Colt 45s Blog

I know the Pirates are a bit better, but this is a little ridiculous.  And the Astros were doing so well there for a while and now they’ve lost six straight and the only thing keeping them out of the cellar are the Cubs.  Oy.

Tuesday’s game was probably the worst because the Astros were shutout.  Craig Biggio had two of the Astros three hits and a pretty good start by Woody Williams was wasted.  He gave up three runs on nine hits with two strikeouts in seven innings of work.

The Astros scored a few runs yesterday but it wasn’t enough in a 4-3 marathon sixteen inning loss.  Craig Biggio singled home a run in the ninth to tie it but Brian Mohler gave up a run in the sixteenth to lose it.  He had been pretty solid up until then and the pen held the Pirates scoreless until the sixteenth from the six inning on.  Biggio was the hitting star and he finished with three hits.

This afternoon was more of the same, although the scored doesn’t reflect how bad the Astros lost.  Only two ninth inning runs made it look close this time it was Mark Loretta getting it done at the plate.  He went four for four with a run while Chris Burke scored twice.  Wandy Rodrgiuez dropped to 0-3 and he gave up three runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Hopefully the Astros can figure out a way to win this weekend because the first place Brewers roll into town.  A bad series here will bury us, while two of three should mean we keep up with the rest of the pack.  It’ll be Roy Oswalt on the mound tomorrow and hopefully he can right the ship.

The Astros had a very nice run and with five straight wins, the showed they might contend in the Central this year.  The bad news is, after the five wins, the Astros lost two straight and dropped their three game series with the first place Brewers.  So the Astros are in second place, which is better then before, but they’re a game and a half back of first when they could have been closer had they pulled out another win.

Craig Biggio hit a huge grand slam homer in the ninth inning on Friday to put the Astros up 6-2.  They ended up needing each of those runs because Bill Hall hit a three run shot in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 6-5 ball game. Fortunately, that’s as far as the Brewers got as the Astros won their only gave up the series.  Matt Albers had a nice start and he gave up two runs in six innings and it was Brad Lidge who gave up the three run shot in the ninth.

It went downhill from there as Wandy Rodriguez was hit hard in Saturday’s game.  He gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in six innings and the loss dropped him to 0-2 on the season.  Lance Berkman drew three walks and Morgan Ensberg went yard in the 6-4 loss.

Yesterday’s game was another close and while the Astros scored three in the ninth, that just made it 4-3 as they came a run short.  Ensberg had two hits and an RBI and Lance Berkman doubled, scored a run and drove in one.  Roy Oswalt lost his first game of the season and he gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts in seven innings.

The Astros have a makeup game against the Phillies this evening and then they head across the state for three games against the Pirates.  Chris Sampson will try to improve on his 2-0 record and the Astros will try to knock around Adam Eaton.

Alright, after the poor start, the Astros are heating up and they’ve done it with four straight wins.  They did it by scoring a bunch of late runs off of a mediocre Reds pen to steal two games.  On Wednesday, the Astros were down most of the game until they scored five in the eighth.  Jason Lane had the big hit with a three run homer and Mike Lamb had a good game in the 7-2 win with two hits and a run.  Chris Sampson threw a nice game and he improved to 2-0.  He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Yesterday was more of the same.  Down by as much as 6-1, the Astros scored five more runs in the eighth to win this one 8-6.  Jason Lane went yard again as did Luke Scott.  Scott finished the game with an impressive four RBIs and Lance Berkman had two hits, a run and an RBI.  Woody Williams was hit hard in his start but since the hitters picked him up, he didn’t take a loss.  Brad Lidge threw a shutout inning and he picked up the win while Dan Wheeler saved it.

Next up is three against the first place Brewers in a pretty big early series.  Matt Albers will make his season debut in a tough matchup against Ben Sheets.  Then again, Sheets was hammered last time around so maybe we can pick on up early.

The Astros are getting back on track and they won two more games this week in their sweep over the Marlins to push their record up to an even 6-6.  In the first game, Mark Loretta got it done with two hits, two RBIs and a run while Wandy Rodriguez threw a nice game.  He gave up one run on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in six innings of work.  Chad Qualls ended up with the win though as he threw 1 2/3 innings and struck out three.

Last night, it was all Roy Oswalt and Carlos Lee.  Oswalt improved to 3-0 on the season and he gave up just one run on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.  Carlos Lee went three for four with a homerun, four RBIs and two runs in the 6-1 win.

The Astros are tied in the loss column with the first place Reds with the Cardinals sandwiched between the two teams.  And we can make that up as the Astros host the Reds for two games.  Chris Sampson will have his hands full though as he not only has to take on a tough Reds lineup, but he also has to keep pace with Reds’ ace Aaron Harang.

More nasty weather rolled in and it turned a three game series into a two game series this weekend.  The end result was a split and the Astros once again fell short of hitting the .500 mark.

In Friday’s game, it was all Carlos Lee.  He homered three times and he drove in six runs in the Astros 9-6 win.  Morgan Ensberg accounted for the other three runs with a three run homerun.  Roy Oswalt improved to 2-0 despite getting hammered for six runs.  A wins a win though.

Then on Saturday, Woody Williams was hammered.  He gave up six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in the 8-5 loss.  Jason Lane had the big hit with a three run homer and he finished with four RBIs.

The Marlins roll into town for two games beginning today.  Wandy Rodriguez gets the start tonight and then Roy Oswalt will throw on Tuesday.  A sweep would mean .500 and that’s the goal for the moment.

Alright, a little winning streak.  The Astros strolled into Chicago, ruined the Cubs opening day, and proceeded to win another one to put together their first winning streak of the season.  The Astros may be in fifth place, but at least they have a few more wins.

On Monday,  Adam Everett hit a huge two run homerun in the top of the eighth to break a 3-3 tie.  The Astros actually took a 3-0 lead in this one but Woody Williams ran into some troubles in the sixth and Chad Qualls gave up the tying run.  Dan Wheeler, the team’s new closer, pitched a shutout ninth to pick up his first save of the season.  Craig Biggio doubled twice and scored two runs in the 5-3 win.

Chris Sampson made his first start of the season, and man was it a good one.  He threw five shutout innings and he gave up just three hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Wheeler made things interesting and gave up two runs in the ninth but he held on to close out the game.  Luke Scott had a big game.  He doubled and drove in three runs.

Now the Astros head to Philadelphia after a day off tomorrow to take on a struggling Phillies team.  Friday’s game should be a great matchup with aces Roy Oswalt and Bret Myers going head to head.

I guess it could be worse.  The Astros could be 0-6 and they did win a game.  Anyway, the Astros sit at the very bottom of the NL Central with a 1-5 record.  They’re not hitting the ball and their pitching has been spotty.  Hopefully they’ll turn it around quick before they dig themselves a too deep of a hole.

The series opener was actually close and it was a battle between two 0-3 teams so someone had to win.  Wandy Rodriguez had a nice start and while he gave up just three runs on four hits with five strikeouts in seven innings, he took the loss because of the lack of offense.  Carlos Lee drove in one run with a sac. fly and Olando Palmeiro singled home the other run.

Then on Saturday, the win happened.  Roy Oswalt threw a one run, five hit complete game and the Astros piled on five runs.  Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee both hit their first homeruns of the season.

Then yesterday was a 10-1 beat down.  I’m trying to forget about, so I’m going to skip it.  Let’s just say, three hits isn’t going to cut it.

The Astros hit the road for the first time and they’ll play the Cubs in Chicago this afternoon.  Woody Williams will try to make up for a poor start last week and hopefully he can give the Astros their second win.

I’m not getting a good feeling here.  I know it’s early, but these are the Pirates.  Jason Jennings put together a decent start but once again, the bats couldn’t get things going and the pen couldn’t hold the lead.

Speaking of Jennings, he gave up a single run on five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six innings of work.  Dan Wheeler took the loss and he gave up the two runs in the eighth.

At the plate, Jason Lane had a big game.  He went two for four with a solo homerun.  Carlos Lee drove in the other run with a single.  And oh, there were the 12 strikeouts.  Sigh.

Woody Williams gets the chance to avoid the sweep.  Then again, the offense has to do their part.

The Astros took a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning and Roy Oswalt looked fairly dominating.  Then he gave up a solo shot and the wheels fell off the wagon as the Pirates proceeded to homer in each of the final three innings of the game.  The end result was a 4-2 loss in ten innings.

Oswalt gave up just the one run on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings of work.  Chad Qualls took the loss when he gave up a tenth inning two run shot to Jason Bay.  In the meantime, Luke Scott hit a two run shot to account for the Astros offense.

Jason Jennings goes for the Astros tomorrow.  Time to turn it around.