My Constant Expression Until July 31, 2011 at Midnight

Remember Junior High School? Remember the rumor mill back then? You never knew who to believe and what to trust. People would tell tall tales just to get their name in circulation or to look cool or “in the know.” The run up to MLB non-waiver Trade Deadline is Junior High School all over again…and it’s going to be the death of me!

The biggest rumors involving the Astros are around Hunter Pence. There seems to be a bit of a split personality going on with fans, myself included. On one hand we all understand that Hunter is valuable and if the Astros could get a really great deal that helped build up the farm system and give the team a future that it is the smart thing to do.

But, my heart doesn’t want the Astros to do the smart thing. My heart thinks that the club should remember that Hunter’s one of the few things drawing fans to Minute Maid Park this season and to lose him would be devastating. Fans would be irate and I’m certain the outrage would be bigger than it was when MMP thought it was the home of the Red Sox a few weeks ago. Ed Wade, Hunter’s only 28 and at least with him we know what we’ve got. Prospects don’t always pan out!

Do you see what’s happening to me as the trade deadline approaches? I’ve developed multiple personality disorder over what I think should happen! I’m not sure my blood pressure can take 9 more days of this. We’ve lost Jeff Keppinger to the Giants, which was sad, but at the same time exciting since that trade led to the promotion of Jose Altuve from AA Corpus Christi and the hype around that kid has been big. It seems the rumors surrounding the Braves going for Pence have subsided, but MLB Trade Rumors has been reporting that the Phillies are hot after a right bat and that Pence might just be the bat they’re after.

I suppose all I can do is sit and wait and guess. I’ll keep my eyes on twitter and the rumor sites and watch my moods fluctuate with the updates. I will keep reminding myself that it can’t get any worse in Houston and that whatever trades are made, the Astros will live to play another day and I will live to cheer another day. But just in case, could someone have 911 on speed dial for me?

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer 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.

Here’s 10 minutes of my twitter feed starting at 4:57pm – We’ve been speculating, but now it’s begun! Sit tight, buckle up and keep your arms and legs inside the ride, this could get bumpy!

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer 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.

When you’re the team at the bottom of the NL Central and you’re playing the team that leads the NL Central you don’t expect miracles. You go out and just play the best ball that you can. Tonight at Minute Maid Park, the Houston Astros did just that.

Bud Norris had fans and announcers whispering the word “no-no” as he threw 6 2/3 innings of no hit baseball with the well played defense of his teammates. Studly Budly is known for being a strike out guy, but not tonight. He had 3 straight lead off walks (all followed by double plays) and only 2 Ks on the night, but by keeping his pitches low he was able to get lots of ground balls in play and economize his pitches.

Brad Mills was impressed with his starter tonight. “You can’t say enough about Bud. I mean, he was absolutely outstanding. The big thing there, I think, tonight is that he really kept the ball down on his own. Eleven groundball outs was really huge for him.” It was huge for the team as a whole as well.

The hit that ruined the possible no-hitter? A solo homerun by Lance Berkman that went just out of the reach of Hunter Pence and over the right field wall. The Cards would get only one other hit the whole night – a double by Pujols in the ninth, but the Redbirds never could get any momentum going and the Astros were able to keep them at bay. » Continue reading “Did the Astros Just Beat the Cardinals? Yep, They Sure Did!”

YES, I said SWEEP! It doesn’t get much better than the past three days for Astros fans. Once the club won game one against the Cubs the buzz became, “Can they win the series?” and “Will Lyles live up to the hype.” Because, let’s face it, Jordan Lyles MLB debut was anticipated as if it was the second coming of Jesus. There were high expectations. And there were nerves – well, my nerves.

Last night at Wrigley field, Lyles became the youngest Astros’ starter since Cesar Cedeno in 1970. Unlike me, Lyles didn’t seem nervous at all. So I eat all the words I said yesterday. I swallow the doubt I had in him. I was worried about nerves? He was cool as a cucumber. It was like a veteran was on the mound as he pitched an amazing 7 innings in which he threw an efficient 92 pitches, 62 of which were strikes. He didn’t get a win but he managed to allow only 5 hits and 2 earned runs giving him an ERA of 2.57. He moves amazingly well on that mound. I think I’m in love. He’ll start again on Sunday afternoon in an untelevised game against the Padres.

The Astros’ bats were definitely nocturnal and came alive late with a 6 run ninth to win the game 7-3. The winning pitcher was indeed a rookie, just not the one that was being hyped all day. Fernando Rodriguez got his first big league start and win by pitching to only one hitter. A big night for young Astros. » Continue reading “A Rookie Gets a Win and the Astros Get a Sweep”

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?”

Since the Astros found it in themselves to blow a six, yes 6, run lead there’s not a lot to say about how sucky this game one against the Arizona Diamondbacks is. So, to entertain us all here’s the latest scoop on what’s going on with the Houston Nine.

- Jeff Keppinger rejoined the Astros tonight. I was hoping his highsocks would be the right amount of luck and early on it appeared that way. Kepp came back in style despite the ‘Stros pitching atrocities going 2-5 with 1 RBI. Welcome back, Kepp. You were missed. If he keeps hitting, he should see more playing time than my best friend, Bill Hall.

- Brett Myers continues his run of disappointing pitching. He’s now not accumulated a win in six starts which is a career long. Tonight in 5.2 IP, he allowed 5 hits, 4 ERs, walked 3 and had 2 dingers hit off of him. His ERA is now 5.11. Brett hasn’t fulfilled my dream of having a strong first starting pitcher this season. Will his greatness of last season return? I’m thinking it’s not likely. This very well may be his struggling season. If we want a pitcher to cheer for, I think we’ll find it in Wandy Rodriguez and/or Bud Norris.

- The club released IF Joe Inglett today from AAA OKC to make room for Brain Bogusevic. Bogie was sent back down after Kepp completed his rehab assignment and returned to the big club.

» Continue reading “Astros Scoop Because This Game Is Poop”

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”