The Astros dropped their first game of the season with Brandon Lyon blowing a sure win. Thanks for reading folks. Tune in tomorrow to see if they can win the second game of the season.
That pretty much sums up what I felt after the game. And I also said words like “yeargh!” and “ack!” Surprisingly, I didn’t say any curse words, but I think that is due to the performance of the team rather than the final score.
In yesterday’s post (“Opening Day 2011“), I said that there were three things we needed to see: Good Bat Speed, Confidence and No Errors.
Bat Speed
The Astros had 9 hits and several foul balls off of last year’s Cy-Young winner, Roy Halladay. That is a very good showing considering Halladay is one of the most dominant pitchers of the last 10 years.
Bad speed: check plus.Confidence
This young team looked cool under pressure and determined to win the game. It was a great show of how seriously they are going to take the season and how mentally prepared they are to make noise. And Brett Myers was a statue on the mound exuding stupendousness.
Confidence: check plus.No Errors
The Astros looked great defensively. Chris Johnson had two fantastic line drive catches at third and Brett Wallace had several good plays at first. Michael Bourn and Jason Bourgeois (late defensive change) also had some good plays in the outfield. Humberto Quintero had a perfect throw to catch Shane Victorino trying to steal second base. The only mishap was a passed ball by Quintero, but it led to 2 runs by the Phillies.
No errors: check.
All in all, the Astros played a good, solid game and they should have beat the Phillies. But Brandon Lyon had a rough outting and gave up the game. It wasn’t all Brandon’s fault. He did leave the ball up, but the Phillies got three broken-bat specials and hit some very good pitches. Though I did wonder yesterday if it is better to let your closer know that you are going to stick with him or is it better to win the first game of the season against the previous Cy-Young winner.
I would have liked for us to win that first game since we seem to always lose it. It would be a nice way to start the 2011 season. However, I understand why manager Brad Mills wanted Lyon to know that he is the closer. It was just a tough game to lose.
Today’s Game
Wandy Rodriguez will be pitching against Cliff Lee in his long-awaited start. The game is at 6:05 pm CT on Fox Sports Southwest.
The Daily Astros Update 