3-5 with 1 Run and 1 RBI. Bill Hall almost got a homer when he hit one that barely missed clearing the wall, allowing him a triple. We also saw Carlos Lee manage a double. But regardless of that hit, Lee’s still only hitting .225. I cannot for the life of me figure out why he’s still hitting clean up with a batting average like that. I’d really like to see Mills move Wallace into that fourth batting position to see if he can help more than Lee has. I know Wallace’s RBI count isn’t outstanding (7) but when you look at the on base percentages of the batters ahead of him, is it surprising? I think if he’s put in a position where he can actually be productive, he will be. Anyone who’s watched his progress since he was brought up last season would agree that he just keeps improving and is showing more and more confidence at the plate. I think he’s earned a shot at a better batting position.

The problems with this team seem to be compounding as we move along in the season. Tomorrow’s continuation of this series will see Brett Myers starting for the Astros. If there’s a chance for Houston to take a game during their stay in Milwaukee, Saturday will be their best shot.