This was the kind of game I wish I could have seen, but such are the perils of being an Astros' fan that lives primarily outside the city of Houston. Mr. Norris allowed two runs on two home runs, one by Jimmy Rollins to lead off the game, and another by Ben Francisco in the fourth inning. Besides those taters, Bud scattered four hits over his six innings of work, while not walking a batter and striking out six Phillies. It appeared on Pitch F/X that he was keeping his pitches down in the strike zone much better and threw strikes on a consistent basis. It was refreshing to see his change up mixed into the gameplan effectively, throwing it around the strike zone and keeping hitters off balance. The best part, perhaps, of this game was Bud not having to extend himself. He threw 73 pitches in six effective innings. Philly swung and missed at nine of those pitches, showing that he was fooling hitters in a way that really only power pitchers can.
Offensively, Miguel Tejada collected four hits including two infield singles. Hustlin' when your club is 15 games out. Thank you, Miguel. Mike Bourn stole a base each of the two times he was on, and was knocked in along with Kaz Matsui on a Carlos Lee single in the sixth inning. That hit would prove to be enough for the Astros, as they won their 3rd consecutive game against the leaders of the NL East.
Pitching, pitching and more pitching has been the key of late. Wandy, Roy, and Bud in back to back to back performances have really been all we've needed. Their combined K:BB ratio in the series has been a staggering 21:2, giving the bullpen a break and filling the home park with glee. Of all the inconceivable events of the 2009 season, sweeping the Phillies in September would be the most pipe-dreamish of all. The opportunity is theirs for the taking tomorrow afternoon.
0 recs | 7 comments
Something optimistic to think about...
Having a top 3 rotation of Oswalt, Wandy, and Norris pitch consistently like that next year….I hope that’s not a pipe dream.
clack - September 6, 2009
i dont think it is
if bud’s arm doesn’t fall off, its just a matter of fine tuning his skills. same for paulino.
Evan Hochschild - September 6, 2009
and maybe
we can get lackey or hudson to go along with paulino in our rotation
EveryHoustonTeamRox! - September 6, 2009
Our 2011 rotation could be devastating
If we’re going to win a world series anytime soon, my money would be on that year. Seaton and/or Lyles may be Astros by then, and with any luck Castro, Norris, Paulino, and Pence will all have settled in enough to be consistent and reliable. It will be our last year with Roy Oswalt (assuming we don’t trade him) and possibly Lance Berkman. Michael Bourn could be even better—it’s certainly not unimaginable, because there is room for honing and improvement in his approach at the plate. Other strong prospects hover in the periphery, like Clemens, Gaston, and Locke, and any or all of them may be Astros that season.
There are a lot of “ifs” above, but one thing I am confident of is that better times are coming.
OremLK - September 6, 2009
Kudos to whoever at Crawfish Boxes
First started talking about Bud Norris’ arm and his IP this season. I was driving to the game and listening to the pre-game show while they talked about Norris missing a start because of a tired arm, or something like that. It seems it wasn’t too long someone here brought up that issue and was quickly poo-pooed by an Alyson Footer.
It was definitely a Farmstros day at the park, once I drank my water in Union Station so I could bring my acceptable empty water bottle in to fill up in a bathroom sink. Norris was solid despite two home runs. He didn’t walk anybody, which was key. I was surprised by Gervacio. He was bringing it. I’d never seen these guys in Houston, so I was pretty pumped. Also, I walked past Ed Wade on the concourse before the game. I thought he might sense my Farmstros presence and stop me to ask about the Twitter Ku streak, but apparently he had other things on his mind.
farm_stros - September 6, 2009
hahahah friggin eddie w
it was clack who was led the charge in regard to the norris/ip argument.
Evan Hochschild - September 6, 2009
Gervacio has been a better than I thought.
Based on his minor league stats, I thought he might have a rocky beginning in the majors. But he has been a solid reliever. He doesn’t seem to be intimidated by the major league experience.
clack - September 6, 2009
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