Climbing Tal's Hill » Randy Wolf

Astros bats wake up – But was it enough?

Greg Thurston — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:14:12 +0000

Entering Wednesday’s game against Milwaukee the Astros offense had scored three runs or less in each of the last nine games. That streak would come to an abrupt end against former Astro Randy Wolf. Houston hitters showed some patience against the crafty left-hander, coaxing three walks and forcing Wolf to throw 82 pitches in four [...]

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Hart, Weeks power Brewers past Astros

Greg Thurston — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:42:25 +0000

Jose Altuve‘s second inning homer gave Houston the early lead but things turned ugly for the Astros tonight in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bud Norris sailed through the first four innings and pitched out of some trouble in the fifth. The game was tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the sixth and that’s when Bud ran out of gas. Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks took Norris deep in a five run inning that blew the game open for the Brewers. Weeks exacted a bit of revenge after Norris plunked him with his first pitch of the game. Norris appeared to be retaliating for Mat Gamel’s takeout of Jason Castro at home plate during last night’s game.

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Astros’ rally comes up short vs Brewers 6-5

Alex Sandoval — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:30:07 +0000

The Astros looked like a fish ready to be cooked for dinner but a nice 7th inning rally brought them back to life only to fall to the Brew Crew 6-5. The Astros didn’t do much against Zack Greinke minus a Jed Lowrie bomb. Lucas Harrell had his moments but Ryan Braun did him in a couple of times including a homerun. It was a nice battle from the ‘Stros but falling 4 runs down is a big mountain to climb against one of the better setup/closer combos in the game. Jason Castro had the play of the game for the Stros, surviving a major collision at the plate from Mat Gamel. The Astros continue to battle and stay close, home or road, but a lot of these games continue to go in the loss column.

Jason Castro Benny Sieu-US PRESSWIRE

The Astros offense was limited to a couple of innings and 3 RBIs by Brian Bogusevic but Greinke had his way for the most part while in the game. Carlos Lee had three solid hits but failed to drive in a runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs, which proved to be the difference in the game. Jason Castro continued to show offensive improvement along with good defense, he should get better as the season goes on and he gets his legs under him. Chris Johnson did drive in a run but also looked lost the other times up. I would really consider moving Lowrie to 3rd and insert Marwin Gonzalez back at SS. Makes the club better defensively and possibly offensively.

The whole night it felt like Lucas Harrell was actually having a decent outing until you look up at the scoreboard. 5 runs in 5 innings can’t happen and continues his good start followed by a bad start pattern. Brandon Lyon continued to struggle but Rhiner Cruz did pretty darn well again. Overall, the pen did well but just too much Ryan Braun, a lot of clubs will feel his pain this season. The Astros will send Bud Norris to the hill vs old friend Randy Wolf tomorrow. With the lefty going, look for Chris Snyder to get time behind the plate and let’s see what Brad Mills does with red hot Jordan Schafer.