The suggestion from the game thread, I think, rings true: this is likely one of those outlier games of which little can be made of. To say that our pitching simply just didn't have it is a mild understatement and the same could easily be said of our offense.
Rather than lament our chance to pull out a victory and move into the yet to be reached mantle of a winning baseball team in 2009, I'll just let the WPA graph do all the talking for a game that simply makes you simultaneously scratch your head and consider beating it against a wall a few times to jar the image of back-to-back-to-back homeruns:
Of course, even if we do write this one off as "that's baseball," the loss is not without its repercussions:
And that, to me, is what hurts the most about this loss.
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Paraphrase of Coop's Post-game
Tough night at the ballyard
On Hampton: left a lot of pitches up. On Paulino: got behind in the count a lot and put a lot of fastballs in the strikezone.
On the opposing pitcher: doesn’t want to take anything away from the young man, but when you get that kind of scoring behind you, it helps a whole lot to shut down the other guys.
Still got one more game left to even it up.
AstroAndy - July 11, 2009
Stat of the night
AstroAndy - July 11, 2009
Those numbers should be pound signs.
AstroAndy - July 11, 2009
Good God
I couldn’t even bring myself to look at the numbers. The very idea of dissecting this game made my stomach turn.
Stephen Higdon - July 11, 2009
No wonder the Nationals won
They got twice as many pitches to try to hit
Joe in Birmingham - July 11, 2009
as bad as the game was…it’s easier to put behind us, when you realize that most of us expected the Astros to lose one of the 4 game series. As long as Brian Moehler does his job on Sunday and the Astros win, the Astros will get their 3-1 series win and the blow out will be long forgotten.
As for Hampton, as I’ve said before (the last time during a Sampson outing), a sinkerball pitcher whose pitches don’t sink is one of the ugliest things to watch. I also hope this ends any idea that Paulino should be used as a relief pitcher. Paulino’s success is dependent on mixing in his breaking pitches and getting batters to swing at them…if he can’t do that, then batters can tee off on his fastball, no matter how fast it is…like last night. If the Astros aren’t going to put Paulino in the rotation, he is probably better off in Round Rock, getting back into a groove as starter.
clack - July 12, 2009
Paulino to Round Rock actually sounds like a good idea to me right now. It solves the 6-man rotation issue, and Paulino, for all intents and purposes, basically skipped to the majors from AA.
If this happens, Round Rock would probably have the best rotation in the PCL.
AstroAndy - July 12, 2009
Paulino, Ortiz and Hampton (Leaving Moehler out of this discussion)
How quickly a solid six man rotation can turn to mush.
Paulino has looked erratic, Hampton and Oritz not so solid. Who to keep?
Despite his last outing (which was hurt even more by bad defense behind him) and his last inning of his San Fran outing, to me Oritz is the most solid of this trio right now, and should remain in the rotation.
Hampton- a factoid keeps running through my head – Hampton has ONE WIN this season against a team not named Pittsburgh. One. That’s not good at all. Ihave so much hope for Hampton but if he loses to every team he faces (except Pittsburgh) h eshoudnot continue itn eh startin gline up. I got to give him a couple of more starts to prove he can do it (Or show he is not getting it done is probably more accurate).
Paulino – Hequickly became a TCB favorite, but a reliever he isn’t. He’s a starter i with te Astros or he should go to Round Rock for more experience. I don’t ahve his record for the past starts; but in my mind trhey ere erratic. Fabulous to atrocious is my impression, and we cannot tell which one will show up on any given day. He needs more consistency
Joe in Birmingham - July 12, 2009
Ed Wade must be thinking the same way
Felipe Paulino optioned back to Round Rock after Sunday’s game.
Joe in Birmingham - July 12, 2009
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