Well, at least we're consistent right? We managed to score 1 run in all 3 games against the Brewers in this series and only allowed them 19 overall... that's pretty good right? I mean... they are a below .500 team... wait... they WERE a below .500 team until the Astros came into town. Now they are 1 game above .500 and just 1/2 a game behind the Astros. Wow...
Well. I have some good news... We play the Pirates next and we can't possible make them an above .500 team. They are 4 games under .500 and we only play them 3 times! HAH!
After the 3 game series in Pittsburgh, we get to come home for 9 games before we head out on the road again. While at home we'll face the Cardinals, the Brewers again(PAYBACK TIME!) and the 4th place(and currently at .500) NY Yankees. If you were thinking about going to the Yankees series, there are still some tickets available... although, you'll be paying out the rear for them. Standing room only tickets are 20 bucks... $20 and you don't even get a seat...
0 recs | 12 comments
well
not the best way to end such a great month of May, but we did finish May with a record of 17-11 (9-4 at home, 8-7 on the road). this little lull won’t bother me so much if we can balance it out with more flourishes like we had early last month, and if we can continue to put up crooked winning percentages at home. we’ve got 16 home games in June, versus 10 road games (which we’ve already lost one of). fortunately we get the Sox at home, cause they’ve been pretty pedestrian on the road (14-19, to this point).
hopefully this trip to Pittsburgh will be just what the doctor ordered. a sweep would be nice, but 2 out of 3 is an absolute must. it’ll be all lefties all series against the Buckos, and the Astros splits somewhat favor hitting against lefties so far this season, with a bump in OPS of 76 points. notables are Matsui, Berkman, Pence, Wiggington, and Towles (who hits .294 against lefties) with Bourn, Tejada, and Lee hitting much better against righties. Bourn really struggles against lefties, so i wonder if he’ll get another rest during this series, lest he damage his confidence even more by continuing his 0.149 clip against southpaws.
anyway, i know it’s easy to get down on the good guys after an ugly 5-game losing streak like this, but all we can do is turn the page and hope for something better next game. Wandy has a game under his belt now after returning to the rotation, so hopefully he can step up and turn in a #2 pitcher performance. go Astros!
btw, anybody else second-guessing Coop’s pulling of Chacon after the 1st, now that we know it wasn’t injury related? not that he looked particularly sharp hitting two batters, walking two, and giving up four runs (all earned), but only one ball got hit hard and both hit batters were hit on the elbow on pitches that weren’t too terribly far inside. i don’t know, Chacon seems to have shown the ability to settle down and still pitch well after a rough first inning, so i’m surprised he didn’t even get one more inning.
sorry, no more negativity. tomorrow night, the ‘Stros are going to get back to their winning ways of early May. i have faith.
littlevisigoth - June 2, 2008
Cooper pulling Chacon after 1 inning.
My superficial reaction is that it seems (and seemed) like a bad decision. I say “superficial” because I’m not privy to everything that happened and I don’t know how the decision was received in the clubhouse by the Astros’ pitchers and other players. So I could be wrong. I think Cooper was ticked that Chacon showed so much visible frustration and emotion on the mound. I won’t defend Chacon’s reactions, but if Cooper, himself, reacted out emotion and anger in removing Chacon, that doesn’t seem like a good thing. Richard Justice has an odd blog entry about Cooper’s disposition, and makes this comment:
“he seems to have such anger boiling right beneath the surface. This is no way to live, certainly no way to manage people.”
clack - June 2, 2008
Justice link above:
http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2008/06/advice_for_ceci.html
clack - June 2, 2008
How I've always imagined Biggio would be as a manager
is kinda how Justice describes Cooper. I’ve always wondered how those intense players who during their careers judged their own performances so critically could not go insane judging the performances of players they ultimately can’t control.
Come to think of it, I guess quite often they do go insane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv23pqH9iG0
We’ll see if Bidge can handle the St. Thomas kids without getting “that vein” all the time.
Austin Astroholic - June 2, 2008
Ted Williams was described as having a similar problem as manager.
clack - June 2, 2008
the Elia tirade is absolutely classic. one of the all-time best. I love Coop’s intensity. let’s get it started again against the Bucs! OBP, Bourn, OBP.
DFWTrojan - June 2, 2008
I like that Cooper cares so much.
I know there a million games and you lose about half the time and we’re all concerned about burnout, BUT the intensity of guys like Cooper, Pence, and Tejada is what is making this season so fun. They’re not throwing up their hands when they go down 4 in the 5th inning – they keep fighting (and sometimes it works!) I know this is not the most technical analysis of the managerial situation, but sometime you just gotta enjoy the game!
Joh - June 3, 2008
Consistency is what is needed
I don’t see it in Coop too much at this point. He pulls Chacon early but leaves Roy in too long. I wonder if Coop is intense or frustrated. If he can be intense and remain focused I am ok wit that but if it is throwing him off that won’t help.
Goth has a good idea about sitting Bourn. With three lefties throwing against us in the series he would be a good pinch runner and late inning defensive replacement.
The guys I really want to see consistency out of are Roy and Wandy. If they can go every 5 games the Astros have a chance with this offense. If not the Astros will have a good draft position next year.
TBurford - June 3, 2008
fourth subheading down
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/5815230.html
Wade seems to think maybe Bourn should get a rest during the Pirates series.
littlevisigoth - June 3, 2008
maybe Wade is a good influence on that decision.
clack - June 3, 2008
...or maybe not....
Tonight’s game has Bourn at lead off.
clack - June 3, 2008
Random aside
did anyone know that Chamo has been catching for the Pirates?
http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/stats/individual_player_gamebygamelog.jsp?playerID=112223&statType=1
good to see him get another shot in the bigs. the Pirates recent notes say he’s played four of the last five games and may actually get to stick around when Doumit comes off the DL. I guess Paulino hasn’t had a very good season so far.
I always liked Chamo, although I definitely favored Q and Munson as backups, based on actual productivity.
littlevisigoth - June 3, 2008
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