Keppinger a hero in his first Astros Game; Astros get first win of the season

by Stephen Higdon on Apr 8, 2009 1:10 AM CDT

The picture on the left will lead you to a glorious slide show of sultry AP-licensed photographs from tonight's game (give a hearty thanks to the tech team and network management for making this possible).

Wandy pitched phenomenally through six innings; Sampson was nails in his inning; Hawkins finally give up a run as an Astro; and we displayed uncharacteristic (from last year) patience at the plate.

As AstrosAndy pointed out in the comments of the Game Thread:

1 down, 89 to go!

If we're going to actually accomplish that feat, here's a laundry list of:

Things Cecil Cooper needs to stop doing, already:

Having a foolishly aggressive running game.
Batting Ivan Rodriguez second. Dude won't get on base, therefore Lance will never have anyone to knock in because Kaz will have been thrown out during Pudge's at bat.
Batting Hunter Pence seventh. If you want to keep him down in the line up, it's dumb, but fair enough. Though come on—seventh? Behind Blum?

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via www.fangraphs.com

Topsy-turvy baseball, I like it. Keppinger's broken bat single came at point in the game we're that final run was worth the equivalent of 5.53 runs in the forth (tons of leverage) and capped the final 16.4% of the Win Expectancy necessary to win the game. Not a bad way to arrive.

0 recs | 18 comments

Comments

a few things

this should be the lineup

Matsui
Pence
Berkman
Lee
Tejada
Pudge/Blum
Pudge/Blum
Bourn
Pitcher (tho i wouldnt mind going pitcher at 8, the bourn) so that when pitcher ends inning, we get bourn, matsui then pence…then berkman…either way

EveryHoustonTeamRox! - April 7, 2009 reply

sorry, it posted for me, here are the others

personally, i am fine with going hit and run, but only with 2 outs and guys like blum/bourn/ or pudge when batting 7 in lineup, are up…not when berkman, lee, tejada, pence are up…

EveryHoustonTeamRox! - April 7, 2009 reply

LOL

Batting Ivan Rodriguez second. Dude won’t get on base, therefore Lance will never have anyone to knock in because Kaz will have been thrown out during Pudge’s at bat.

Good one!

entropic soul - April 7, 2009 reply

BTW

I love the recent incorporation of AP photos into posts. It really classes up the joint.

AstroAndy - April 7, 2009 reply

It's really nice

The tech team has made it ridiculously easy for us to use them, and it’s a great opportunity that SBN provided us.

A special thanks to clockwerks and his team of wizards.

Stephen Higdon - April 7, 2009 reply

The aggressive running game is ridiculous

Coop played it the same way last year, too. Remember when he freakin’ told news reporters that basically he gave everyone a green light to go.

The running game is much smoother when it’s a surprise, Coop! Ease up a bit.

AstroAndy - April 7, 2009 reply

That's why I don't get it

This crap didn’t work last year, so why would he go back to it again?

The point of learning a lesson…is well…learning it.

Stephen Higdon - April 7, 2009 reply

clearly you just don't understand Coop's logic:

Learning that lesson the first time was good, right? We all thought so, anyways. So surely learning that lesson again would be even better.

Only_A_Lad - April 8, 2009 reply

longshot guess

they knew about Soto’s shoulder problem

ol Pete - April 8, 2009 reply

It's not like

It worked out very well for them.

Stephen Higdon - April 8, 2009 reply

Matsui

If Matsui can avoid making outs on the base paths,..

He’s had 9 Plate Appearances and has been on base 5 times. (once was because of a fielding error.) So he’s OBP’ing .444. (or .555 if you count the error, which you shouldn’t)

But of those five times, he’s made two avoidable outs on the base paths. Once he was caught stealing, and another time he was doubled off after a caught fly ball. Don’t know if that’s his fault or Coop and the third base coach’s, but we can’t have that. That essentially brings his OBP down to . 222 (or .333 if you count the error, which you shouldn’t.)

Here’s a summary of what happens during and after Matsui’s at bats.

1. Walk → To 2nd on a Single > DOUBLED OFF
2. Single (does not advance)
3. Strike Out
4. Ground Out

5. Pop Out
6. Walk > Steal (does not advance)
7. Triple (does not advance)
8. Reached on Error > Caught Stealing
9. Line Out

So he’s getting on base. Now he needs to learn to STAY on base.

entropic soul - April 7, 2009 reply

Amen

Stephen Higdon - April 7, 2009 reply

I'll bet Cecil Cooper...

was tweeting the Astros’ win expectancy in the 10th inning.

clack - April 8, 2009 reply

I hope he is

Stephen Higdon - April 8, 2009 reply

Pudge

5 strikeouts in 2 games. Ouch.
I wouldn’t expect Coop to make any lineup decisions in the first 2 weeks. If he is going to switch things up, it should be right after the Cincy home series or after the Cincy road series at the end of the month.
I agree that the lineup was not set properly to begin with.

drsarc - April 8, 2009 reply