added 05/13 by Willie B. Lakey
With both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium closing after the '08 season, this old Texan had to get up for a last look at both.
1997 - Pinch-hitter Craig Biggio swats a sacrifice fly that scores Bill Spiers in the ninth for a 1-0 triumph over the Mets. Darryl Kile and Billy Wagner team for a four-hitter.
1993 - Ken Caminiti drills a bases-loaded double to key a seven-run fifth as Houston stops the Dodgers, 9-1. Scott Servais swats his third hit of the night, a two-run shot in the eighth, for good measure.
1985 - Rookies Ron Mathis and Mark Ross team up to blank Montreal, 10-0. Craig Reynolds is the offensive star with four hits, including a two-run double. Jerry Mumphrey and Bill Doran each contribute three hits. Mathis would have only three major league wins in his career. Ross would have two.
1975 - Doug Rader belts two homers and drives in five to pace an 11-7 triumph at Chicago's Wrigley Field. Roger Metzger adds four hits while Bob Watson supplies three, including a home run.
1972 - Astros put the shift on for Willie Stargell, leading 7-6 with two out and two on in the top of the ninth. It works as Stargell rolls out to shortstop Roger Metzger, who is behind second base, for the final out. Houston had built a 7-2 lead behind homers from Cesar Cedeno and Bob Watson.
Houston Astros recap - 05/14/08 - Cain Able To Slay Astros
Cain Able To Slay Astros
Lee: Only run producer
(c) Associated Press
Matt Cain not only handcuffed the Astros to two runs over eight innings Tuesday night but the San Francisco righthander belted his own solo homer in a 4-2 decision over Houston. Carlos Lee provided all of the Astros' runs with an RBI single and a home run, two of the seven hits Houston achieved all night.
Brandon Backe got off to a rough start, allowing extra-base hits to the first three Giants and those three runs gave the Giants a cushion they would never surrender. Fortunately, the Cubs and Cardinals both lost as well so Houston lost no ground in the division chase.
Game Three of the four-game set takes place Wednesday night by the Bay in a 9:15 Central start. Brian Moehler (1-0), fresh off his fine performance in Los Angeles, challenges Patrick Misch (0-0) who is making his third star of the season.
Astros, Big Puma roar through another winning week
Astros, Big Puma roar through another winning week
added 05/11 by Willie B. Lakey
“He's just locked in there in one spot. He's got a plan, and when he gets his pitch he's not missing it.” - - - Houston’s Darin Erstad speaking of Lance Berkman’s recent torrid run at the plate.
Maybe I should go to New York more often. Then again, I’m quite certain when the AMEX bill comes in later this month and the ATM receipts are tallied, the wife will 86 that idea real quick.
Having the opportunity to only catch the first game of the Nationals series earlier this week on TV and then listen to the last few innings of today’s series finale against the Dodgers on the radio coming home from the airport, I’m in the dark a bit as to what’s transpired. The win over the Nats in Game 2 of that series barely made the tail end of the SportsCenter I caught early Thursday morning from a hotel in Queens. And with both contests on Friday and Saturday in LA starting late in the evening while I was out taking in as much of New York City as I could, it was catch-up on the internet to find out the scores and details.
One can only imagine, however, how much coverage the entire nation would be getting regardless of our locales if Lance Berkman had the same kind of run for a team from the Big Apple. In fact, if I thought there might be some coverage of Berkman on the alleged “worldwide leader in sports,” I might have even popped into their big place that I passed by on a few occasions down at Times Square on my way to catch one train or another.
Berkman entered Sunday’s series finale in Los Angeles riding a seven-game streak with multiple hits and redefining en fuego. After a four-hit, four RBI game to close last weekend’s home series against the Brewers, the Houston first baseman opened the Washington series with a five-hit, four run effort. At different times during the week, Berkman was in 16-for-20 and 19-for-25 runs.
It was just about this time last year, the second week of May, that Lance started to come out of his early season slump, thanks in large part to playing in Cincinnati, his home away from home. Berkman was batting just above .250 as April ’07 ended, but lifted his mark up to the .290s after a series in Cincy when he went deep in three consecutive games. The surge would be short lived however, as he tailed off dramatically in June en route to a .278 average for the season, his lowest other than the .237 he batted during his brief, 34-game introduction to the bigs in 1999.
But that was then and this is now, and right now a lot of things are going very well for not only Berkman but the entire team. Houston was supposed to take at least two of three from the Nationals earlier this week, and they did. But going into LA with Brian Moehler and Chris Sampson slated to start the first two games against a Dodgers team that had won 10 of its last 12 games entering the series, the Astros’ chances didn’t seem that bright.
I guess someone forgot to tell both Moehler and Sampson they weren’t supposed to pull it off. Moehler, pitching in place of the injured Wandy Rodriguez, delivered five good innings Friday while Berkman and the offense pasted LA starter Derek Lowe for six runs on their way to a 7-1 win. Sampson then followed with his best start of the season, tossing seven shutout frames in Saturday’s 5-0 win.
Those two wins meant Shawn Chacon had a tough act to follow, and when Dodgers rookie Hiroki Kuroda held Houston hitless through six on Sunday it looked like any hope for a rare sweep at Chavez Ravine was gone. Hunter Pence eventually broke up the no-no and went on to deliver two more hits after that, one of those part of a big six-run eighth that helped Houston to the 8-5 win and the sweep after all. It marked the first sweep for the Astros in LA since Sept 1992. In case you were wondering, the winning pitchers for Houston in that previous sweep out in Los Angeles were Mark Portugal, Xavier Hernandez and Shane Reynolds. The win was Reynolds’ first in his major league career and Doug ‘Slow, Slower, Slowest’ Jones earned saves in all three of the games.
After the horrible start the club got off to this season, they’ve reeled off dubyas in nine of their last 11 and have gone 15-5 since the 6-12 beginning to sit a game and a half behind the Cubs and Cards who are tied atop the NL Central. Not sure how long it will last, but for now I’m just going to ride the wave.
Whither Wandy?: The return of Wandy Rodriguez, out since April 20 with a groin strain, has been delayed another 10-14 days, or more now. ESPN is reporting the Houston southpaw will throw on the side on Monday (May 12) and then pitch at least one simulated game later this week before heading out on a rehab assignment if all goes well. If he makes just one start in the minors, he could return at some point during the Phillies series that opens in Houston on May 22.
Star of the Week: Thanks to Lance Berkman, this week’s decision required no thinking on my part, and that’s always a good thing.
The Big Puma was 15-for-22 (.682) during this week’s six games, adding five walks to that mix as well. Berkman cracked two taters, slapped four doubles, drove home five and scored 10 times, and is now hitting .382 on the year, second in the NL. Houston’s first sacker leads the NL in both RBI and runs scored, and ranks second in home runs.
On Deck: The ‘Stros take off to San Francisco for a four-game match with the Giants (May 12-15) to open the coming week. Monday night’s opener pits Houston’s Roy Oswalt against San Fran lefty Barry Zito who is off to an oh-&-seven start to the season. Brandon Backe goes Tuesday for the Good Guys and should be followed by Brian Moehler and Chris Sampson. The Giants are scheduled to throw Matt Cain, Patrick Misch and Tim Lincecum.
The current road trip then concludes next weekend up in the Denton-Ft. Worth area against the Texas Rangers (May 16-18). Shawn Chacon is on track to open that series on Friday with Oswalt and Backe behind him. Texas is currently listing Sidney Ponson, Vicente Padilla and Kason Gabbard for their starters.
The Astros then come home for three against the Cubs (May 19-21) and four versus the Phillies (May 22-25).
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