When your star pitcher goes out of the game with an injury in the second inning the day after an extra inning game, you figure that you are doomed. That’s how I felt when Oswalt left the game with a lower back strain. I figured there was no way the Astros were going to have enough relievers to pull out a win.
Though I will admit that I had a brief feeling of deja vu back to the 6-man no-no that Houston had against the Yankees a few years ago. If you’ll remember, Roy left the game in the second with a groin strain and the bullpen came through in a big way.
Who knew that the bullpen was going to have another good game? It wasn’t a no-hitter and they did give up 6 runs, but they were pitching with a short roster and they needed to win to keep Houston in the mix in the NL Central. They got the job done and the final score was Houston 11 – Chicago 6.
The Astros are now 2.5 games out of first. (St. Louis has won 2 in a row.) They are also 2 games behind Chicago who is second in the division. They have two more games against the Cubs in this series. Do the math.
Not to be ignored, Houston is 3 games behind the Rockies and the Giants for the wild card lead.
Hampton (6-7) needs to continue his strong showing tonight and beat the tar out of the Cubs. He is going up against Randy Wells who is 6-4 and had a very good start in his last game.
Tomorrow scares me. Russ Ortiz, who has not pitched well, is going up against Kevin Hart who is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA and looks pretty good. The money is on Hart, but maybe Ortiz can pull a rabbit out of his hat.
Jiovanni Mier Update
| AVG | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | SLG |
|
.311
|
103
|
19
|
32
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
18
|
16
|
21
|
7
|
.485
|
Mier continues to impress in Greeneville. His strikeout number is a little concerning, but he has plenty of time to work on it. It’s good to see the Astros’ top pick being so successful in his first year in the minors. He’s 18 years old, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue. He has had some issues on the field, but nothing to worry about. The future looks bright at shortstop
.
