Roy Oswalt has the Cincinatti Reds. Mike Hampton has the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hampy is now 4-0 against the Pirates this season and he has won the last 10 games against them dating back to 1999.

To put it into perspective, Mike is the first pitcher since 50s pitcher Robin Roberts to get 10 wins in a row against the Pirates. (Roberts ended up getting 15.)

“I thought we took a good approach, trying to hit the ball up the middle or go opposite field,” said Andy LaRoche. “They just weren’t falling for us. We couldn’t get anything going the whole time. You just tip your cap to Hampton.”

Hampton also had an astounding double play in the bottom of the first showing once again why he is a Gold Glove candidate every year.

After a slow start to the season, Mike has really turned it around. While he will never get back to where he was the last time he played for the Astros, it is nice to see him getting some success and having some good outtings.

Geoff Blum and Miguel Tejada had good nights as well and the Astros ended up with a solid 4-1 win. Hopefully, they can build on that tonight with a good start by Brian Moehler.

Early Draftee Stats

It’s been almost a month since the 2009 MLB draft, so let’s take a look at the players that the Astros have signed and see what they have achieved. Initial thoughts when looking at the statistics? J.D. Martinez, a right fielder playing for Greeneville, might end up being a diamond in the rough. He has a .386 average with 57 at-bats, 11 runs, 22 hits, 7 doubles, 3 homeruns and 17 RBIs. Keep an eye on this guy!

Hitters

Most of the pitchers look pretty good. Robert Donovan, a right-hander playing for Tri-City, hasn’t had a really good start to the season. He is 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA and has only pitched 4 innings.

Pitchers

The Astros-Padres game yesterday was one of those games you will never forget thanks to a swarm of honeybees that decided to visit PETCO Park in the 9th inning. The Astros were already ahead 6-1 and went on to win the game 7-2 finishing the season 6-1 against the Padres.

It was thanks to a couple of Killer B’s on the Roster: Geoff Blum and Lance Berkman. Both players had great games with Lance Berkman on base four times with 2 walks and 2 doubles. Geoff Blum drove in four runs including his second homerun of the season.

But the story wasn’t about the Astros or about their 15-5 record against the West this year.  (Seriously… how bad is that league that the Astros are doing good against them.)  The story that made SportsCenter was the thousand of insects that made a beeline for a ballgirl’s jacket along the left field.

“It’s how the year has gone,” Blum said. “Bizarre things. You think you’ve seen it all in baseball, and you see something new.’

After a 52-minute delay, a beekeeper came in and removed them.  Now the Astros and Paulino face San Francisco and some guy named Sadowski.  On Saturday and Sunday, they face Lincecum and Randy Johnson.  Let’s hope for a sweep and be happy with 1 loss.

NOTE: The Astros claimed a 2B German Duran off the waiver wire from the Texas Rangers on July 1.