Weekend in Review and What’s Ahead

Briefly, I just wanted to mention that since I have been doing this site for about a week, I am trying to get a feel for what works best when it comes to post frequency as well as when. If you want to shoot back feedback on what you want out of this site, post it in the comments, and I will get back to you quickly as well as work around what you, the reader, want!

On a different note, who would have thought Roy O would be the chink in the iron for this rotation?

Saturday was the second start in a row for the Wiz that lacked the feeling of dominance from his previous 2010 starts. Aramis Ramirez took advange of Roy by plating two RBIs in the first four innings while Marlon Byrd used the 90 degree mark to take care of a few doubles. Needless to say, the outing was not of the norm for ole Roy, but if he is giving up doubles on the foul lines and homers to all stars, then we cannot complain too much. What is slightly alarming is that he has only compiled 3 strike outs in his previous two starts (granted one was abbreviated due to his ejection), but this comes after having six consecutive starts with seven strike outs or more. Roy has also allowed his opponent’s batting average to rise to .265, and that would be the highest mark of his career if he continues at that pace. What is baffling about this is that his opponent’s slugging percentage is at .385 which would be his lowest mark since 2003. This just shows that Roy has found ways to work around his change in pitching style to match his aging body while still pumping out winning opportunities.

Humberto was able to paint the picture that he could not do it all by his lonesome offensively, yet it is nice to see him make use of his bat at this point in the year. He was able to bomb one to the right of the Crawford Boxes and then for his encore a ground rule double. With Kevin Cash acting as a servicable back up offensively in comparison to Towles, Q has been performing significantly better at the plate. He has been batting .241 since the emergence of Cash compared to his .210 average with Towles.

All in all, it was a game that the Astros went into with loads of momentum and had hopes of their ace pulling through, but due to our offenses lack of ability to exploit errors by Dempster, we could not win.

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Sunday was a caballo of a different color. The ‘Stros kept the streak of games with runs scored in the first inning alive to four, and in grand fashion. Lee lifted off for his eighth homer of the year and third of the month. It has taken a while for the old horse to pick it up, but his month of May batting average, slugging percentage, and RBI total is .304/.385/7 respectively.

Brett Myers proved himself worthy of his 3.1 million dollar contract again, and if he continues to keep the wins a-comin’ and the stikeouts a-rollin’, then we be suspects of highway robbery. In Myer’s previous 4 starts (26.2 innings), he has posted an ERA of 1.69 and a record of 2-0 and the team winning 3 of those four starts. Though some skeptics would say that Wade’s obsession with Philly and it’s worn out players is hurting our moving team, the addition of Myers to this year’s team has been extremely beneficial with the team winning 7 of his 12 starts. Also, on the subject of Philly rejects, Feliz produced two RBIs and has a May average of .348.

Taking this rubber game was a huge motivator to not only the team, but the 29,493 fans that were in attendance. Wins put butts in seats, and doing so against a division rival such as the Cubs leaves fans wanting more in the future. This season is not over, and this weekend proved as evidence that the Astros are not throwing in the towel on the season

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Next up for the boys are the Ubaldos . . . errrr Rockies, pardon me. Luckily, the Colorado ace pitched yesterday, receiving his 11th win on the year, to excuse himself of being a factor for this series. Wandy looks to continue his success tonight against a pitcher in Hammel that has yet to bring his ERA south of 6. As long as the bats stay hot, Wandy should still have some confidence to put a performance worth remembering. The climb for .500 continues.

Please, though, leave some feed back as to what y’all want out of these site in regards to when posts are posted. This could be in relation to immediately before games, the morning after, or briefly before the next. I want to fulfill your surfing needs.