This was a back and forth battle between two squads that seemingly had no interest in coming out the victors. Errors, walks, and a sloppy field made for a interesting afternoon in D.C. The Astros were set to take control of the game, but then Roy Oswalt had to leave after just five innings due to an injured right index finger. Chris Sampson promptly gave up the lead, pushing Roy's winless streak to seven to start the 2009 season.
The game will be resumed on July 9th in Houston, with Washington being the "home" team. A little late for payback, Bud.
Our bullpen was forced to pitch an additional 5.1 innings in a game that saw no winner. That's frustrating. Jason Smith, it's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun. It may be time for you to get your bags packed, as I feel your time as a major leaguer is about done.
0 recs | 6 comments
Stupid question of the day (season?):
When they replay the suspended game, will Washington wear their home uniforms and the Astros their away uniforms and then switch when the game is over?
bwhite2323 - May 5, 2009
my hope is that both teams come out in their home uniforms
and a flustered lance berkman looks to nick johnson and says, “well SOMEBODY is going to have to change”. if he says it with sass…bonus points.
Evan Hochschild - May 5, 2009
LOL
entropic soul - May 6, 2009
my question is
what will the pitcher availability be? will we have our whole staff available? i’d thought they might try to say that Hawkins would still be on the mound and the used pitchers from this game would be unavailable, but that’s just not practical. suppose one or some of the pitchers from either team are on the DL (god forbid) on July 9th, or there are players traded or sent down and replaced. Also, that would force both teams to try to plan accordingly to not work the pitchers that were available when the game was suspended in the games leading up to July 9th. no, I’d have to assume that both teams would get to start fresh with a full lineup of pitchers and bench players. anybody know how that’s going to work? it’ll be interesting to see how that gets played.
also, what time will this go down? Will it be in the daytime before the regularly scheduled evening game? since they picked July 9th (first of the 4-game series), I can’t imagine they’d have Washington open a road series with a day “game” (it’s a Thursday, so Washington will have had a game on Wednesday). if they start at the regularly scheduled time of 7:05, that could potentially make for a long night.
so many questions.
littlevisigoth - May 6, 2009
The Rules of Baseball, Rule 4.12 applicable here, I think
(d) A suspended game shall be resumed at the exact point of suspension of the original game. The completion of a suspended game is a continuation of the original game. The lineup and batting order of both teams shall be exactly the same as the lineup and batting order at the moment of suspension, subject to the rules governing substitution. Any player may be replaced by a player who had not been in the game prior to the suspension. No player removed before the suspension may be returned to the lineup. A player who was not with the club when the game was suspended may be used as a substitute, even if he has taken the place of a player no longer with the club who would not have been eligible because he had been removed from the lineup before the game was suspended. If immediately prior to the call of a suspended game, a substitute pitcher has been announced but has not retired the side or pitched until the batter becomes a baserunner, such pitcher, when the suspended game is later resumed may, but is not required to start the resumed portion of the game. However, if he does not start he will be considered as having been substituted for and may not be used in that game.
bwhite2323 - May 6, 2009
wow
so it’s going to be interesting to see how Coop sets up for that one. You’d think he’d want to keep Hawkins on the mound, which means he’d want to think ahead about how he uses him in the series before July 9th.
Houston’s available pitchers were Hawkins (on the mound), Fulchino, Wright, and Paulino (not counting available starters Ortiz, Rodriguez, Moehler, and Hampton). Brocail and Valverde would both be available if they’re off the DL, along with any other pitcher that might be brought on at that point. Of course, they’d have to be concerned about who they use, cause they likely wouldn’t be available for the game immediately following. They’re available bench players were Matsui, Towles, and Smith. That means Keppinger, Blum, and Erstad would all have to start in the field and Lee and Michaels would be unavailable.
Washington won’t have anybody on their bench available, unless they have some roster turnover between now and then, which is actually probably pretty likely. Hinkley and Kensing were the only two relievers they had available, but they have at least one reliever on the 15-day DL and being that the depth chart on their website doesn’t match the roster in the box score, it appears they’ve already had a fair amount of roster movement in their bullpen, so they may benefit from some more. Their pitching spot would come up 3rd in the lineup, if it got that far (remember, it’ll be one out, one on in the bottom of the 11th). Ours would come up 6th, if it got that far.
Should be interesting, especially if it goes a few more innings. Suppose you pitch Hawkins and he gets out of the 11th without a run. You score in the top of the 12th. Do you bring on Valverde and essentially make him unavailable for the nightcap? What if Hawkins throws two innings before we take the lead? I’m sure the average Joe fan that shows up for the July 9th game is going to be awefully confused. I think I might start lining up a ticket for that evening.
Thanks for the scoop on the rule.
littlevisigoth - May 6, 2009
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